Alberta needs a new science-based environmental commission to manage the impacts of industrial development, a provincial panel reports.
The Alberta Environmental Monitoring Panel released its final report Tuesday on how to create a world-class eco-monitoring system for the province. The province struck the expert panel this January in response to ongoing criticism of its management of the oilsands.
Alberta's environmental monitoring system is not set up to track the cumulative impacts of development, the report reads. "Monitoring organizations suffer from inadequate funding, weak scientific direction, and a general lack of resources," it continues, and aren't able to get a true picture of the state of the environment.
The report calls for a new science-based system managed by a permanent arms-length Environmental Monitoring Commission that would track environmental trends throughout Alberta.
The panel isn't saying all current programs should be rolled up into some super-agency, says panel co-chair Hal Kvisle. "What we're proposing is that a commission be created that would organize all of this and make sure that these different programs are focused on a consistent set of objectives and that we really get the best environmental monitoring data we can."
That's a great idea, says David Spink, a St. Albert air quality scientist who testified before the panel, but this has to go beyond simple research. "It has to feed into a regulatory framework."
Pulling it together
Alberta Environment used to do a decent job of monitoring, says Spink, who spent 25 years with the department, but it was gutted by cuts a few decades ago. Monitoring efforts got passed to industry-backed groups and the government lost its credibility.
This report is not a scathing indictment of the province's monitoring efforts, Kvisle says. "Some of the most sophisticated environmental monitoring programs that occur anywhere in the world are in place here already," he notes, but they need to be expanded and organized.
The commission, which would be appointed by the province but operate at arm's-length from it, would be responsible for monitoring and analyzing environmental conditions throughout Alberta, the report reads. The commission would start its work in the Lower Athabasca region before moving on to the rest of the province.
The commission would put credible, easy-to-use data on the state of the environment on the Internet for everyone to see, says panellist and St. Albert resident Warren Kindzierski, giving government and the public the tools they need to make — and lobby for — effective regulation. Actual enforcement would still be a provincial responsibility.
The report calls for the commission to be backed by steady funding, but isn't clear on the source. It also calls for a science advisory panel and aboriginal participation.
Good idea if it happens
The province is still reviewing the report, said Environment Minister Rob Renner and has yet to accept its recommendations. "We have no intention of leaving this report on a shelf," he says, but he offered no timeline for its implementation.
It will be years before the commission is fully up and running, Kvisle says, but "the initial steps should be taken in a matter of months." He calls for the swift creation of an interim council that would start work on the Lower Athabasca immediately.
The real test of the province's commitment to these recommendations will come when it appoints the commission, Spink says. "If there's any hint that politics is at play here, I think the credibility of the whole thing will be lost right off the bat."
The panel's report is available at http://environment.alberta.ca/03289.html.
