Public Notice

Centerm Expansion Project – Amendment PER No. 15-012-03 (Condition 47 – Extended Hours) – Public Comments Invited

April 7, 2020 – As part of its Project and Environmental Review process, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority must determine whether the proposed amendment (03) to the construction hours in respect to condition 47 of the approved Centerm Expansion Project (PER No. 15-012), located in Vancouver, B.C., is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. 

To help inform this determination and a decision on whether or not to approve the proposed project, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by May 6, 2020 via the online commenting tool or to:

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

Project and Environmental Review
100 The Pointe, 999 Canada Place
Vancouver, B.C. Canada  V6C 3T4
per@portvancouver.com

The Proposed Project

The Centerm Expansion Project proposes to carry out physical activities related to on-terminal construction works for the Centerm Expansion Project continuously (24 hours, 7 days a week) for the period from May 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020. These works would require an amendment to condition 47 of the approved Centerm Expansion Project project permit (PER No. 15-012), which states:

47. Construction and any physical activities related to the Project may be conducted between

Monday to Saturday between the hours of 7:00am to 8:00pm. No construction works shall occur during Sundays or statutory holidays except as follows.

Dredging, fill placement, and the construction of the CROP overpass may be conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the duration of these components only, for the dates defined in the construction schedule required under condition No. 17 and in keeping with a Construction Communications Plan.

Hours for all other activities shall not be modified without prior approval from VFPA. To request permission to conduct activities beyond these hours, submit a written request in keeping with VFPA Guidelines, 20 days prior to the desired start date of extended hours.

The extended hours works are being requested further to an earlier approval in October 2019, which allowed specific project works to be carried out on Union nights between 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. and, in exceptional circumstances, Monday to Saturday, from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. for a 6 month period from November 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority understands that this was to allow contactors to proceed with specific works on-terminal in order to maintain the construction schedule, help minimize the impact to current terminal operations during the expansion works and, in ‘exceptional circumstances', carry out works impacted by inclement weather.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority understands that the rationale for the current extended hours works request for the period from May 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020 is, again, to maintain the construction schedule and help minimize the impact to current terminal operations during the expansion works. The project components associated with this request include the installation of the new rail mounted gantry crane; rail construction; utility works; relocation of reefer towers; building construction works; surveys; equipment mobilization and demobilization; concrete pouring; asphalt paving, and line painting.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority understands that the works described above are not anticipated to generate significant noise relative to the existing noise levels at the terminal, and that louder activities will continue to be carried out during daytime hours. Noise levels will be less than, or equal to, existing terminal operations and current train movements along the south shore.

Document Reference Number: 1

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