Joining hundreds of countries around the world, Canada has declared its intention to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In an effort to make this a reality, Bill C-12, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, was recently introduced into Parliament by Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister. Before we dive into the new law, let’s start ...
The Department of National Defence was recently fined $175,000 under the federal Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 for failing to comply with the Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations. This regulation came into force in 2008 to help reduce the risk of soil and groundwater contamination due to spills and ...
The City of Vancouver has recently released an amendment to its 2018 Groundwater Management Bulletin, which provides rezoning and development permit applicants with information on the process and submission requirements related to groundwater management at development sites throughout Vancouver. Of particular note, the submission of a hydrogeological study is required for: rezoning and subsequent development ...
In this installment of Lessons from the Trenches, I will share an experience where the tower was built, people and businesses were ready to move in, but the client, a developer, faced a last minute hold up: No Occupancy Permit. I know, this would never happen, right? How could a tower in a big city ...
Harper Grey’s environmental group argued this case on behalf of the City of Burnaby. A recent Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) decision highlights that property owners, whose land has been contaminated by migration from a neighbour, have recourse through an appeal to the EAB where they believe a neighbour’s cleanup was inadequate [Burnaby (City) v. Director ...
The Ministry of Environment’s (“MOE”) site profile system is a process to screen for potentially contaminated sites. Through this system, the MOE and certain municipalities coordinate their respective functions to identify and address environmental risk. The changes set to take effect in 2021 are designed to address perceived gaps and weaknesses in the process. Current ...
Whenever resorting to legal action to get money back, for anything, many would say the proposition is already a challenging one. So the question becomes, is claiming against a polluter for costs put into a clean-up any better? Under our Environmental Management Act, we have in BC a ‘cost recovery action’ (s. 47(5)). This section ...
In the 2018 decision of Foster v. Tundra Turbos Inc., 2018 BCSC 563, Warren J., the Court once again cited Richard and Una’s book on B.C.’s environmental management legislation as an authoritative source and held at paragraph 21: “[21] Liability under the E.M.A. is based on the “polluter-pays principle” that those who cause contamination should ...
Richard and Una wrote the book on B.C.’s environmental management legislation (literally) which was cited in a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision involving environmental liability. In the 2017 case of Burnaby (City) v. Environmental Appeal Board, 2017 BCSC 2267 Brundrett J., the Court referred to Richard and Una’s book at paragraph 11 of the decision: ...
