Information Systems For the Turnaround Decade:
A Report Prepared for the Regulatory Advisory Committee on the Proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

William J. Andrews And Lawrence Alexander
West Coast Environmental Law Association

March 31, 1992
PART I
INTRODUCTION

[(1) -- 1. . West Coast Environmental Law Association ("WCELA") provides legal services to members of the public who are concerned about threats to the environment. Since its founding in 1974, WCELA lawyers have provided advice to and acted as counsel for citizens participating in numerous federal, provincial and joint federal/provincial environmental assessment hearings. WCELA has actively participated in the development and reform of the federal environmental assessment review process ("EARP"), participating in early cross-Canada consultations in 1987, in the national consultation workshop on reforming EARP in 1988, and throughout the development of the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, formerly Bill C-78 and now Bill C-13. WCELA is pleased to be a member of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act Regulatory Advisory Committee, a multi-stakeholder committee formed to advise the Minister during the development of regulations under the Act. WCELA lawyers have also been active in the Environmental Assessment Caucus of the Canadian Environmental Network. The Caucus is a group of 30 environmental lawyers and advocates from organizations across Canada, and is also a member of the RAC. The authors gratefully acknowledge the following people who have assisted in the preparation of this report: Ann Hillyer, Catherine Ludgate, Denice Regnier, Morgan Ashbridge, Lori Crook, Gail Dykstra, Susan Safyan, Judy Atkins, Richard Smith, Bobby Merilees, Bob Everitt, Karen Brown, Nancy Hannum, and Brian Campbel]

When the century began, neither human numbers nor technology had the power radically to alter planetary systems. As the century closes, not only do vastly increased human numbers and their activities have that power, but major, unintended changes are occurring in the atmosphere, in soils, in waters, among plants and animals, and in the relationships among all of these. The rate of change is outstripping the ability of scientific disciplines and our current capabilities to assess and advise... The next few decades are crucial. The time has come to break out of past patterns. [(2) -- 2. . World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) p. 22.]

The future -- even a sustainable future -- will be marked by increasing risk.... Fortunately, the capacity to monitor and map Earth change and to assess risk is also growing rapidly.... Governments, individually and collectively, have the principal responsibility to collect this information systematically and use it to assess risks, but to date only a few have developed a capacity to do so. [(3) -- 3. . Ibid. at pp. 323-4.]
Information Systems for the Turnaround Decade

The 1990s are being described by many as the "turnaround decade" -- a decade in which major changes must occur if we are to achieve sustainable development. [(4) -- 4. . Ibid. at p. 8. Sustainable development means development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." ] In the pursuit of sustainable development, environmental assessment is now generally recognized as an essential part of the decision-making process. [(5) -- 5. . See Report of the National Task Force on Environment and Economy (Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers, 1987) at p. 5: "Government, industry, academic and other non-government organizations should develop new tools and improve existing tools which achieve more efficient and effective environment-economy integration. These tools should include consideration of, and where appropriate, application of ... increased use of environmental impact assessment." This report was endorsed by all the First Ministers of Canada.] Information plays an essential role in that process. As Mr. Justice LaForest of the Supreme Court of Canada wrote in the recently released Oldman River [(6) -- 6. . Friends of the Oldman River v. Canada (Minster of Transport) S.C.C., No. 21890 January 24, 1992.] decision:

Environmental impact assessment is, in its simplest form, a planning tool that is now generally regarded as an integral component of sound decision-making.... As a planning tool it has both an information-gathering and a decision-making component which provides the decision maker with an objective basis for granting or denying approval for a proposed development. [(7) -- 7. . Ibid. at p. 71.]

The impending passage of the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act [(8) -- 8. . Bill C-13, An Act to Establish a Federal Environmental Assessment Process, Third Sess., 34th Parliament, 1991.] by the federal Parliament marks both the culmination of a lengthy law-reform process and the beginning of the development of new rules and procedures under the Act. Five innovative features of the Act underscore the need to ensure that information issues are fully considered during the development of these rules and procedures.

First, the Act commits the Government of Canada "to facilitat[e] public participation in the environmental assessment of projects ... and provid[e] access to the information on which those environmental assessments are based." [(9) -- 9. . Ibid. in Preamble.]

Second, the Act establishes a Registry of environmental assessment information, in both hardcopy and electronic form.

Third, the Act provides for "follow-up monitoring" of projects approved after environmental assessment. This critically important improvement over traditional environmental assessment procedures means that information included in an environmental assessment must be stored so as to be available in future years for comparative purposes.

Fourth, the Act provides for agreements between the federal and provincial governments to coordinate joint environmental assessment where both governments are involved. Thus, federal information systems for environmental assessment will have to serve as a model for, and be coordinated with, provincial information systems.

Last but not least, the Act requires some eighty federal authorities -- many of which have little experience or expertise with environmental assessment -- to ensure that assessments of proposed projects are conducted, and to impose and enforce any necessary environmental terms and conditions if the project is approved. Obviously, this raises numerous information systems issues.
This Report

The development of rules and procedures under the Act is being ushered along by a Regulatory Advisory Committee (the "RAC"), composed of participants from industry, environmental groups, aboriginal peoples organizations, and provincial governments. The purpose of this report is to make recommendations to the RAC and others identifying some of the issues regarding the collection and storage of, and access to, environmental legal information. Our objective is threefold:

(a) to foster the development of information systems that facilitate and promote access to environmental and environmental legal information;

(b) to assist the RAC to address information issues quickly and effectively, regarding both its own information systems and its recommendations regarding other information systems; and

(c) to promote awareness of the urgent necessity of addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by automated information technologies with respect to environmental and environmental legal information.

In Part II, we present an analysis of (a) the RAC's regulatory development information and (b) the forthcoming environmental assessment information under the Act, and characterize this information as "legal information." We argue that, as legal information, this information should be subject to the Principles of Public Access to Legal Information developed by the Canadian Legal Information Centre.

In Part III, we provide a preliminary discussion of environmental legal information under the Act using an information systems approach. The potential users and their information needs are outlined and the implications of the burgeoning automation of information systems are discussed. Part IV is an outline of issues regarding the development of the Registry created under the Act to facilitate public access to records relating to environmental assessments.

In Part V we present a discussion of the relationship between the information issues directly facing the RAC and the information issues regarding other environmental consultation processes. Part VI concludes with a reminder (to ourselves as well as others) that as is important as it is to improve the information systems regarding environmental legal information, we cannot forget that often the environmental decision-making has suffered less from a lack of information as from a lack of wisdom -- knowing what to do with information.
PART II
Environmental LEGAL INFORMATION
Two Streams

The Regulatory Advisory Committee must address two streams of information:

(1) information regarding the draft regulations and guidelines which it is developing; and

(2) information concerning the environmental assessment of actual projects.

Typical of the first stream is the material provided to RAC members prior to a meeting: procedural information, [(10) -- 10. . For example, meeting agenda, meeting minutes, draft groundrules, dates and locations for regulatory consultations, memo on meeting date and draft groundrules.] general regulatory policy information, [(11) -- 11. . The Federal Regulatory Plan and CEAA Principles governing the development of special procedural regulations.] draft criteria for the development of particular regulations, copies and summaries of written comments provided to government and actual text of statutory and regulatory provisions. [(12) -- 12. . Including the most recent version of Bill C-13.] These materials are often made up of several hundred pieces of paper.

The second stream will begin as soon as the Act is proclaimed. Environmental assessment information will be collected during screenings, comprehensive studies, mediations, review panels, and assessments that are substitutes for assessment under the Act. This information will include environmental effects, cumulative environmental effects, public concerns, alternative means, mitigation measures, and follow-up programs.
Legal Information

The term "legal information" is normally thought of in its narrowest sense -- as referring to instruments that create law, such as statutes and regulations.

The Canadian Legal Information Centre ("CLIC"), [(13) -- 13. . Unfortunately, after some fifteen years of leading the improvement and study of legal information in Canada, the Canadian Legal Information Centre will close its doors at the end of April, 1992, due to funding constraints. Its presence will be sorely missed, but it leaves a legacy of awareness in Canada of the fundamental importance of legal information in our democratic society. ] however, defines legal information as including information "within the possession of governments that is necessary for members of the public to have in order to be properly informed as to their rights and obligations, or that would assist them in doing so." [(14) -- 14. . Canadian Legal Information Centre, "Legal Information Access Ideals: Discussion Paper" (Toronto: CLIC, 1992) p. 12.]

Also, the Federal Department of Justice turned its mind to the meaning of "public legal information" in 1983, by commissioning a policy-related assessment of the public information needs of community groups. [(15) -- 15. . C. Wihak The Needs of Community Groups for Public Legal Information (Ottawa: Department of Justice, 1983).] That assessment concluded:

To be legally competent, groups must have ... information making them aware that their problems have a legal aspect ... information on what legal solutions to their problems are possible (Here, legal solutions can mean a change in the group's ordering of its affairs, litigation, acting to have the law changed, etc.) ... information on how to act to obtain a legal solution ... [and] information on resources available to help them obtain a legal solution. [(16) -- 16. . Ibid. at p 4.]

Clearly, both streams of information -- materials used by the RAC and environmental assessment information collected under the Act -- qualify as legal information according to the tests set out by CLIC and the Department of Justice. Public access to both streams of information is necessary for citizens to be properly informed as to their environmental rights and obligations, or to make them aware that their environmental problems may have a legal solution.
Access to Legal Information

Providing access to legal information will of course involve many social, technical, and legal [(17) -- 17. . Some examples of legal challenges are ownership of information, distribution of information (privacy, pricing), liability and access.] challenges. But support for the principle of public awareness to legal information is strong, especially with respect to legal information relating to the environment ("environmental legal information"). [(18) -- 18. . The focus here is on the federal level. There is considerable support for the principle of access to legal information in the various provinces as well. ]

First, in the Green Plan, [(19) -- 19. . Government of Canada, Canada's Green Plan for a Healthy Environment (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1990).] the federal government committed to the goal of "providing accurate, timely and accessible environmental information to Canadians. [(20) -- 20. . Ibid. at p. 141.] One of the goals of the Green Plan is to "develop an environmentally literate society." [(21) -- 21. . Ibid. at p. 145.]

Second, one of the stated purposes of the proposed Act is "to ensure that there be an opportunity for public participation in the environmental assessment process." [(22) -- 22. . Bill C-13, An Act to Establish a Federal Environmental Assessment Process, Third Sess., 34th Parliament, 1991, s. 4(d).]

Third, the Access to Information Act legislates the principle that "government information should be available to the public." [(23) -- 23. . Access to Information Act, RSC 1985, c.A-1, s. 2(1).]

Fourth, a Treasury Board of Canada policy statement on the management of government information holdings, [(24) -- 24. . Management of Government Information Holdings (Ottawa: Treasury Board of Canada, 1989).] which applies to all federal government departments and agencies, [(25) -- 25. . Ibid. at p. 4.] states that "[g]overnment information holdings should be managed in a manner to facilitate public knowledge of and access to such holdings." [(26) -- 26. . Management of Government Information Holdings (Ottawa: Treasury Board of Canada, 1989) p. 22.] It continues:

Dissemination of government information holdings which are not exemptible or excluded under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act is an important feature of accountable, representative government. One important purpose served by [an] inventory is to inform Canadians about information held by each institution and to provide information to citizens without need of recourse to the exercise of legal rights, whenever possible. [(27) -- 27. . Ibid.]

This policy also states that government institutions must:

[1] ensure that all material published by the institution is easily accessible to decision-makers within the institution and is available to the public on request; [(28) -- 28. . Ibid. at p. 7.]

[2] ensure that their information holdings are identified and described in the appropriate government public reference sources, and that information is effectively disseminated where there is a duty to inform the public; [(29) -- 29. . Ibid. at p. 6.] and

[3] make their information holdings available for purchase by the public, where appropriate and there is a significant public demand. [(30) -- 30. . Ibid. at p. 6.]

Fifth, in the Citizen's Code of Regulatory Fairness, the federal government promises both to:

[1] encourage and facilitate an opportunity for full consultation and participation by Canadians in the federal regulatory process; and

[2] encourage the public to exercise its duty to criticize ineffective or inefficient regulatory initiatives, and to offer suggestions for better or `smarter' ways of solving problems and achieving the government's social and economic objectives. [(31) -- 31. . Federal Regulatory Plan 1991 Index (Ottawa: Office of Privatization and Regulatory Affairs, 1991).]

Sixth, a recent paper by a Federal Interdepartmental Working Group on Database Industry Support endorsed a government dissemination policy that will "enhance access by all Canadians to essential information on the government and the economy and Canadian society." [(32) -- 32. . "Government Databases: A Discussion Paper to Assist Federal Government Institutions in the Dissemination of Databases" (Ottawa: Federal Interdepartmental Working Groups on Database Industry Support, 1989) p. 1.]

All of these policy statements support an information system which provides public access to environmental legal materials.

Increased public access to environmental legal materials will have many benefits in addition to honouring public rights. The Interdepartmental Working Group argued that greater dissemination will benefit departmental operations by increasing productivity, reducing costs, improving service to the public, and by allowing better management of information holdings. [(33) -- 33. . Ibid. at p. 1.]

CLIC adds that better dissemination "will translate into an enhanced public image for [an] agency, greater credibility, more open government, and less public confusion about the role of the agency." [(34) -- 34. . Canadian Legal Information Centre, "Legal Information Access Ideal: Discussion Paper" (Toronto: CLIC, 1992) p. 29.] Furthermore, CLIC argues that by enabling the citizenry to make more effective personal, business and political decisions, it becomes "empowered" and "probably more inclined to participate fully in the democratic process." [(35) -- 35. . Ibid. at p. 15.]

Clearly, the concept of access to environmental legal information is supported in a general sense. But what principles should govern such access? The starting point is the Access to Information Act, [(36) -- 36. . Access to Information Act, RSC 1985, c.A-1.] which specifies that access is the rule and that prohibitions are the exception. Thus, the challenge is to determine a process to make that access meaningful.

CLIC has addressed that challenge by developing the following set of ideals relating to the access of legal information, and has encouraged all government agencies to adopt them: [(37) -- 37. . Canadian Legal Information Centre, "Legal Information Access Ideal: Discussion Paper" (Toronto: CLIC, 1992) p. 9.]

1. Public access to legal information is essential in a democracy and is required for the proper functioning of our legal system.

The widespread shift in Canadians' values toward respect and concern for the environment means that environmental legal information must be accessible to the public.

2. Those who produce and store legal information should regard its dissemination as an essential public service.

Traditional access to information legislation focuses on the government's response to a citizen's request for specific information. This approach must be maintained but supplemented by routine dissemination of legal information. Dissemination allows citizens to receive information which they might not have requested because they were not aware of its existence. Also, it allows for more efficiency in the storage and distribution of information than does the traditional request-response approach. A good recent example of innovative dissemination of legal information is the BC government's publication of regular reports on polluters who are in significant non-compliance with their waste discharge permits. [(38) -- 38. . See, C. Sandborn, W.J. Andrews and B. Wylynko, Preventing Toxic Pollution: Toward a British Columbia Strategy (Vancouver: West Coast Environmental Law Association, 1991) p. 148.]

3. Access should be quick and convenient.

Automated information systems are the key to quickness. But convenience to the user is also important. Since most citizens do not have a personal computer and modem, for example, terminals in public libraries should be considered.

4. Access should not be restricted because of cost.

The potentially high cost of using automated information systems is one of the two major potential downsides to the automation of government information. (The other is the potential for abuse of the privacy of the user, e.g., recording what information a person has sought.) A key challenge is to ensure that access is not restricted because of cost, especially for public interest users, while at the same time ensuring that users who can afford to do so pay the full cost of accessing government information for their own benefit.

5. Legal information should be accurate and as comprehensive as possible.

Ensuring that legal information is as comprehensive as possible will involve resisting the temptation to `highgrade' legal information be providing only those types of information for which private users are willing to pay large amounts.

6. Legal information should be conveniently available, disseminated, or distributed, according to the nature of the information and the nature of the user.

Where the information already exists in electronic form, e.g., wordprocessed documents, some users may find receipt of electronic copies to be the most convenient. Others may want hardcopy. Transmission could be by modem, fax, mail or other means.

7. Legal information should be accessible to all users on an equitable basis and accommodate special needs.

Geographic remoteness and physical or mental disabilities should not be an unreasonable barrier to environmental information.

8. Legal information should be available in official languages and other languages where warranted.

The primary challenge here is to meet language requirements while at the same time ensuring that access is quick and not restricted because of cost.

9. Legal information should be clear.

Clarity must be sought in conjunction with accuracy and equitable access. Alas, accurate legal information is not always clear. And, what is clear to one user may be unclear to another. Summaries designed for certain types of users may be the best way to achieve all three goals.
Recommendation:

1. ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL INFORMATION. We recommend:

      (1) that the concept of "legal information" include:

            (a) information regarding the development of regulations and guidelines, and

            (b) environmental assessment information regarding specific proposals; and

      (2) that the Legal Information Access Ideals developed by the Canadian Legal Information Centre be adopted as governing legal information, and environmental legal information in particular:

            (a) public access to legal information is essential in a democracy and is required for the proper functioning of our legal system;

            (b) those who produce and store legal information should regard its dissemination as an essential public service;

            (d) access should not be restricted because of cost;

            (e) legal information should be accurate and as comprehensive as possible;

            (f) legal information should be conveniently available, disseminated, or distributed, according to the nature of the information and the nature of the user;

            (g) legal information should be accessible to all users on an equitable basis and accommodate special needs;

            (h) legal information should be available in official languages and other languages where warranted; and

PART III
INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPROACH

At its simplest level, an information system will provide an ongoing inventory of all information holdings, standardize the format in which the information is collected, provide an identification or classification system to enable cross-referencing among information holdings, and enable access to all information holdings for all users of the information. In this Part we discuss an information systems approach to environmental legal information under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The key is that any system must meet the needs of the many and varied users of this information, not just the needs of the RAC, the forthcoming Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency -- now called the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office (FEARO) -- or the agencies conducting environmental assessments.
Information Systems

Our suggestion is that all information and communications regarding environmental assessment and environment assessment regimes be examined and developed as a system. Each actor in the system should be identified and encouraged to examine his, her or its own information (and privacy) needs, wants and potential contributions of information. We should ask ourselves what information we would need to be more effective in achieving sustainable development. How do we want to specify what we want? What is the best method to receive it? In what standard formats? What information do we possess? Might it be useful for someone else? Who? Now? Or in the future? How to store it and make it available? Who owns the information? Should the information be in the public domain? What price structure, if any, should be applied? How to ensure the validity and accuracy of the information? Examination of these and other issues begins the development of an information systems approach to environmental legal information under the Act.
Users of Environmental Legal Information

A list of some of the many users of environmental legal information has been attached to this report as Appendix A. The major classes include federal agencies, the CEA Agency, the RAC and constituencies of its members, Native organizations, libraries, environmental organizations, researchers, students, businesses, other governmental agencies and members of the public.

Two points warrant mention. First, government agencies from all levels of government are important users of the information system. Hence, it is important to ensure compatibility and interconnectedness between agencies, to avoid any need to duplicate parts of the information system.

Second, the role of libraries in the system is also significant. A key issue is the extent to which public libraries can act as a conduit for environmental legal information to facilitate access by members of the public. Special libraries such as those associated with law firms, industry associations and Crown corporations will also play an important role.
Information Needs of Users

An information system must be designed to meet the needs of all these users of environmental legal information. Information needs, of course, will be specific to each user. We will briefly examine both the RAC information and the environmental assessment information.

RAC members will want access to both hardcopy and in some cases, electronic information. For example, depending on the inclination and computer literacy of RAC members, the information that is delivered in hardcopy form prior to every meeting may simply require a numeric cataloguing system to standardize agenda items and allow for quick and easy reference to related documents.

Comments with respect to draft regulations, however, may be more suited to distribution in electronic form, perhaps as a diskette, to enable RAC members to use simple text searching facilities they may already have in their wordprocessors. But perhaps to ensure that all members are working with the most current draft of particular regulations, the drafts themselves could be available on-line.

An example of a full-blown electronic system, on the other hand, is the electronic information system developed by Environcore, a Toronto company, for environmental hearing processes. Environcore has developed a system to meet the needs of its users: rapid and simple electronic access at any time to complete hearing records, decisions, and exhibits; simple yet sophisticated searching tools for electronically reviewing these records; ability to search in a number of different ways including by speaker and by topic; ability to search across records of several different hearings on a particular topic or speaker; and access to legislative updates. [(39) -- 39. . W.R. Waters, "Managing Information Electronically in the Regulatory Process" (abstract) from Globe '92 address, March 18, 1992, p. 2.]

Environmental assessment information collected during assessments must be submitted and stored in a form that makes it readily available for a number of other uses. Some of these uses are follow-up monitoring, state of the environment reporting, cumulative impact analysis, joint or independent environmental assessment, land use planning, development and enforcement of regulations, scientific enquiry and education.

An automated environmental screening system is currently being developed for a number of federal departments including Parks, Public Works, Indian Affairs, National Defence and Transport. [(40) -- 40. . Glenn Sutherland, Senior Systems Ecologist, ESSA Environmental and Social Systems Analysts, Vancouver, address to Globe '92, March 18, 1992.] Based on information collected and processed in electronic form, it is intended that the screening system will be able to produce impact summaries, detailed explanations, a list of appropriate mitigation strategies, and a list of further information needs. [(41) -- 41. . Ibid. ]

Clearly, one important design consideration is to ensure that the inputs into the system are capable of producing information as output that will serve the needs of all users. As the Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy recently concluded, "to be credible, this information needs [to be] accurate, relevant, independent and be capable of capturing past, present and future consequences of our choices." [(42) -- 42. . Ontario Round Table on Environment and Economy, Energy and Minerals Sectoral Task Force Energy Sector: Draft Final Report (Toronto: The Round Table, 1991) p. 11.]
Dawn of Automated Systems

There are literally dozens of sources of legal information. CLIC provides a detailed outline of these sources in a recently released study: government and its agencies, the judiciary, public sector resources, legal and special interest organizations, the legal profession, commercial publishers, and employers. For convenience, the entire CLIC outline of legal information sources has been reproduced in Appendix A.

We are, however, in the midst of a communications revolution. At a startling rate, more and more of these sources of legal information are being offered in electronic form, either on-line, as magnetic tape, or on diskette. The number of on-line databases worldwide increased 825% between 1980 and 1988, from 400 to 3,699. [(43) -- 43. . K. Kelso, Electronic Legal Information: Exploring Access Issues (Toronto: Canadian Legal Information Centre, 1991) p. 15.] The Federal Interdepartmental Working Group on Database Industry Support recently commented that:

[T]he demand for access to government data, particularly in electronic form, has grown significantly in the past few years and there is every indication that this trend will continue with further developments in information technology. [(44) -- 44. . "Government Databases: A Discussion Paper to Assist Federal Government Institutions in the Dissemination of Databases" (Ottawa: Federal Interdepartmental Working Group on Database Industry Support, 1989) p. 2.]

Statistics Canada estimates that there are approximately 500 databases or sets held by federal departments that contain environmental legal information. [(45) -- 45. . B. Mitchell, Environmental Section, Statistics Canada, letter dated March 16, 1992 to D. Mahony. Mr. Mitchell described the information as data that could be used in State of Environment Reporting. See Appendix C for a more complete description.] Conservation and Protection alone, is home to 55 databases. [(46) -- 46. . C.J. Keddy and T. McRae, Environmental Databases for State of the Environment Reporting: Conservation and Protection Headquarters, Report No. 9 (Ottawa: Environment Canada, 1989).] The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of Justice are developing their own specialized electronic information systems. [(47) -- 47. . See Appendix C.] The National Library of Canada offers an on-line service and has access to 70 databases from around the world. [(48) -- 48. . Ibid.] By 1994, Environment Canada has promised "one-window" access to environmental information through a system to be developed called the Environmental Network. [(49) -- 49. . Government of Canada, Canada's Green Plan for a Healthy Environment (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1990) p. 143.]

Provincial governments are also active in this area. The Province of British Columbia, for instance, offers on-line access to government registry information, access to electronic land-related data, and is working towards the electronic production of non-compliance lists related to waste management permits. [(50) -- 50. . See Appendix C.] It recently established a Conservation Data Centre and an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate electronic mapping and inventory activities.

In many respects, however, private vendors are leading the way. QL Systems, CAN/LAW and SOQUIJ offer on-line access to many of the materials published by legal publishers. At least one vendor offers a "comprehensive overview of environmental issues and resources." [(51) -- 51. . See CEO Library Appendix C.] The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, and others, offer extensive CD-ROM libraries.

If there is one conclusion that can be drawn from all of this, it is that electronic access to legal information is no longer tomorrow's idea. The technology is available and in widespread use today. Today's success stories will fuel expectations for more. The challenge is to develop a way to incorporate these various electronic sources into the overall information system.

Another important consideration with respect to design of the information system is the way in which information is exchanged among users. In the regulation development context, the key communication links are among RAC members, between RAC members and their constituents, and between the federal government and other interested citizens. During environmental assessments, information will be exchanged between the proponent, the responsible authority, [(52) -- 52. . The responsible authority is the federal agency required by the Act to ensure that the environmental assessment is conducted. ] other federal agencies, provincial agencies, aboriginal peoples, organizations, governments, concerned citizens, experts and others.

To a large extent, communication between the federal government and individual citizens can be addressed through greater public access to environmental legal information. Communication between RAC members and their constituents, though important, is an issue which is beyond the scope of this report. Communication among RAC members, however, deserves some brief discussion here.

At present, the majority of the communication among RAC members occurs during face-to-face meetings convened periodically in Ottawa at the federal government's expense. This system facilitates discussion, but involves significant travel and hotel accommodation expenses. Alternative systems to consider are communication by fax, electronic bulletin board services, and video-conferencing.

Current fax technology allows multiple distribution of a single message. It also can eliminate the need to scan hardcopy documents, and hence, would allow RAC members to send a fax to any number of different fax machines directly from their personal computer. [(53) -- 53. . See for example GammaFax, Version 4.4, December 1990, Sunnyvale California.]

Electronic bulletin board services exist which have the ability to connect personal computers via modem from all over the world. But because they are awkward to use and demand a fair amount of computer literacy to use well, bulletin board services may not be practical for all communication purposes. However, at least one international environmental association has used them successfully: The International Association of Public Participation Practitioners used electronic conferencing exclusively for the first year and a half of its existence. [(54) -- 54. . Richard Roberts, President, Praxis, Calgary, address to Globe '92, March 17, 1992. The Association, after trying out several communication networks, finally settled on WEB (see Appendix C).] E-Law, an international network of environmental lawyers dedicated to filling requests from citizen activists for environmental legal and technical information, relies extensively on e-mail for its day-to-day communications. A bulletin board system is being used in Colorado Springs by the city council's telecommunications policy advisory committee. [(55) -- 55. . H. Rheingold, "The Great Equalizer," Whole Earth, No. 71, Summer 1991, p. 10.]

