Activists and opposition politicians are concerned that B.C.'s environment could be in grave danger after news that Ottawa is "streamlining" the environmental review process for natural resource projects.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announced earlier this week that provincial environmental reviews will be allowed as substitutes for federal ones, and federal assessments will be limited to "major projects that can have significant environmental effects." The number of federal bodies performing those reviews will be reduced to three from more than 40.

Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray believes the decision will play havoc on the pristine parts of B.C. where resources reside.

"I see it as a government that essentially has declared war on the environment -- I don't think that's too strong. And they've become a cheerleader for crude oil exports at any cost," she told CTV News.

She is worried about the possibility of oil spills if Kinder Morgan and Enbridge get the green light to go ahead with their pipeline proposals for the West Coast, and fears B.C. is not up to the task of managing environmental reviews on its own.

"If there were enough staff in the ministry to do it justice, then we could consider that proposition, but I think it's very risky at this point," Murray said.

But B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake says provincial officials can handle the workload and responsibility.

"We think we can do that. We are doing it now in a comprehensive and rigorous manner. We want to make sure we have the details discussed with our federal counterparts," he said.

Meanwhile, 40 of the 60 West Coast oil spill responders funded by the federal government are being laid off in the wake of budget cuts at Environment Canada.

Ben West of the Wilderness Committee said that puts the coastline at risk, especially with the looming prospect of increased oil tanker traffic.

"It's counter to basic reason. Already we were told by the auditor general a couple of years ago that we're woefully unprepared to deal with an oil spill, even with the existing traffic," he said.

"Our federal government is acting more like a lobbyist for Big Oil than like the arbiter of the public interest."

The provincial government has yet to reveal where it stands on Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal or Kinder Morgan's plans to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger