EDRF funding allows grantees to hire lawyers (at a legal aid rate) from the private bar.
[1] The EDRF provides funding and grants for approved recipients to obtain legal advice to assist with their environmental disputes.
[2] The types of legal work funded include pursuing alternative dispute resolutions, appearing before government tribunals, participating in environmental assessments and challenging government decisions in court.
Bill Andrews, the former Executive Director of West Coast Environmental Law, recalls: [West Coast Environmental Law] discussed how we could expand our delivery of legal services, get out of Vancouver and meet regional needs … [and] expand the public interest environmental bar in British Columbia … It all came together with the idea of a fund that could pay for environmental help around the province (Bill Andrews).Between 1989 and 2010, over $4 million was provided to recipients, helping to support and resolve more than 500 legal cases in British Columbia, Canada.
Notable EDRF achievements over the past 20 years include: West Coast Environmental Law provides approximately $200,000 in EDRF grants each year to a number of different recipients from across British Columbia, Canada.