Northern Telecom is currently beta testing a video-conferencing system which it expects to have on the market by September of 1992. [(56) -- 56. . John Brick, Northern Telecom, pers. comm. with L. Alexander, March 27, 1992. Total hardware and software equipment for each station in the system is expected to cost $2500 per station. ] The product, known as "Network Multi-media Communications", combines current personal computer and telephone communication with desk-to-desk video communication. At this stage the product is Mac-based and the visual image is black and white. Northern Telecom expects, however, that it will soon be IBM compatible and in colour. It currently has the ability to send an 80 page document from one personal computer to another in twelve minutes.

Communication between the federal government and the environmental community in general, however, deserves some further comment here. Some environmental organizations who wish to participate are not members of the CEN. Hence, the federal government must look to strengthening the communication links with CEN organizations as well as with other interested organizations. This could be accomplished by expanding the resources for community liaison within the federal government to facilitate participation in consultations, and to encourage public involvement in the environmental assessment process.

Recommendation

2. INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPROACH We recommend that regulatory development and environmental assessment information under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and other environmental legal information at the federal and provincial levels, be organized in an information system that will meet the various needs of members of the public and the many other potential users of the information. A key challenge is to incorporate electronic systems into the overall environmental legal information system.
Part IV
THE REGISTRY
Development of the Registry

Under the Act, a public registry (the "Registry") is to be developed for the purpose of facilitating public access to environmental assessments. [(57) -- 57. . Bill C-13, An Act to Establish a Federal Environmental Assessment Process, Third Sess., 34th Parliament, 1991, s. 51(1).] The Registry must contain all records produced, collected or submitted with respect to an environmental assessment of a project provided that: information has been made public during the course of an assessment; would be disclosed if someone were to make an application for it under Access to Information Act; [(58) -- 58. . Access to Information Act, RSC 1985, c. A-1.] or is information for which the Minister or responsible agency deems disclosure necessary in order for the public to participate effectively in the assessment. [(59) -- 59. . Bill C-13, An Act to Establish a Federal Environmental Assessment Process, Third Sess., 34th Parliament, 1991, s. 51(4).]

More specifically, the Registry will contain assessment reports, public comments, reports by responsible authorities notifying the public of the course of action taken with respect to a particular project, records produced during follow-up programs, terms of reference for mediation or panel reviews, and documents which require mitigation measures to be implemented. [(60) -- 60. . Ibid., s. 51(3).]

Clearly, the Registry will play a major role in the provision of public access to environmental legal materials. And given that the establishment, maintenance and operation of the Registry is to be determined by regulation, [(61) -- 61. . Ibid., s. 55(h)] the RAC has the opportunity to ensure that it is developed in a way that will meet the needs of every user.
Important Design Considerations

The Act makes reference to both physical and electronic records in the context of the Registry. [(62) -- 62. . Ibid., s. 55(h) states, in part:"... including facilities to enable the public to examine physical or electronic records contained in the registry ..."] Indeed both forms of record may serve different, but useful purposes. However, if we are to strive towards CLIC's legal information access ideals [(63) -- 63. . See Part II: Regulation Development as Legal Information, for a discussion of CLIC's legal information access ideals.] -- quick, convenient, inexpensive, accurate, comprehensive, user-specific, equitable, multi-lingual, and clear -- electronic information will often be the most suitable. Inclusion of Information on the Development of Regulations

We suggest that in addition to environmental assessment information compulsorily included in the Registry, it should also voluntarily include relevant procedural information, such as the current versions of finalized or draft regulations, guidelines, procedures, intergovernmental agreements, RAC proceedings, [(64) -- 64. . For example, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, groundrules, dates and locations for regulatory consultations.] and perhaps even a statute citator for relevant judicial interpretation of regulations and statutes.

As stated above, [(65) -- 65. . See Part III: Information Systems Approach, Dawn of Automated Systems.] the production of environmental legal information in electronic form is becoming the rule rather than the exception. The Registry will not be alone in providing electronic information. Potentially, however, the Registry can operate as a "window" to many other electronic environmental legal information sources. For example, links are needed between the Registry and State of the Environment Reporting, provincial assessment processes, federal-provincial environmental management programs (e.g., coordinating committees for Burrard Inlet, [(66) -- 66. . Burrard Inlet Environmental Action Program, Burrard News Vol. 1 February 1992, p. 6: "More importantly, for the first time, the public will have easy access to scrutinize all projects. A Central Project Registry containing project details and decision outcomes is open to the public at the BIEAP office."] and the Squamish Estuary [(67) -- 67. . Report of the Planning Committee on a Proposed Squamish Estuary Management Plan, Volume One: The Plan (Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans (Can.) & Ministry of Environment (B.C.), 1982) p. 25.]), automated screening systems, and commercial databases.

Based on the CLIC access ideal that legal information should be distributed according to the nature of the information and the nature of the user, it follows that a variety of information retrieval options should be available to users accessing the Registry.

At the most basic level, there should be simple table of contents searching ability organized perhaps according to particular projects, subject headings, regions, and types of documents referred to in the Act, e.g., assessment reports, public comments, reports by responsible authorities notifying the public of the course of action taken with respect to a particular project, records produced during follow-up programs, terms of reference for mediation or panel review, and documents which require mitigation measures to be implemented. [(68) -- 68. . Bill C-13, An Act to Establish a Federal Environmental Assessment Process, Third Sess., 34th Parliament, 1991, s. 51(3).]

But a more sophisticated searching ability is desirable -- one that would enable the user to search full text and to combine search criteria while searching various parts of the Registry.

It can be expected that the information contained in the Registry will be spread out across the country. Two important consequences flow from this. One is that the various locations of data require some sort of link to one another so that they can all be accessed by the same user in a single transaction. This may be accomplished though the use of a network. The second is that some sort of remote data access is necessary to enable users from many locations to access the network of data. Presumably, a 1-800 phone/modem line would be an attractive option.

It can also be expected that some users will only be interested in particular areas of environmental assessment, or prefer to have information that is more summary in nature. The Registry, then, could be developed to accommodate these users by providing upon request only certain aspects of the database or a regular newsletter of important developments.

Recommendation

3. REGISTRY. We recommend that the Registry being developed under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act be designed with the input from potential users, including the Regulatory Advisory Committee, to:

      (1) include both hardcopy and electronic information;

      (2) include both environmental assessment information and information regarding the development of regulations and guidelines under the Act;

      (3) be integrated or coordinated with other related information systems operated by federal, provincial, aboriginal or other governmental agencies, commercial information vendors, libraries, academia, environmental groups or other bodies; and

      (4) provide innovative information retrieval capabilities.

PART V
THE RAC AND OTHER CONSULTATION
Other Consultations

The RAC is just one of dozens of ongoing consultation processes. Environment Canada has recently published a calendar of over 90 ongoing and upcoming consultations with respect to both Green Plan initiatives, and associated federal environmental policy, program and regulatory initiatives. [(69) -- 69. . Environmental Consultations Calendar, February 1992 (Ottawa: Non-Government Relations Division, Corporate Policy Group, Environment Canada, 1992).] This ambitious program of public consultation undertaken by the federal government is regarded by the environmental community as positive. At present, however, the program suffers from a lack of coordination, although publication of the calendar is a major step forward. Many environmental organizations are experiencing difficulties in providing input into so many different consultation processes, especially since in many areas there is a correspondingly large number of provincial and municipal environmental consultation processes.
Issues

Many of these consultation processes overlap. For example, with respect to the regulation of toxic chemicals, Environment Canada is consulting on a number of draft regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. [(70) -- 70. . Canadian Environmental Protection Act, RSC 1985, c.16 (4th supp.).] It recently began the Accelerated Reduction on Elimination of Toxics Substances (ARETS) Initiative, as well as a National Pollutants Release Inventory.

People from government, industry and the environmental community alike are suffering from consultation overload. Consultations should be coordinated to facilitate the exchange of information between related consultations. Participants often overlap, so they should be encouraged to act in one consultation in light of what is happening in related consultations.

Participation in consultations makes significant demands on organizational resources. This is especially true for organizations not located in central Canada because of the extra travel time and jetlag involved.

The contributions made by all parties could be far more effective if consultations were coordinated by issue. Consultations with very similar purposes could be combined. Consultations with issues that overlap could be organized so that the common issues can be dealt with at the same time by all concerned. Examples of such issues include the polluter pays principle, enforcement and compliance. Participants in all consultations should be permitted access to pertinent information from other related consultations.

As mentioned above, Environment Canada's Environmental Consultations Calendar is a step in this direction. It could be supplemented to address these coordination opportunities. Timetable information could also be expanded to include "milestone" events -- dates set for certain goals to be met.

Another option is to make better use of the Federal Regulatory Plan. Environment Canada's contribution to the Regulatory Plan could include comprehensive information about the various consultations and how they are coordinated. The Regulatory Plan could be offered on-line so that it can be accessed and updated frequently.

Because information systems are so central to environmental assessment, the information system developed for the RAC should serve as a model for other consultations, at the federal and provincial levels. A discussion of this has been attached as Appendix B. Parallel information systems would facilitate cross-referencing and the exchange of related information across consultations. At the simplest level, this could involve standardizing the way in which the consultation information is organized. A more useful, but more complex approach would involve the use of common access, indices and keyword electronic search systems.

To date, the Canadian Environmental Network (the "CEN") has played a major role in the consultation process by coordinating to a large extent the participation of the environmental community. The CEN takes no positions on environmental or legal issues, but it organizes caucuses on a variety of subjects and the caucuses do take positions. The federal government has financially supported the CEN on a consultation by consultation basis. A common problem, however, is that arranging this financing delays the start of consultation processes. Similarly, the CEN is often distracted by cash flow problems when it must incur expenses regarding consultation processes prior to receiving funds from the government.

The federal government and the CEN should negotiate an "umbrella funding agreement" which would provide core funds and a quick, routine procedure for approving funds for a particular consultation process once it is initiated. Together with rationalization of the consultation processes, this would allow the CEN to support fewer, larger, better organized caucuses. This would also facilitate enhanced use of expert assistance by the caucuses. Caucus subcommittees could be formed to participate in specific consultation processes.
Recommendation:

4. OTHER CONSULTATIONS. We recommend that the Regulatory Advisory Committee under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act serve as the model and take a leadership role vis-a-vis other consultation processes in developing:

(1) efficient, effective coordination of environmental legal consultation processes; and

(2) reasonably standardized information systems for conducting consultation processes.

The federal government should bolster the Canadian Environmental Network's ability to upgrade caucus participation in environmental consultations by negotiating a multi-year agreement for CEN core funding and umbrella funding for CEN caucuses to participate in specific consultation processes.
PART VI
CONCLUSION

The Protection of the environment has become one of the major challenges of our time. [(71) -- 71. . LaForest, J., Friends of the Oldman River v. Canada (Minister of Transport), S.C.C., No. 21890, January 24, 1992, at p. 1.]

The environment is everything around us. When everything around us contributes to our health and is itself healthy, then we have a healthy environment. A healthy environment is life, for us. It's liberty. It's security of the person. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrines our right to life, liberty and security of the person. Implicitly, then, we have a right to a healthy environment. And the right "not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."

What is fundamental justice? What is the foundation of justice? Truth -- the pinnacle of science. Good -- the epitome of ethics. Love -- the highest emotion. Science, ethics, emotion: the three bases of wisdom, the foundation of justice. Decision-making is imbalanced without all three.

Fundamental justice means balance. It means sustainable development. It means making a living without compromising the ability of future generations to make their livings. [(72) -- 72. . To paraphrase the traditional definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) p. 8.] How do we know if we are compromising our childrens' future? How do we know if we are moving toward sustainable development? We become more environmentally aware by observing our environment, representing it as data, organizing it into information, studying and acquiring knowledge, making decisions, taking actions and gaining wisdom, and simply by participating in our environment. This is the cycle of environmental awareness, the awareness of oneself and one's environment.

Access to environmental legal information is a key phase of the cycle of awareness. It is both a public right and a common denominator of environmental assessment, environmental and land use planning, environmental regulation, environmental education and environmental science. But we cannot forget that information and knowledge will not in themselves be sufficient to "turn around" our species' apparent decline. Too often the scarcest factor in human decision-making has been wisdom -- knowing what to do with information.
Summary of Recommendations

1. ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL INFORMATION. We recommend:

      (1) that the concept of "legal information" include:

      (a) information regarding the development of regulations and guidelines, and

      (b) environmental assessment information regarding specific proposals; and

      (2) that the Legal Information Access Ideals developed by the Canadian Legal Information Centre be adopted as governing legal information, and environmental legal information in particular:

      (a) public access to legal information is essential in a democracy and is required for the proper functioning of our legal system;

      (b) those who produce and store legal information should regard its dissemination as an essential public service;

      (d) access should not be restricted because of cost;

      (e) legal information should be accurate and as comprehensive as possible;

      (f) legal information should be conveniently available, disseminated, or distributed, according to the nature of the information and the nature of the user;

      (g) legal information should be accessible to all users on an equitable basis and accommodate special needs;

      (h) legal information should be available in official languages and other languages where warranted; and

2. INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPROACH. We recommend that regulatory development and environmental assessment information under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and other environmental legal information at the federal and provincial levels, be organized in an information system that will meet the various needs of members of the public and the many other potential users of the information. A key challenge is to incorporate electronic systems into the overall environmental legal information system.

3. REGISTRY. We recommend that the Registry being developed under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act be designed with the input from potential users, including the Regulatory Advisory Committee, to:

      (1) include both hardcopy and electronic information;

      (2) include both environmental assessment information and information regarding the development of regulations and guidelines under the Act;

      (3) be integrated or coordinated with other related information systems operated by federal, provincial, aboriginal or other governmental agencies, commercial information vendors, libraries, academia, environmental groups or other bodies; and

      (4) provide innovative information retrieval capabilities.

4. OTHER CONSULTATIONS. We recommend that the Regulatory Advisory Committee under the proposed Canadian Environmental Assessment Act serve as the model and take a leadership role vis-a-vis other consultation processes in developing:

(1) efficient, effective coordination of environmental legal consultation processes; and

(2) reasonably standardized information systems for conducting consultation processes.

The federal government should bolster the Canadian Environmental Network's ability to upgrade caucus participation in environmental consultations by negotiating a multi-year agreement for CEN core funding and umbrella funding for CEN caucuses to participate in specific consultation processes.
appendix A
Users of Environmental Legal Information

1. Government Agencies

      1.1 Environment Canada

      1.2 FEARO/Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

      1.3 Other federal government bodies

      1.4 Provincial governments

      1.5 Municipal governments

      1.5 Aboriginal governments

2. RAC and Members of Other Consultative Processes

      2.1 government agencies

      2.2 W.E.S.T. and other consulting firms

      2.3 environmental members

      2.4 industry

      2.5 labour

      2.6 native

3. Libraries

      3.1 public libraries

      3.2 special libraries

      3.3 university libraries

      3.4 libraries of environmental groups

      3.5 government agency libraries

4. Industry

5. Native Organizations

6. Environmental Organizations

      6.1 C.E.N.

      6.1.1 caucus steering committee members

      6.1.2 caucus members

      6.1.3 non-caucus

      6.2 Other environmental organizations

7. Members of the Public

      7.1 academics

      7.2 students

      7.3 citizens interested in local issues

      7.4 environmentalists

      7.5 those you can't identify in advance

Sources of Legal Information

The following outline is from a CLIC discussion paper entitled "Legal Information Access Ideals." [(73) -- 73. . Canadian Legal Information Centre, "Legal Information Access Ideals: Discussion Paper" (Toronto: CLIC, 1992).] CLIC refers to each independent source of legal information as an "access point".

1. Government and its Agencies (Federal and Provincial)

      1.1 The Executive

            1.1.1 Governor General and Lieutenant Governor

            1.1.2 Cabinet

            1.1.3 Privy Council

            1.1.4 Prime Minister's Office

            1.1.5 Minister of the Crown

            1.1.6 Constituency Offices and Publications

      1.2 The Administration

            1.2.1 Government Ministries

            Attorney General

            Solicitor General

            Police Forces

            Minister of Justice

            Consumer Ministries

            Personal property registration

            1.2.2 Corporate Registration

            Real property registration

            Ministries with regulatory and licensing authority in general

            1.2.3 Administrative Tribunals, Residential Rent Authorities

            1.2.4 Royal Commission and Inquiries

            1.2.5 Public Utilities

      1.3 The Legislative Branch

      1.4 Municipal Government

            1.4.1 Regional Government

            1.4.2 Local Councils

            1.4.3 Municipal Administration

            1.4.4 Public Utilities

      1.5 Crown Corporations

2. The Judiciary

      2.1 Courts

      2.2 Court Reporting and Transcription

      2.3 Law Reports

      2.4 Judicial Councils

3. Public Sector Resources

      3.1 Education System

            3.1.1 Primary Schools

            3.1.2 Secondary Schools

            3.1.3 Post-Secondary Schools

            3.1.4 Law Schools and Bar Admission Programs

            3.1.5 Continuing Legal Education

      3.2 Libraries

            3.2.1 Public Libraries

            3.2.2 Private Libraries

            3.2.3 Law Libraries

                  3.3 Community Resources

                  3.3.1 Legal Clinics

                  3.3.2 Community Information Centres

4. Legal and Special Interest Organizations

      4.1 Canadian Legal Information Centre

      4.2 Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice

      4.3 Canadian Environmental Law Association

      4.4. Labour Unions

      4.5 National Anti-Poverty Associations

      4.6 Civil Liberties Groups

      4.7 Social Services Organizations

      4.8 Other Organizations

5. The Legal Profession

      5.1 Lawyers and Law Firms

      5.2 Professional Organizations

            5.2.1 Law Societies

            5.2.2 Law Foundations

            5.2.3 Bar Associations

6. Commercial Publishers

      6.1 Legal Research Tools

            6.1.1 Encyclopedias

            6.1.2 Digests

            6.1.3 Indexes

            6.1.4 Databases

            6.1.5 Case Histories

            6.1.6 Citators

      6.2 Legal Texts

      6.3 Academic law journals

      6.4 Legal practice journals

      6.5 Legal handbooks and desk books

      6.6 Legal forms and precedents

      6.7 Legal newspapers

      6.8 Consumer law guides

      6.9 Business periodicals

      6.10 Textbooks

      6.11 Professional services (accounting, etc.)

      6.12 Daily, weekly newspapers

      6.13 Television broadcasts and cable

      6.14 Radio

7. Employers
APPENDIX B
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
William J. Andrews

West Coast Environmental Law Association March 26, 1992

Environmental impact assessment is, in its simplest form, a planning tool that is now generally regarded as an integral component of sound decision-making.

