The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board is announcing opportunities for public comment into the Western Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area Strategic Environmental Assessment Update.

The C-NLOPB published a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for a portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence offshore western Newfoundland in December 2005 and amended it in November 2007.

A SEA is a broad-based approach to examining the potential environmental implications of a proposed program or policy decision. The results of a SEA are used to assist the Board in its decision to issue exploration licenses for marine areas within the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area. The C-NLOPB is updating the Western Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area SEA with the assistance of a Working Group made up of representatives from federal and provincial government departments and agencies and One Ocean; a liaison organization for the fishing and petroleum sectors which provide a forum to enhance mutual knowledge and understanding between the two industries.

AMEC Environment & Infrastructure has been engaged by the C-NLOPB to prepare the SEA Update and to conduct public consultation sessions in locations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence region, including Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Magdalen Islands, and the Quebec north shore.

Detailed information regarding public Open House sessions is available on the C-NLOPB website and will be published in newspapers and through radio and TV stations.

All written responses will be posted to the C-NLOPB website in the language in which they are provided. Submissions will not be treated as confidential, but all identifying information will be removed except the name under which the documents were submitted.

If a third party is to be referenced in the documentation, the respondent should first obtain the consent of any third party before making the submission to the C-NLOPB.

The C-NLOPB takes no responsibility in relation to the content of the documentation provided by respondents.

The Board reserves the right to withhold from publication comments that are deemed to be spam or unrelated to the Western Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area SEA Update.

Comments received during the public consultation process will be considered in the preparation of a draft SEA Update. The draft SEA Update will be made available to the public for review and comment.

Written comments can be sent to the address below or via email to information@cnlopb.nl.ca.

Elizabeth Young
Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board
5th Floor, TD Place,
140 Water Street
St. John’s, NL
A1C 6H6

MEDIA CONTACT:
Sean Kelly M.A.,APR, FCPRS
Manager of Public Relations
(709) 778-1418
(709) 689-0713 (cell)
skelly@cnlopb.nl.ca