 |
 |
|
 |
July 16, 2009 - Volume 6, Number 3 | |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
FEDERAL NEWS
PROVINCIAL NEWSOntario:Quebec:Alberta:FEDERAL NEWSChemicals Management Plan The Ministers of Environment and Health released the draft screening assessment and risk management scope documents for eighteen substances assessed in Batch 6 of the Chemicals Management Plan. The government is now at the halfway point in its assessment of approximately 200 high priority substances as part of the Chemicals Management Plan. Of the eighteen substances assessed in Batch 6, one substance is proposed to pose a risk to human health (benzyl chloride) and one may pose a risk to the environment (DHNUP). The assessments concluded that the remaining sixteen substances do not pose a risk to human health or the environment. Notices containing summaries of the draft screening assessment reports were published in the Canada Gazette, Part 1 on May 29, 2009. The draft screening assessments as well as the risk management scope documents for all Batch 6 substances can be found on Environment Canada Chemicals Management Plan website. Interested parties can submit comments on these documents until July 29, 2009. For more information see: CEPA Annual Report: April 2005 to March 2006 The Annual Report providing an overview of the key results achieved under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 for the period April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2006 has been released. The report is available at: Environmental Enforcement Act The Environmental Enforcement Act received Royal Assent on June 18, 2009. The act amends: the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; the Canada Wildlife Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act, the Antarctic Environmental Protection Act, the International River Improvements Act, the Canada National Parks Act, the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act and the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park Act. It sets minimum fines for serious environmental offences of between $5,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. The act also raises maximum fines to as high as $6 million. Enforcement officers are given new investigative powers and courts are sentencing guidance so that environmental damages, prior convictions and other relevant factors are taken into account and treated as aggravating factors. Administrative penalties may be imposed to address less serious environmental offences. For more information see: Climate Change The Federal Government has given notice of its intent to publish protocols critical to the design and implementation of Canada's Offset System for Greenhouse Gases, a key aspect of Canada's climate change plan and the creation of a domestic carbon market. The two protocols are: Canada's Offset System for Greenhouse Gases: Program Rules and Guidance for Project Proponents and Canada's Offset System for Greenhouse Gases: Program Rules for Verification and Guidance for Verification Bodies. Canada's Offset System would provide for the issue of credits for incremental, real, quantifiable, unique and verifiable domestic reductions or removals of greenhouse gas emissions. It is intended that the credits issued through the Offset System could be used for compliance purposes by regulated emitters, and could be traded in Canada's national greenhouse gas emissions trading system. The protocols are now open for public comment. To obtain a copy of the protocols and an overview of Canada's Offset System for Greenhouse Gases, see: Asia-Pacific Partnership - Clean Technology Projects The Minister of Environment announced that the Government of Canada has invested $2 million to partner with Canadian business in eleven clean technology projects under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. The investment leverages matching funds from the private sector. The Asia-Pacific Partnership is a public-private partnership of seven countries: Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Together the partners represent more than half of the world's population, in economy and greenhouse gas emissions. Its work is conducted through eight task forces, including five energy intensive sectors (aluminum, buildings and appliances, cement, coal mining and steel) and three energy supply sectors - cleaner fossil energy, renewable energy and distributed generation, and power generation and transmission. For more information see: Clean Energy Fund The Ministry of Natural Resources announced the launch of a $1 billion Clean Energy Fund. The fund is to invest $850 million in technology development and demonstration, including $650 million for large-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects and $200 million for smaller scale demonstration projects of renewable and alternative energy technologies. There is also to be a $150 million research component. For more information see: IAEA to Review Canada's Nuclear Regulatory Framework A twenty member team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA") member states will conduct a peer review of Canada's nuclear regulatory regime. The team will assess Canada's nuclear regulatory regime against international standards and practices in the following areas:
The peer review assessment is a service offered by the IAEA to member states, enabling a member state to obtain a comparison of its regulatory practices with international standards and equivalent good practices elsewhere in the world. The peer review team will produce a report identifying good practices and recommendations and a follow-up assessment will review the implementation carried out by the CNSC. For more information see: NEWS FROM THE PROVINCESONTARIO:Legislation Enabling Cap-and-Trade The Ontario Government has introduced Bill 185, an Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act, to enable the province to establish a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system. The legislation would enable Ontario to act in concert with the members of the Western Climate Initiative ("WCI"), which involves seven U.S. states, Quebec, British Columbia and Manitoba. Ontario has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% below 1990 levels by 2014 and 15% by 2020. Nine industrial sectors have identified to likely be involved in cap-and-trade: base metal, cement, chemical, electricity, lime, natural gas, petroleum, pulp and paper and steel. As well, companies