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Environmental Law Centre: Municipalities and Environmental Assessment- A Model Bylaw and Primer

This new tool is available to help municipalities integrate environmental assessment into decision-making and planning processes.

Local land use and planning decisions made by municipalities play an essential role in the management and protection of Alberta’s environment. Environmental assessments (EA) improve decision-making by facilitating consideration of environmental, social, cultural, and economic impacts of proposed land uses at the municipal planning and individual project decision levels.

This publication was created by the Environmental Law Centre, developed as part of the Community Conserve Initiative, is aimed at assisting municipalities integrate EA into decision-making and planning processes.

This kit includes a Model EA Bylaw includes a template for addressing objectives, application of the bylaw, process, prohibitions, and definitions and a Primer to provide more information on municipal authority over environmental matters and EA.

The model and primer, as well as detailed information in this joint initiative between Miistakis Institute and the Environmental Law Centre, with the support of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) can be found on the Community Conserve website.