Fait intéressant, les lignes directrices ont été appliquées surtout sur une base volontaire mais, en 1989, avec le projet de barrage Rafferty-Alameda, en Saskatchewan, qui a finalement été contesté jusqu'à la Cour suprême du Canada par des groupes environnementaux, le tribunal a jugé que ces lignes directrices étaient applicables.
Interestingly, the guidelines were being applied mostly in a voluntary manner, but then in 1989, with the Rafferty-Alameda Dam project in Saskatchewan, which was ultimately taken through the Federal Court system by environmental groups who were opposed to that project, it was determined by the court that those guidelines were enforceable.