outside these sectors may be able to create offset credits to trade in the WCI carbon market. For more information see: Toxic Reductions Act The Toxic Reductions Act was passed by the Ontario Legislature on June 3, 2009. A regulated facility would be subject to a requirement to have a toxics reduction plan. Whether it is regulated would depend on whether it is in a prescribed class of facility; whether the number of persons prescribed at the facility meet the prescribed number of persons set by regulation; and whether a substance used or created at the facility and the amounts of that substance meet the criteria prescribed by the regulations; as well as any other criteria which may in the future be prescribed by regulation. It is likely that manufacturing facilities in those in the mining sector engaged in mineral processing will be prescribed facilities. The toxic substance threshold will likely be the same threshold as in effect under the federal NPRI. Similarly, it is expected that the regulations would follow the NPRI thresholds for the minimum number of employees at a prescribed facility. Over the summer, the province will consult with stakeholders and the public on draft regulations including the designation of substances, industrial sectors and compliance timelines. The province is proposing to invest $24 million to help Ontario industries meet their requirements and transform their processes, to find green chemistry alternatives and reduce the use of toxics and their operations. For further information concerning the Toxics Reduction Act and the lists of substances considered for designation, see: QUEBEC:Legislation to Establish a Carbon Market The National Assembly has unanimously adopted Bill 42, an Act to Amend the Environmental Quality Act. The legislation enables the implementation of a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases. The government will be able to set greenhouse gas emission caps and to permit the trading of emission allowances. The legislation would allow the linkage of the Quebec system with other North American carbon markets. In particular, it is envisioned that the Quebec system would be linked with the systems established by the other Canadian provinces and the U.S. states which are participants in the Western Climate Initiative ("WCI"). (See above for Ontario's Cap-and-Trade legislation.) For more information please see: ALBERTA:Remediation Certificate Program Alberta has initiated a program to encourage the clean-up of contaminated sites and provide certainty to landowners once the site has been remediated to Alberta Environment standards. A Remediation Certificate would assure a property owner that further remediation work will not be required by Alberta Environment. Currently, only remediated areas of petroleum storage tank sites are eligible for certification. Future stages of the program would include other types of remediated sites. For further information please see: An Overview of Alberta's Bill 36, The Land Stewardship Act On June 4th, 2009, Royal Assent was given to Bill 36, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, which was introduced to create the legislative framework for Alberta's Land-use Framework. The Bill will come into force on proclamation. Bill 36 - Land Stewardship Act Highlights of the Act include:
Regional Plans More specifically, the Act:
The regional plans will be binding on provincial and local governments as well as other decision-makers. The Act creates the positions of Stewardship Commissioner and Planning Secretariat. When a regional plan is made, all local government bodies and other decision-making bodies affected by the plan must review the regional plan and decide what, if any, new regulatory instruments or changes to regulatory instruments are required for compliance with the regional plan. In addition, all local government bodies or decision-making bodies affected by the regional plan must, within the time set in or in accordance with the regional plan, make the necessary changes or implement new initiatives so as to bring themselves into compliance with the regional plan. Conservation Easements The Act will enable the registered owner of land to grant to a qualified organization a conservation easement over the land for the protection, conservation and enhancement of the environment. In addition, a conservation easement may be granted for recreational use, open space use, environmental use and use for research and scientific studies of natural ecosystems. A conservation easement will constitute a caveatable interest in land in favour of the grantee.5 Conservation Directives A regional plan may permanently protect, conserve, manage and enhance environmental, natural scenic, esthetic or agricultural values by means of a conservation directive expressly declared in the regional plan. A title holder whose estate or interest in land is the subject of a conservation directive is given the right to apply for compensation from the Crown.6 Amendments to Existing Legislation The Bill amends various pieces of legislation including, the Public Lands Act, the Municipal Government Act, and Forests Act to name a few. Altogether, 26 pieces of legislation are amended by the Alberta Land Stewartship Act. Bill 36 can be viewed at: 1. Trish Audette, "Land stewardship bill sets framework to harmonize growth, environment" The Edmonton Journal (29 April 2009), online: The Edmonton Journal, <http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Land+stewardship+ bill+sets+framework+harmonize+growth+environment/1544457/story.html>.
What's Happening Mark Madras and Ian Richler will be speaking at the Canadian Standards Association Conference on September 21 - 22, 2009, in Toronto. The conference is on Climate Change - Legislation and Regulation. Mark and Ian will be presenting on The Canadian Federal System in a North American Carbon Market. Mark Madras will be speaking at the Canadian Institute Conference on Environmental Law and Regulation, scheduled for October 29 - 30, 2009, in Toronto. Mark will be speaking on the subject of "Carbon Management: Preparing for New Regulatory Requirements and Capitalizing on New Carbon Markets". Robert Mainville has been appointed to the Federal Court of Canada. At the time of his appointment Robert was a Gowlings partner based in the Montreal office. Robert brings to the Court years of practice experience in Aboriginal Law and Environmental Law. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