Justice La Forest, in the unreported Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (Minister of Transport) decision, Supreme Court of Canada No. 21890, 23 January 1992, at page 71.

Environmental assessment processes in British Columbia are due for a complete overhaul. Currently, there is a `patchwork quilt' of different procedures for proposed projects of different types and in different locations. Some are established by statute; most are not. Some provide for review by an independent panel; some rely on a committee of civil servants. Some are led by the Ministry of Environment; others are conducted by line agencies. Few, if any, allow citizens to require the holding of a public hearing. None provide funding for public participants. None foster alternative dispute resolution. Few incorporate follow-up monitoring.

All the provincial political parties support comprehensive reform of environmental assessment procedures in the province. The Ministry of Environment began work on this task prior to the October 1991 election. The newly-elected government campaigned on a promise to revamp environmental assessment procedures, and appears to be developing proposals, although at the time of writing, it has not yet publicly released them. Two main factors buttress the government's commitment. First, the current system, despite various positive aspects, is simply not as effective, efficient and fair as it could be. Second, the province must ensure that its system parallels assessment under the soon-to-be enacted Canadian Environmental Assessment Act so that provincial and federal reviews can be conducted jointly, in order to avoid duplication.

The new provincial environmental assessment process should incorporate eleven main features. First, it should be based on a new statute, amalgamating the current multiplicity of processes and providing for regulations, guidelines and codes of practice to flesh out the procedures.

Second, proposed projects that would likely cause significant adverse environmental impact should be reviewed by an impartial panel, independent of government. Citizens should have a right to insist on such a hearing, in appropriate cases.

Third, the scope of the assessment should be broadened to include the whole `life cycle' of the proposed project, the need for and alternatives to the project, any cumulative effects from the proposed project in combination with other existing activities or projects, cultural and heritage factors and, if the project is to be approved, mitigation measures and follow-up monitoring.

Fourth, mediation must be available to resolve specific factual or competing-interests disputes. As well, there should be a broad range of procedures to choose from to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and fairness in each particular case.

Fifth, in general, proponents should be charged for their use of the assessment process, in accordance with the `polluter pays principle.'

Sixth, there must be opportunities for effective public participation in environmental assessment procedures, including funding for public participants and an innovative range of provisions designed to provide actual public notice in an efficient manner.

Seventh, the province should follow the most important innovation of the new federal legislation and require follow-up monitoring. The province should bolster a weakness of the federal system by providing a clear statutory basis for the imposition, modification, monitoring and enforcement of environmental terms and conditions. Financial security provisions should be one of the compliance enforcement options.

Eighth, the revamped provincial environmental assessment system must incorporate advanced, computerized information systems. Environmental information collected during assessments must be submitted and stored in a form that makes it readily available for a host of other uses, including follow-up monitoring, state of the environment reporting, cumulative impact analysis, and assessment by federal and provincial agencies, concerned citizens and academics. Compatibility with the emerging federal computerized environmental assessment Registry is a must. Citizens, public libraries, academics and other users should participate in the design of the information system in order to ensure reasonable mechanisms for access.

Ninth, there should be more clearly defined links between the environmental assessment system and processes for land use planning, environmental regulation and administrative coordination (for example, estuary management programs).

Tenth, the types of proposed projects which require environmental assessment must be defined broadly. Special attention should be given to developing appropriate procedures for assessing small projects (for example, class assessments, expert systems) and expansions of existing facilities.

Last, but not least, the new system must begin to develop procedures for the environmental assessment of proposed policies and programs. These procedures will not be the same as those for proposed projects, but the rationale -- and the environmental value -- is the same.

In conclusion, British Columbia is on the threshold of major improvements in its environmental assessment procedures. We have the opportunity here to develop world-leading procedures to ensure that decision-making is based on full information on the environmental consequences.
APPENDIX C
Communications Revolution

Setting the background for coping with the "wave" of computerized information; we're in the midst of a communications revolution:
Federal Government Databases

In the Green Plan [(74) -- 74. . Government of Canada, Canada's Green Plan for a Healthy Environment (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1990).] the federal government has pledged "one-window" access to environmental information. By 1994 a "state-of-the-art" network is to be established to support indicator development, State of the Environment Reporting and environmental forecasting. [(75) -- 75. . Ibid. at p. 143.]

This network, while on track for 1994, is still in the conceptual stages and is expected to remain so for another six months. [(76) -- 76. . V. Neimanis of Environmental Information Systems -- State of Environment Reporting, Environment Canada, pers. comm. with L. Alexander, March 11, 1992.]

Developed by Statistics Canada, the Environmental Information System (EIS) contains a "wide variety of socio-economic data series commonly used in the analysis of environmental issues." [(77) -- 77. . "Environmental Statistics at Statistics Canada" (factsheet) (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, undated) p. 1.] The EIS is intended to serve two purposes: (i) to provide environmental data to the public; and (ii) to support the production of State of the Environment (SOE) reports as a vehicle to inform the public. [(78) -- 78. . K. Hamilton and D. Trant, "The Application of Geographic Information Systems in Canadian Environment Statistics" (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1988) p. 1.]

The EIS has the facility to combine socio-economic data collected by Statistics Canada with external environmental data in order to "provide new insights [in]to the nature of many environmental problems." [(79) -- 79. . "Environmental Statistics at Statistics Canada" (factsheet) (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, n.d.) p. 1.] A selection of data on the physical characteristics of the environment is also available. [(80) -- 80. . Ibid. at p. 2.]

Data can be organized according to geographic unit (river basin, ecological zone, soil zone, wetland zone, etc.) and by theme (agricultural practices, industrial characteristics, etc.). [(81) -- 81. . Ibid. at p. 1.] There are over 1,000 variables including population and population change, household facilities, agriculture land uses, and fertilizer and pesticide use. [(82) -- 82. . Ibid. at p. 1.] Information can be provided in table or map form, but also as a spreadsheet, ASCII file or micro-computer database. [(83) -- 83. . Ibid. at p. 2.]

The system has already been used to estimate pollution emission systems, analyze pollutants from agriculture, gauge population pressures on ecosystems, access land use change, estimate acid rain impacts and help estimate soil erosion. [(84) -- 84. . Ibid. at p. 1.] Federal Government Environmental Database Reference

The Federal Government Environmental Database Reference (FGEDR), a joint project of Statistics Canada and the State of the Environment Reporting Branch ("SOER") of Environment Canada, is a summary description of approximately 500 databases or sets held by various federal departments that could be used in State of the Environment reporting. [(85) -- 85. . B. Mitchell, Environmental Section, Statistics Canada, letter dated March 16, 1992 to D. Mahony.] A diskette version that will facilitate keyword searches is also in preparation. [(86) -- 86. . "Statistics Canada's Environmental Information System" (factsheet) (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, n.d.) p. 4.]

SOER released a report in August of 1989 detailing 55 databases available through Environment Canada's Conservation and Protection Branch. [(87) -- 87. . C.K. Keddy and T. McRae, Environmental Databases for State of the Environment Reporting: Conservation and Protection Headquarters, Report No. 9 (Ottawa: Environment Canada, 1989).] This report provides information on how to access information, on the range of data within each database, on cost, and on any restrictions on public use. At the time this report was written, seven databases were either available to the public on-line or in the process of being on-line. [(88) -- 88. . AQUAREF, D REF, Industrial Water Use, Ocean Dumping Permit System, National Water Quality Database, Chemical Evaluation Database, and CCREM Environmental Protection Research and Development Database.] Two were available on floppy disk, [(89) -- 89. . Bird Banding and Recovery and Chemical Profiles Database -- Schedule II, Transportation of Dangerous Goods.] and one was available on datatape. [(90) -- 90. . Importance of Wildlife to Canadians (data from a sample of 100,000 Canadians of their wildlife related utilization and expenditures, based on a questionnaire circulated nationally by Statistics Canada).] The rest were only accessible through the organization which is responsible for them.

The Inland Waters, Coastal and Ocean Information Network (ICOIN) is being developed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans ("DFO") to computerize and network huge amounts of scientific and survey data that has been collected since the last century about inland waters, coastal and ocean areas of interest to Canada. [(91) -- 91. . Hank Jones, ICOIN Program Office, fax to L. Alexander, March 30, 1992.] An interagency management board made up representatives from the Marine Environmental Data Services Branch, the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the University of New Brunswick have been charged with the responsibility of bringing ICOIN up "to the level of self-sustained growth" within three years.

Part of the strategic plan for information in the Department of Justice is the Online Access to Regulations and Statutes (OARS) project. The primary goal of OARS is to improve the access of legal information to legislative drafters who require up-to-date information concerning statutes and regulations. [(92) -- 92. . Mark Gingerich, Department of Justice, pers. comm. with D. Mahony, March 11, 1992.] The second phase of their development plan calls for greater public access, and a review of the project -- including a discussion of public access -- is expected in June or July of this year.

The ELIAS database offers access to the holdings of fifteen libraries participating in the Environment Canada Departmental Library Network, and a collection of libraries from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The collections include serials, monographs, conference proceedings and technical reports. [(93) -- 93. . Publication unknown, but it appears to be available on CAN/OLE.] The database is produced by Environment Canada and it is available on-line through CAN/OLE.

The new Pest Management Alternatives Office (PMAO), established by the federal government as part of the new regulatory system for pesticides has been charged with a mandate to support the integration of pest management with the broader goals of environmental sustainability. The PMAO will attempt to meet that mandate, in part, by "generating and enhancing computerized information bases on alternative pest management strategies and on national and international pest management research projects." [(94) -- 94. . Government of Canada, News Release and Backgrounder (February 3, 1992).]

A number of databases are accessible through the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (the "IRPTC"). The objective of these databases is "to disseminate information on the toxicity and behaviour of chemicals and information on chemical regulation on a world-wide basis." [(95) -- 95. . R. Whittaker, "International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC) Database: Workshop on Canadian Chemical Information Systems" (Ottawa: Health and Welfare Canada, 1989) p. 1.]

Canadian provincial and federal regulatory information related to chemicals is available on-line through the IRPTC in a database called the Combined Legal Database. Health and Welfare Canada has recently added 6,000 new entries relating to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, [(96) -- 96. . Canadian Environmental Protection Act, RSC 1985, c.16 (4th supp.).] the Hazardous Products Act [(97) -- 97. . Hazardous Products Act, RSC 1985, c.H-3.] dealing with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), the Food and Drugs Act, [(98) -- 98. . Food and Drugs Act, RSC 1985, c.F-27.] the Pest Control Products Act, [(99) -- 99. . Pest Control Products Act, RSC 1985, c.P-9.] the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, [(100) -- 100. . Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, RSC 1985, c.T-19.] and the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (1989). International regulatory information from twelve countries and six international organizations is also available through this database. [(101) -- 101. . R. Whittaker, Health and Welfare Canada, letter to subscribers of the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals dated January 20, 1992.]

Other databases available through the IRPTC include the Mammalian Toxicity Database, the Special Toxicity Studies Databases, the Chemobiokinetics Databases, the Environmental Fate and Pathways into the Environment Database, and the Identifiers, Production, Processes and Waste Databases.

Industry, Science and Technology Canada offers the Business Opportunities Sourcing System (BOSS) -- an on-line database which enables domestic and international subscribers to locate Canadian suppliers, market intelligence and market opportunities. BOSS contains more than 25,000 profiles of Canadian companies including environmental consultants, research and development establishments and agrologists. [(102) -- 102. . BOSS: Business Opportunities Sourcing System (pamphlet)(Ottawa: Industry, Science and Technology Canada, n.d.).]

The National Library of Canada offers the Online Information Service which provides selective online bibliographies or full-text articles focusing on Canadian studies. [(103) -- 103. . National Library of Canada, "Online Information Services at the National Library of Canada" (Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services, 1991).] Research services in the social sciences and humanities are also offered covering the areas of education, history, psychology, business, and law and public affairs.

The Library is starting to get government publication listings on CD-ROM which are continually updated, and they have the ability to, upon request, conduct extensive on-line searches on over 70 databases from around the world. [(104) -- 104. . Ann Pichora, National Library of Canada, pers. comm. with D. Mahony, March 11, 1992.]

Requests for information relating to medicine, science and technology are referred to a similar service offered by the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI). [(105) -- 105. . National Library of Canada, "Online Information Services at the National Library of Canada" (Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services, 1991).]

The Office of the Leader of the Opposition has created a publicly accessible database of the Leader's speeches, remarks, public agendas, released background papers, caucus releases and other material. [(106) -- 106. . Office of the Leader of the Opposition, "Memorandum Re: Announcing the OLO Bulletin Board Service" January 13, 1992.]
Provincial Databases

BCOnline is an information service that provides on-line access to multiple government registry databases including the Land Title Registry, Personal Property Registry, Companies Registry, Rural Taxation Registry, and the BC Assessment Authority Registry.

By 1993, targeted ministries will have the capability to electronically access land-related data from across the province. [(107) -- 107. . BC Lands Connector Report on land-related data sharing developments in British Columbia (Victoria: BC Lands GLIDE Unit, Spring 1992). CLISP spokesperson Hally D. Hofmeyr at a Globe '92 conference on March 18, 1992 said that within a year there will be 12 user access terminals in various parts of the province.] It is part of British Columbia's Corporate Land Information Strategic Plan (CLISP) endorsed by Cabinet in 1989. [(108) -- 108. . Hally D. Hofmeyr, address to Globe '92 conference in Vancouver on March 18, 1992.] CLISP is expected to include the Cadastral Data Management System (CDMS) which will have digital reference maps depicting all primary legal parcels and Crown land tenures in the province; Terrain Resource Information Management (TRIM) which is a detailed topographic database with information about B.C.'s forests, rivers, mountains, roads, gas pipelines and towns; [(109) -- 109. . "Terrain Resource Information Management: Land Management at Your Fingertips" (brochure) BC Environment, Lands and Parks, Surveys and Resource Mappings Branch.] and administrative boundary data. [(110) -- 110. . BC Lands Connector Report on land related data sharing developments in British Columbia (Victoria: BC Lands GLIDE Unit, Spring 1992).]

To facilitate the sharing of electronic land information the BC government has developed the Land Information Management Framework (LIMF) to provide government standards and policies with respect to data, applications and technology, and have developed the Land Information Infrastructure (LII) which includes a common information language and a common query language. [(111) -- 111. . Ibid. ]

BC Environment, Lands and Parks are developing the Waste Permit Data Base (WASTE). The WASTE system is a centrally-based permit administration computer system used to track, monitor and assess the impacts of contaminants discharged into the environment. [(112) -- 112. . "BC Environment, Lands and Parks -- Information Note" (Victoria: Environmental Management Department, December 13, 1991) p. 1.] It was implemented in 1989 to address all aspects of permit management information including processing, permit issuance, compliance management and monitoring.

The Ministry is currently undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of WASTE, but among the potential enhancements being considered is the capability to produce the provincial "Non-compliance" list and automatic permit compliance assessment by linking WASTE directly to lab results. [(113) -- 113. . Ibid. at p. 2.]
Private Vendors

Some materials produced by private legal publishing houses are now available electronically. CAN/LAW offers on-line many of the materials published by Canada Law Book and Western Legal Publications including the Dominion Law Reports, Canadian Criminal Cases, Canadian Patent Reporter, All Canada Weekly Summaries, Weekly Criminal Bulletin, and the digests published by Western Legal Publications. [(114) -- 114. . J.A.C. Blenkin and R.T. Franson (eds.) Searching Canadian Law Online (Vancouver: Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, 1991) p. 8.] Two other services of note are a bulletin board service which, among other things, makes available Supreme Court of Canada decisions as soon as they are issued, and "FirstCite" which produces the complete judicial history of any case for which that Canada Law Book has a record. [(115) -- 115. . Ibid.]

Quicklaw is a legal information system operated by QL Systems which offers public access to a number of full text, headnote and summary databases including Canadian court decisions, administrative board decisions, statutes, regulations and constitutional documents, secondary legal materials, British and Commonwealth court decisions, and United States law. [(116) -- 116. . QL Systems Limited - Canadian Legal Databases (Toronto: QL Systems, 1991) p. 1.] Quicklaw also makes available the Federal Regulatory Plan, federal annual budgets, Hansard transcripts, and the Auditor General's annual report. [(117) -- 117. . H.C. Campbell, ESPIAL Canadian Database Directory (Toronto: Espial Productions, 1989/90) pp. 47-9.]

Quicklaw offers access to two Environment Canada databases from the Inland Waters Directorate. Canadian Environment has bibliographic records and abstracts of scientific and technical literature, and Environment is the French language version of that database. [(118) -- 118. . Ibid at p. 36.]

