Town of Banff Community Plan - Strategic Environmental Assessment
The Canada National Parks Act requires all national park communities to have a community plan. Community plans are long range documents that outline a vision for what the community should look like in the future, followed by direction on how to achieve that vision. The Town of Banff is currently updating their community plan, with the second phase of the plan engagement underway.
To assess the positive and negative environmental impacts and understand the potential for cumulative effects, a strategic environmental assessment on the Town of Banff Community Plan is required. The strategic environmental assessment (SEA) will provide the opportunity to incorporate environmental considerations, particularly cumulative effects considerations, while the plan is still under development. This will support environmentally sound land use and development decisions. Through the incorporation of these decisions into the Town of Banff Community Plan, the SEA becomes the evidence that demonstrates how the plan:
Is consistent with the Banff National Park of Canada Management Plan;
Is consistent with the principles of no net negative environmental impact;
Is consistent with responsible environmental stewardship; and
Ensures the ecological integrity of Banff National Park is maintained or improved by implementation of the plan.
In the first step of this engagement process, Parks Canada is seeking feedback from all Canadians on the draft Terms of Reference for the SEA. The Terms of Reference will provide the parameters of what the Town of Banff will need to assess in the SEA.
Once the Terms of Reference have been finalized, Parks Canada and the Town of Banff will seek further public and Indigenous input on the draft SEA as well as the draft Community Plan. Feedback from these processes will be used to inform changes to both the SEA and the Town of Banff Community Plan. Based on the findings of the final SEA, Parks Canada will make a determination on the significance of impacts.
The Canada National Parks Act requires all national park communities to have a community plan. Community plans are long range documents that outline a vision for what the community should look like in the future, followed by direction on how to achieve that vision. The Town of Banff is currently updating their community plan, with the second phase of the plan engagement underway.
To assess the positive and negative environmental impacts and understand the potential for cumulative effects, a strategic environmental assessment on the Town of Banff Community Plan is required. The strategic environmental assessment (SEA) will provide the opportunity to incorporate environmental considerations, particularly cumulative effects considerations, while the plan is still under development. This will support environmentally sound land use and development decisions. Through the incorporation of these decisions into the Town of Banff Community Plan, the SEA becomes the evidence that demonstrates how the plan:
Is consistent with the Banff National Park of Canada Management Plan;
Is consistent with the principles of no net negative environmental impact;
Is consistent with responsible environmental stewardship; and
Ensures the ecological integrity of Banff National Park is maintained or improved by implementation of the plan.
In the first step of this engagement process, Parks Canada is seeking feedback from all Canadians on the draft Terms of Reference for the SEA. The Terms of Reference will provide the parameters of what the Town of Banff will need to assess in the SEA.
Once the Terms of Reference have been finalized, Parks Canada and the Town of Banff will seek further public and Indigenous input on the draft SEA as well as the draft Community Plan. Feedback from these processes will be used to inform changes to both the SEA and the Town of Banff Community Plan. Based on the findings of the final SEA, Parks Canada will make a determination on the significance of impacts.
