Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (S.C. 1992, c. 37).

The purposes of this Act are: (a) to ensure that the environmental effects of projects receive careful consideration before responsible authorities take actions in connection with them; (b) to encourage responsible authorities to take actions that promote sustainable development and thereby achieve or maintain a healthy environment and a healthy economy; (c) to ensure that responsible authorities carry out their responsibilities in a coordinated manner with a view to eliminating unnecessary duplication in the environmental assessment process;(d) to ensure that projects that are to be carried out in Canada or on federal lands do not cause significant adverse environmental effects outside the jurisdictions in which the projects are carried out; and (e) to ensure that there be an opportunity for public participation in the environmental assessment process (sect. 4).
Section 5 describes projects that require environment assessment by federal authorities. Sections 14 and following provide for the environmental assessment process. It includes: (a) a screening or comprehensive study and the preparation of a screening report or a comprehensive study report; (b) a mediation or assessment by a review panel and the preparation of a report; and (c) the design and implementation of a follow-up program. Projects may be referred to a mediator or a review panel under section 29. Section 39 provides for a certificate that states that an environmental assessment of a project has been carried out.