Environmental Impact Assessment

Management Planning

Bellevue House National Historic Site of Canada Management Plan

As part of the management planning programme, an environmental assessment (EA) was undertaken of both existing and proposed facilities and services. The requirement to identify any adverse environmental effects is established in a number of federal government policies and directives, including the 1999Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, 1999). The term ‘environmental effects’ includes impacts not only on the natural environment but the cultural and socio-economic environment as well.

To quote from the environmental assessment:

• The existing activities/operations/uses on site have no significant negative impact on the key components of the natural, cultural or socio-economic environments, as the integrity of the environment is forefront in any decision-making. In addition, there are no identifiable sources of stress emanating from the proposed activities/concepts in the Plan. The activities and concepts, both existing and proposed, can only be looked at as positive and supportive of the overall goals of the site. Where positive impacts are anticipated, these have been mentioned in the EA. Many of these statements regarding the management and protection of the resources, [are] forward-moving initiatives to enhance the management and protection strategies already in place....
• No physical works have actually been proposed. Should the option to build an addition onto the existing Visitor Centre go ahead, a project specific EA would be required to identify any potential environmental impacts.
• Monitoring in the traditional sense is not required, given the absence of anticipated impacts. While establishment of a feedback mechanism is likely not required either, there is a commitment to ensure that archaeological resources on site not currently under threat, remain as such....
• The Plan initiatives contribute to the commemorative integrity of the site and clearly demonstrate adherence to Parks Canada’s cultural resource management goals and objectives. In so doing, they should enable the site to achieve its vision for Bellevue House.