About one-third of the budget implementation bill changes environmental legislation, instead of dealing with fiscal matters as a budget implementation bill does in the Canadian System. Non-budgetary environmental changes in Bill C-38 include:

• Repealing the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act.
• Replacement of the 79 page Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) with a new 40 page Act, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012 (CEAA 2012), creating a whole new scheme for environmental review, with a much narrower scope. Time limits will be set for assessments, and projects will be excluded from federal review if they are reviewed provincially. Environmental reviews are no longer required for projects involving federal money.
• Cabinet will be able to overrule both CEAA and the National Energy Board (NEB).
• Exempting NEB, CEAA, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and other federal agencies from requirements to ensure protections are in place for species at risk and their critical habitats when issuing permits.
• Amending the Species at Risk Act to create time limits on the issuance and renewal of permits.
• Removing the habitat protection measure in the Fisheries Act.
• Eliminating the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NTREE).

First Nations are also deeply concerned about being left out of the new procedures, despite legal obligations on the government to consult First Nations on impacts from major projects.

"It is an alarming development that Canada would take such steps," said Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.