Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Territorial context of the project
The industrial and port vocation of the Ville-Guay sector was maintained in most of the
proposals to revise the land-use plan, except for the proposal dated December 2004,
that does not show the designated industry and port perimeter either in the map of
designated uses or in the map of infrastructures. The text of that proposal nonetheless
mentions the industry and port potential of the Ville-Guay sector (DC86.1).
In the most recent development plan proposal, the one Lévis adopted on February 5,
2007, the lands with the proponent’s option to buy on them are known as “Parc
industriel Lévis-Est”. The transportation infrastructure map includes a sketch of the
LNG terminal project in a reference box with the mention “tentative, this project is now
under study”. The area designated for industrial use appears limited to the LNG
terminal facilities (DB105, Map 2). That is in line with a statement by the legal advisor
of Lévis during the presentation of the city’s brief before the Panel on January 30,
2007. He pointed out that the revised plan that was to be adopted a few days later
would only indicate an industrial designation for the lands planned for the projected
terminal (Mtre Michel Hallé, DT16, p. 34). The same would apply to agricultural land
protected by law according to the Mayor of Lévis, who said that only the land for the
project would be concerned by the request for exclusion addressed to the CPTAQ
(Ms. Danielle Roy-Marinelli, DT16, p. 33).
As mentioned above, several participants, including some interested companies,
referred to the potential for heat or cold exchange or for CO2 capture that could be
developed with the project. These companies would have to locate in the immediate
vicinity of the project, namely within 500 m of the project’s land facilities. However, by
limiting the industrial zone to the proponent’s lands, the City of Lévis is susceptible to
reduce the terminal’s economic and environmental benefits and spinoffs. Although the
Panel is aware that the land is protected under the Act respecting preservation of
agricultural land and agricultural activities, it considers that it is preferable to preserve
the project’s full potential for economic spinoffs by authorizing industrial uses not only
on the project site but also on land adjacent to the project’s facilities.
♦ Finding — The Panel found that, since the 1987 land use plan of the former MRC de
Desjardins, the industrial and port vocation of the eastern section of Lévis has been
maintained in one form or another throughout the revision procedures that were
conducted until 2007. However, no industrial or port facility has been built there until
now.
♦ Finding — The Panel notes that, in the revised plan proposed in February 2007, the
City of Lévis proposed to limit the industrial and port vocation only to the land
planned for the project.
Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure 105