Endangered Species Litigation in Court of Appeal
Earlier this week, two environmental groups, Wildlands League and Ontario Nature (the “Appellants”), were in the Court of Appeal for Ontario seeking to have struck down a 2013 regulation that significantly altered the regime for protecting species at risk in Ontario. When initially introduced in 2007, the Endangered Species Act (the “Act”) was hailed as...
Continue reading the post titled Endangered Species Litigation in Court of AppealPriestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to Report
The defendant, Priestly Demolition Inc. caused chlorine gas to be discharged into the environment when an employee operating a magnetic grapple attempted to move old pressurized gas cylinders. During the move, a valve snapped releasing the gas. The employee experienced a burning sensation and was taken to the hospital where he received treatment and stayed overnight....
Continue reading the post titled Priestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to ReportOntario's proposed approach to cap and trade
Last week, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (“MOECC”) posted to the Environmental Registry its proposed approach to establishing a cap and trade regime in the province. Preferred and considered options for such a regime were are outlined in a “Cap and Trade Program Design Options” document, upon which the MOECC is accepting comments...
Continue reading the post titled Ontario's proposed approach to cap and tradeThe (Contaminated) Ground Beneath our Feet
The extent and nature of contaminated land in Canada — the toxic legacy of our collective history of poor environmental stewardship, including through weak environmental regulation — continues to invade the headlines. A few weeks ago, a CBC/Radio-Canada report revealed that dozens of former dumps on the island of Montreal have been covered over without ever having been decontaminated. Numerous municipal...
Continue reading the post titled The (Contaminated) Ground Beneath our FeetFeds publish proposed microbeads ban
The federal government will go ahead with a ban of microbeads in personal hygiene products. We wrote last summer about both the then-Conservative government’s announced intention to institute a ban as well as the problems to Canadian waterways posed by the presence of microbeads in personal care products such as face wash, toothpaste, and soap. The Federal government has now...
Continue reading the post titled Feds publish proposed microbeads banWater meters inexorable
Pay for use or flat rates? Flat rates are often popular, but they are poor public policy. Flat rates encourage waste. Flat rates discourage conservation of water and energy, and devalue their importance. Flat rates make conscientious citizens pay for the bad habits of wasteful neighbours. And flat rates are generally too low to pay...
Continue reading the post titled Water meters inexorablePMRA intends to end conditional registration of pesticides
Health Canada recently announced that as of June 1, 2016, it intends to end the federal practice of granting conditional registrations of for pesticides. Under the Pest Control Products Act, SC 2002 c28, (“PCPA”), Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (“PMRA”) is tasked with evaluating prospective pest control products for entry into, and ongoing use...
Continue reading the post titled PMRA intends to end conditional registration of pesticidesFurther wind litigation and the Oak Ridges Moraine: Part I
Another appeal of a Renewable Energy Approval (“REA”) for a wind turbine project has made its way to, and been refused by, the Environmental Review Tribunal (“ERT”). The appeal in SR Opposition Corp v Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, 2015 CanLII 86926 (ON ERT) concerned the construction and operation of a Class...
Continue reading the post titled Further wind litigation and the Oak Ridges Moraine: Part IMethane catastrophe in California: implications for cap and trade
Southern California is, at this very moment, in the throes of what is potentially the most prolific gas leak to have ever occurred. The disaster–a methane leak at a natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch, California–has yet to galvanize the kind of media and popular attention that attended the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. However, particularly...
Continue reading the post titled Methane catastrophe in California: implications for cap and tradeTransCanada to sue US under NAFTA over Keystone XL decision
Calgary-based pipeline company TransCanada has filed a Notice of Intent to Arbitrate (“Notice”) under article 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). It issued the Notice in response to US president Barack Obama’s November 6, 2015 refusal to grant the necessary approval to complete construction of Keystone XL, a proposed trans-national pipeline that would deliver crude oil...
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