OFA provides comments to the Environmental Assessment Modernization Project Team regarding the Environmental Assessment Act. OFA continues to stress the need for mandatory Agricultural Impact Assessments (AIA) for projects that have any potential to impact agricultural land and/or operations, regardless of what “list” or process the project must follow – whether it requires a comprehensive, streamlined or exempted environmental assessment. The OFA also stresses the need for the requirement for a mandatory AIA for all of projects that may impact agricultural land that receive an extension to their approvals under the Environmental Assessment Act. OFA believes that an environmental assessment should address the full lifespan of a project, including its design, construction, operation, and decommissioning (where relevant). Environmental mitigation components are instrumental at all stages of a projects duration and must be considered when evaluating the potential environmental impacts of a project.