National Environmental Assessment Tracking System NEATS 27 th

National Environmental Assessment Tracking System (NEATS) 27 th Annual Conference International Association for Impact Assessment 1 Seoul, Korea June 3 -9, 2007

Presentation Outline • NEATS project • • • History and background Feasibility Study /IEATS Timelines Phase I Advantages/Benefits Phase II, III • NEATS Vision 2

NEATS project History and background In 2004 the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) was transferred from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to Transport Canada (TC). NWPA authorizations is a regulatory trigger listed under the Law List Regulations of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) 3

NEATS project History and background Implications for TC of the NWPA transfer: • TC has become a major player in federal EA in Canada • Significant increase in EA completed yearly • Complexity • Diversity • Level of resource • Operational adjustments This resulted in the requirement to improve efficiency of EA operations and the overall information management capacity. 4

NEATS project History and background Before NWPA After NWPA 5

NEATS project History and background TC National Environmental Assessment Workshop • A Working Group was created • NEATS development was planned in multiple development Phases: • Feasibility study and Interim EA Tracking System (IEATS) • Followed by the NEATS development Phase I, II • A feasibility study was initiated to evaluate: • Existing applications from other department, and • Developing a new application • An interim (IEATS) system was developed to respond to immediate needs for information management 6

NEATS project History and background • Working group: • Regional offices staff Vancouver • HQ Programs staff Canada Moncton • NEATS developers: • • Group lead by HQ-EA Assisted by HQ-IT Consultant Working group members Winnipeg Vancouver Winnipeg Montréal Ottawa Toronto Moncton USA Buy-in of future NEATS users Source: Vascutec 7

NEATS project Feasibility study We did not want to reinvent the wheel! • The feasibility study evaluated existing tracking system form TC and from the following department: • Natural Resources Canada; Environment Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Indian and Northern Affairs Canada • 3 options identified as feasible by the Study • Working group decided to use the Environment Canada tracking system as a starting point for NEATS development 8

NEATS project Timelines March 2004: Transfer of NWPA October 2004: TC-National EA Workshop November 2004: End of Transition Period March 2005: IEATS April 2005: Completion of Feasibility Study June 2005: Working group decision on Feasibility Study August 2005: Transfer of tracking system from Environment Canada 9

NEATS project Timelines Year 2006 -07: • Administrative processes to develop/implement new system; • Development and pre-production testing of NEATS • Development and testing of the bulk data Transfer Tool. April 2007: Phase I placed into production, live on TC network. June 2007: • EA Officers national training sessions; • Transfer of data from IEATS, closing of IEATS. 2007 -08: Phase II 2008 -09: Phase III 10

NEATS project Phase I Basic project information tracking with additional capacities: • Automated translation in both official languages: • Translation contract in place • Link to guidance documents: • TC and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency • Project file: • Link to RDIMS (TC document management system) • E-mails, letters, studies, reports, maps, etc. • Project library • Project consultation tracking and monitoring • Internal/external • Automated timeline functions of CEAA process • Search function 11

NEATS project Current advantage/benefits • National Consistency • Time saving, Quality and Consistency of project information • Drop down menus • Requirement for minimum project information • Project information stored in same location • NEATS and RDIMS • Accessible to all users regionally and nationally 12

NEATS project Phase II • Increase Reporting Capacity • General statistical reports: number of EAs per region / given time frame / trigger, etc. • Canadian Environment Assessment Agency annual report • Create EA Screening/Class Screening Reports • Increase the Search tool capacity • Task log book • Staff turn over/leaves • Tracking Staff hours worked on project: (? ) • Resource justification 13

NEATS project Phase III Integration: • Other TC Environmental IT System under development: • The Environmental Information System (GIS) • Contaminated sites, EMS, Storage Tanks, Real Property, etc. • The NWPA database • Site pictures, maps, detailed design drawings • The Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry 14

NEATS Vision • Buy-in! • Moved from a Tracking System to an integrated Information Management System • Evolving and adapting to changing needs • Useful to EA officers daily work • Improve TC EA operations 15

Thank you! Hugo Gherbavaz Senior Environmental Assessment Advisor Transport Canada gherbah@tc. gc. ca (613)-993 -6391 16