Fording River Extension Project

Public comments invited on the draft guidelines and plans

OTTAWA, ON, January 15, 2026 /CNW/ - EVR Operations Limited (the proponent) is proposing to extend the life of its existing Fording River Operations, a metallurgical coal mine located approximately 15 kilometres northeast of Elkford, British Columbia.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office (the EAO) are working cooperatively on the initial phase of the project's review.

As part of the provincial process, EAO invites you to visit EPIC: Fording River Extension Project to review and provide feedback on:

• the draft Application Information Requirements (AIR), which outlines the project-specific factors to be covered in the assessment and the supporting information and studies required; and
• the draft Permitting Plan.

As part of the federal process, IAAC invites you to visit the project's Registry page (reference number 80702) to review and provide feedback on:

• the draft federal appendix to the draft AIR, which identifies the information and studies needed to evaluate potential adverse effects under federal jurisdiction that are not already assessed by the provincial process.

Both EAO and IAAC would also like your comments on:

• the draft Joint Assessment and Engagement Plan which outlines how the public will be engaged throughout the review process and provides details on how and when public participation opportunities will take place for each phase of the impact assessment.

The comment period starts January 15, 2026, and ends February 15, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Comments received will be used to finalize the provincial Application Information Requirements, the federal appendix, and plans. The documents will then be issued to the proponent, EVR Operations Limited. Comments must only be submitted once to either IAAC or the EAO to be considered in the federal and provincial assessment processes. Comments are considered public and will be published online. Feedback sent to IAAC may be submitted in English or French.

To submit a comment, you can visit either of the following websites:

• The Canadian Impact Assessment Registry at canada.ca/ciar (reference number 80702). Participants who wish to provide their input in a different format can contact IAAC by writing to [email protected].
• The Environmental Assessment Office at EPIC: Fording River Extension Project.

Information sessions

To learn more, join us at one of these upcoming events:

Virtual information session (English) Thursday, January 22, 2026, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. MST   To register for the virtual session, please visit:  EPIC: Fording River Extension Project   A French virtual information session is available  upon request.	In-person open houses (English) Wednesday, January 28, 2026 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. MST Causeway Bay Hotel – Emerald Room (102 Red Cedar Dr, Sparwood, BC)   Thursday, January 29, 2026 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. MST Best Western – Ballroom (1622 7 Ave, Fernie, BC)

The in-person open houses will include information booths to provide details on the project and the assessment processes. Federal and provincial officials and the proponent will be available to answer questions. The virtual information session will include presentations on the project and the assessment processes, with a question-and-answer session at the end.

Additional information

For more information on IAAC, the project, and the federal review process, visit canada.ca/iaac. For more information on the project and the provincial assessment process, visit gov.bc.ca/eao.

SOURCE Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

For media inquiries on the federal process, contact [email protected]. For media inquiries on the provincial process, contact [email protected].