Overview

• Fifteen requirements once needed at application are now deferred as conditions to be met during project stages to streamline initial submissions
• A new 10-member large industrial file team has been established to manage and fast-track mining approval files
• Environment Minister Tim Halman says the reforms will cut red tape and uphold existing environmental protections
• Industrial approvals continue to allow up to 60 days from application to ministerial decision under the revised process
• Opposition NDP and environmental groups contend the revisions reduce transparency and weaken community and Mi’kmaq consultation