NPRI Reporting Deadline Quickly Approaching

Owners and operators of facilities that meet the National Pollutant Release Inventory (“NPRI”) reporting requirements must submit their reports by June 1, 2022. The NPRI is a publicly accessible inventory of pollutant releases, disposal and recycling governed by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and managed by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The NPRI is ...

A New Tool for Victims of Environmental Contamination

The BC Supreme Court has provided some guidance on injunctive relief available in environmental contamination cases. In Ward v. Cariboo Regional District, the plaintiffs owned a rural residential property near Williams Lake that used a gravity sewage system operated by the Cariboo Regional District. The property suffered from two floods in 2015 and 2020, which ...

Climate Change hits Financial Disclosures

15. February 2022 0
The focus on climate-related issues in Canada and internationally has grown rapidly in recent years with climate-related risks having become a mainstream business issue. In the fall of 2021, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA”) issued a request for comments on the proposed National Instrument 51-107: Disclosure of Climate-related Matters (NI 51-107). NI 51-107 expands ...

Developing land is not for the faint of heart.

27. January 2022 0
While developing contaminated land can be complex and unpredictable, with the right knowledge and armed with appropriate guidance and expertise, it also presents an immense opportunity for profit and community enhancement.. We have offered our recent Developer Lesson series to demonstrate that, while environmental development issues can be complicated, they can also be solved with ...

Developer Lesson 10: Finally, some help with legal fees

20. January 2022 0
Let’s face it, contaminated sites remediation requires courage. Cleanup can be expensive, and the regulations are not bedtime reading. Developers want to avoid missteps, minimize exposure to claims by others, and maximize potential recovery of their costs of remediation against polluters. They will therefore often lean on lawyers with environmental expertise to guide them through ...

Developer Lesson 9: Get the Dirt

13. January 2022 0
Property developers in BC move dirt – some clean and some not so much. Soil relocation rules are changing in BC. The old ‘soil relocation agreements’ will go away, and the movement of contaminated soil (and now clean soil, too) will be governed by new soil testing and notification requirements, along with penalties for failing ...

Developer Lesson 8: Build a Successful Business Relationship with Regulators

06. January 2022 0
Cooperating with regulators is key but making sure you are being treated fairly is why you hire a lawyer. Mutual respect means fair treatment, and it must go both ways. While the regulatory framework surrounding contaminated site development is complex, that doesn’t mean it should produce difficult professional relationships. Respect and understanding are necessary when ...