Other French language services are offered on-line by SOQUIJ including judgments in full or summary form of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Quebec Court of Appeal, the Quebec Superior Court and Provincial Court of Quebec. SOQUIJ also offers lists of land registry offices and land transactions, the Revised Statutes of Quebec, and currently applicable Regulations. [(119) -- 119. . Ibid at pp. 39, 42, 48.]

The Environmental Enterprise Centre in Victoria will soon be offering the Canadian Environmental Overview (CEO) Library. Initiated with some grant funding from Environment Canada, this resource will be available by subscription in disk form and will be updated periodically. [(120) -- 120. . Kimberley Stratford, project manager of the Environmental Enterprise Centre, pers. comm. with L. Alexander, March 3, 1992.] Promoted as offering "comprehensive overviews of environmental issues and resources," [(121) -- 121. . Environmental Enterpriser (Victoria: Environmental Enterprise Centre, March 1992) p. 2.] CEO will provide profiles of government administrators, federal and provincial programs, environmental executives of major corporations, Canadian companies engaged in the environmental industries, and environmental experts. [(122) -- 122. . Ibid. at p. 3.]

It will contain abstracts of publications from Environment Canada, other federal agencies, provincial environment ministries, university libraries and international sources. Also offered are directories of environmental trade organizations, environmental media contacts, major treatment and storage facilities and R&D facilities, as well as overviews of major projects and incidents, and bibliographic references of relevant federal and provincial legislation. [(123) -- 123. . Ibid. at p. 3.]

Two other services of note are environmental profiles of Canadian cities and community environmental success stories. The latter are described as stories from "hundreds of cities and towns that have achieved environmental success in waste management, recycling, urban greenery, energy conservation, waste water, and green space retention," [(124) -- 124. . Ibid. at p. 2.] and this information will potentially include project overviews, contacts, budgets and studies. [(125) -- 125. . Ibid. at p. 2.]

Conservation Data Centres (CDCs) are continually updated, computer assisted inventories of the biological and ecological features and biodiversity preservation of the country or region in which they are located. A project of the Nature Conservancy, they are designed to "assist in conservation planning, natural resource management, environmental impact assessment and planning for sustainable development.

Information available through CDCs include: ecosystems and species, their biology, habitats, locations, conservation status and management needs; managed areas such as National Parks, Forest Reserves, and watersheds; and data sources.

CDCs are located in all 50 U.S. states, in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. [(126) -- 126. . K. Carr, Nature Conservancy - Science Division, Arlington Virginia, pers. comm. with D. Mahony, March 11, 1992.] Most programs have now been incorporated into the various state agencies responsible for environmental matters. In B.C., the project costs are split equally between the Province and the Conservancy, and there are plans to have several on-line access terminals for government agencies located throughout the province to facilitate government decision-making and public access.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) offers the CD-ROM library CCINFOdisc, which provides information about occupational health and safety ("OH&S"). CCINFOdisc offers access to over 50 databases, some of which are in French. [(127) -- 127. . Facts about CCINFOdisc (Hamilton: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 1992).]

The CCINFOdisc library contains a wide variety of legal, scientific and resource information. The legal information offered includes references to relevant acts and regulations and summaries of cases and decisions relating to OH&S. [(128) -- 128. . Ibid. Other examples of legal information offered are: regulatory information on the labelling, packaging and shipping requirements of hazardous materials with recognized shipping names; and information identifying and describing products registered in Canada under the Pest Control Products Act.]

The scientific information includes Material Safety Data Sheets; information on pure chemicals, natural substances and mixtures which result from industrial processes; information on chemicals of environmental concern including physical-chemical properties, acute and chronic toxicity to humans, experimental animals, plants and aquatic life, and environmental fate processes; and lists of chemicals on the Domestic Substances List (DSL) and on the Non-Domestic Substances List (NDSL). [(129) -- 129. . Ibid. Other examples of scientific information are: Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets; health or environmental effects associated with the production and use of nickel; a Pest Management Research Information System which includes experimental pest control products, maximum residue limits of registered pest control products, basic information about releases of parasitic and predatory insects to control noxious insects and weeds, full results of efficacy testing of pest control products; non-ionizing radiation measurements of specific types of equipment; and rapid cross-reference to the various synonyms in use for specific research pest control products.]

Resources on the CCINFOdisc library includes directories of Canadian and international organizations, resource people and recent studies in the field of OH&S, as well as Canadian and international bibliographic references in various health and safety areas. [(130) -- 130. . Ibid. Other examples of resource information are: annotated references to documents published in Canada about Canadian subjects or by Canadian authors; information about the circumstances surrounding occupationally related fatalities; noise level measurements in actual work situations and directories of standards and certified products.]

SilverPlatter Information of Norwood, Massachusetts publishes and distributes over 70 databases on CD-ROM. [(131) -- 131. . SilverPlatter Information Directory of CD-ROM Databases 1992 (Norwood, Massachusetts: SilverPlatter Information, Inc., 1992).] Six databases are described as relating to "health, safety and the environment": CHEM-BANK which contains data on over 110,000 potentially hazardous chemicals; EINECS Plus which is a European inventory of dangerous substances; OSH-ROM which contains international bibliographic information on occupational health and safety; PEST-BANK which covers currently registered U.S. pesticides used in agriculture; The Environment Library which has over 300,000 environment-related sources for research purposes; TOXLINE Plus which contains abstracts from toxicological literature; and Water Resources Abstracts which contains citations and abstracts concerned with the development, management, and research of water resources.

Bowker Electronic Publishing of New Jersey produces Energy Information, Acid Rain, and Environment Abstract which all contain abstracts of related publications for research purposes. [(132) -- 132. . CD-ROMs in Print 1990 (Wesport CT: Meckler Corporation, 1990) pp. 62-3.]

In Canadian Law Online, Carswell Publishing offers online the digest information and judicial treatment presently available in the Canadian Abridgment. [(133) -- 133. . "Canadian Law Online" (brochure) (Scarborough: Carswell, 1992).] In addition to searching for digests of judgments dating back to 1803 and updated bi-weekly, Canadian Law Online can also "note-up" a particular judgment, providing a history of that case and its "later judicial treatments."

CCH Canadian Ltd. is now offering, on disk or in CD-ROM format, the consolidated versions of both the Income Tax Act [(134) -- 134. . Income Tax Act, SC 1970 - 71 -72, c.63, as amended.] and the Income Tax Regulations, and access to current Interpretation Bulletins, Information Bulletins and Advance Tax Rulings.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) offers some of its recent publications -- including World Energy Statistics and Balances, and Monthly Oil and Gas Statistics -- in either diskette or magnetic tape formats. [(135) -- 135. . OECD Publications Catalogue 1991 (Paris: the OECD, 1991).]

Infoglobe offers an index to over 100 periodicals, full texts of Parliamentary budget speeches, ways and means motions, and budget papers from the federal government and selected provincial governments. They also provide full texts of documents from main Canadian federal departments, including the Department of Finance, executive and legislative Orders in Council, and the status of Bills and Orders in Council. [(136) -- 136. . H.C. Campbell, ESPIAL Canadian Database Directory (Toronto: Espial Productions, 1989/90) pp. 40, 46-8.]

The LIST Foundation provides trial decisions, appeal court rulings, sentencing case texts and related materials for criminal lawyers, and a database of all relevant laws from the U.S. and Canada having an impact on international trade. [(137) -- 137. . Ibid. at pp. 44-5.]

The Citizen's Enquiry Bureau has information available on-line about Ontario government programs and services. [(138) -- 138. . Ibid. at p. 48.] Infometrica offers Publinet, an on-line full text reporting service on a wide range of Canadian economic conditions and policies of federal and provincial governments. [(139) -- 139. . Ibid. at p. 49.]

DIALOG provides PAIS Online which is intended to cover public affairs and public policy on social, economic and political problems based on materials prepared in Canada or by Canadians. [(140) -- 140. . Ibid. ]
Communication

The WEB computer network is a global communications system designed to serve the needs of the environmental, peace, international development, social justice and social services communities through the use of e-mail, electronic conferencing and a user directory. [(141) -- 141. . WEB Users Manual (Toronto: WEB, 1990) p. i.] The WEB is just one example of many communication systems located worldwide. [(142) -- 142. . The WEB is a member network of the Association for Progressive Communications. The Association boasts membership from similar networks in Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Ecuador, Russia, England, Italy Nicaragua, Sweden, Australia, and the United States. The U.S. communication systems include PeaceNet, EcoNet and ConflictNet. [Source: Institute for Global Communications Net News Volume VI, Number 2, February 1992, p. 2.]]

Two University of Oregon law professors have designed an electronic infrastructure called E-LAW, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, which uses these communications systems to facilitate the exchange of environmental legal information between 25 countries including the former Soviet Union, Panama, Nicaragua, Chile, New Zealand, Uruguay and Venezuela. [(143) -- 143. . S. Lewis, "Eco-Lawyers Global Network Expands Via Computer" ENS Daily Environment News Service, Vol. III No. 51, March 16, 1992, p. 1.]

End of Information Systems For the Turnaround Decade