Climate Change Considerations for the Port Hope Area Initiative

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency\´s Guidance Document "Incorporating Climate Change Considerations in Environmental Assessment: General Guidance for Practitioners" has been used to determine the potential environmental effects from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change parameters on the construction and management of a Long-Term (approximately 500 years) Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Facility (referred to as the LTWMF) in each of the Port Hope and Port Granby communities. These studies, which included the use of both General Circulation Models (GCMs) and analogue scenarios, were undertaken for these two Projects, as part of the Environmental Screening process under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act The Port Hope and Port Granby Projects will contribute to Ontario\´s GHG emission inventory due to vehicle exhaust from excavation equipment and haul trucks during the construction phase of the LTWMFs. The construction phase of the Projects is of relatively short duration, and the contribution of GHGs from each Project was determined to be insignificant compared to Ontario\´s GHG emissions from the Construction and Transportations sectors. The proposed Project elements associated with the Port Hope and Port Granby Projects were each evaluated with respect to potential sensitivities to future change in climate parameters. Considering the potential changes to climate, a screening analysis of each element of the LTWMFs was undertaken. Because it is considered likely that the current design level storms will be exceeded within the next 500 years, it was determined that the stormwater management system was potentially sensitive to changes in climate. Regardless, the potential sensitivity is not considered to pose a potential risk to the public or environment.