Ontario Announces Continuation of Offshore Wind Turbine Moratorium
Ontario announced earlier this week that it would be extending its moratorium on offshore wind turbine projects. The province had initially announced the moratorium back in 2011. The government has indicated that it requires further research before authorizing the development of off-shore wi…
View the post titled Ontario Announces Continuation of Offshore Wind Turbine MoratoriumNational Energy Board Hearings for Energy East Starting Over
A month and a half after Minister Carr appointed three new panel members to the National Energy Board, the Energy East pipeline review will be starting over from the beginning. We reported in December that the Minister appointed the new members to the Board following the recusal of the forme…
View the post titled National Energy Board Hearings for Energy East Starting OverWhat is Environmental Due Diligence?
Due diligence is an extremely important concept in environmental regulation and compliance. When properly done, it provides a defence to regulatory charges or, at least, can mitigate the amount of fines imposed. Environmental due diligence is primarily a proactive activity. It involves takin…
View the post titled What is Environmental Due Diligence?Provincial Environmental Assessments and Climate Change
As we have previously written, the federal government is currently undertaking a review of a suite of environmental regimes. This review includes both the federal environmental assessment (EA) regime and the National Energy Board (NEB), which conducts assessments of proposed pipeline project…
View the post titled Provincial Environmental Assessments and Climate ChangeRenewable Fuel Standard
The Ontario government is committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 15% by 2020, 27% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 relative to 1990 levels. These reductions are legislated in the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s (“Ministry”) new Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act …
View the post titled Renewable Fuel StandardProposed New Charge to Water Bottling Facilities
On January 18, 2017 the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (“Ministry”) posted on the Environmental Registry for a 60 day review and comment period a regulation proposing a regulatory charge on water bottling facilities. The proposed charge would apply to water bottling facilitie…
View the post titled Proposed New Charge to Water Bottling FacilitiesThe Vexing Problem Of Limitations In Environmental Cases Rises Again
Last August, we reported on recent case law dealing with the difficult question of how to determine limitation periods in environmental claims. In the January 2017 Court of Appeal decision of Crombie Property Holdings Limited v. McColl-Frontenac Inc., the court overturned the trial court’s d…
View the post titled The Vexing Problem Of Limitations In Environmental Cases Rises AgainBuilding Greener under the Ontario Building Code
Buildings are a tremendous source of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. It is estimated that buildings contribute up to one third of global GHG emissions. Environment and Climate Change Canada estimates that the buildings sector accounts for 12 per cent of Canada’s total emissions in comparis…
View the post titled Building Greener under the Ontario Building CodeCitizen Can’t Seek Damages for Alleged Breach of Charter Rights by Alberta Energy Board
A year after hearing the case, four out of nine judges of the Supreme Court of Canada have ruled in Ernst v. Alberta Energy Regulator that Ms. Ernst cannot make a claim for an alleged breach of her freedom of speech Charter rights by the Alberta Energy Regulator (“Board”). Further, the judge…
View the post titled Citizen Can’t Seek Damages for Alleged Breach of Charter Rights by Alberta Energy BoardApplication Of Biosolids On Farmland Successfully Defended
A recent decision reiterates the importance of credible expert evidence in litigation relating to contaminated property. The Plaintiff claimed that well water on her property was contaminated as a result of the application of municipal sewage (biosolids) waste to the neighbouring farmland ow…
View the post titled Application Of Biosolids On Farmland Successfully DefendedReceive Blog Posts
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