Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Territorial context of the project
In the Chutes-de-la-Chaudière-Ouest borough, the route would go mainly through
wooded areas. Once across the rivière Chaudière, the route would go along a Hydro-
Québec easement crossing 2 km of a large plot of forest belonging to the Société
Stadacona. The route would then continue to the Sainte-Anne Ouest road, along the
right bank of the rivière Beaurivage, it would cross that river, and then go to the
delivery station at Saint-Nicolas. In the last section of the route, in addition to crossing
the rivière Beaurivage, the route would cross five roads, a bicycle path along a Hydro-
Québec right-of-way, and thirteen minor waterways (PR3.4.2, p. 7.1 to 7.3).
♦ Finding — The Panel found that the projected natural gas pipeline would go mainly
through rural lands, crossing many waterways, including the rivières Etchemin,
Chaudière, and Beaurivage. It would follow the rights-of-way for linear infrastructures
over a large section of the route.
Land use planning and management
The legislative and regulatory framework for land use planning is established under
the Act respecting Land Use Planning and Development (R.S.Q, c. A-19.1), that sets
forth the principle to the effect that land use planning and development decisions are
political in nature. The Act defines the planning and development management
instruments and prescribes consultation mechanisms for citizens at different stages in
the planning process. Application of the land use planning and development
regulations is the responsibility of the MRCs and local municipalities. For the Montreal
and the Québec metropolitan areas, where land use planning and development
issues justify it, the government created metropolitan community authorities called
communautés métropolitaines.
Under the Act, each MRC is obliged to maintain in force a land use planning and
development plan providing the main guidelines for development of the territory. In
order to foster discussion of common issues among adjacent MRCs, the Act
stipulates that each MRC should inform the neighbouring MRCs of any proposal to
modify or revise the plan. It also allows two MRCs to request the creation by decree of
a joint land use development commission where the issues of development of interest
to both can be discussed, such as projects located along their common limits.
Land use and applicable by-laws
The proposed LNG terminal would represent a new use in a sector currently occupied
by agricultural activities and low-density residential and cottage uses. The Master Plan
in force in Ville-Guay is the one of the former MRC de Desjardins, adopted in 1987. The
98 Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure