The Impact Assessment Act and Reconciliation

16. January 2024 0
BACKGROUND In 2019, Parliament passed the Impact Assessment Act, SC 2019, c. 28, s. 1(the “Act”), intended to create more protections for the environment, restore public trust and advance reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples. The Act replaced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, SC 2012, c. 19, s. 52(“CEAA”),which was intended to expedite the approval of ...

The Federal Court’s Judicial Review On Plastics Manufacturing

08. January 2024 0
When the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 S.C. 1999, c. 33 (“CEPA”) came into force, the intent of the bill was to promote sustainable development by curbing pollution, environmental emergencies, and ocean disposal. Pursuant to Section 90(1) of the CEPA, the Ministers recommended that Plastic Manufactured Items (“PMIs”) be added to the list of substances ...

BC Court of Appeal clarifies environmental due diligence requirements when assigning purchase agreements

15. August 2023 0
The Court of Appeal in 0694841 B.C. Ltd. v. Alara Environmental Health and Safety Limited clarified the environmental due diligence requirements when assigning a purchase agreement to another party. BACKGROUND 0694841 B.C. Ltd. (“069”) entered into a purchase agreement for commercial property. As part of its due diligence, 069 hired Alara Environmental Health and Safety ...

Understanding BC’s New Soil Relocation Process

09. August 2023 0
Planning to move soil for an upcoming project? You may be impacted by recent changes to BC’s soil relocation process. The province has officially moved away from ‘soil relocation agreements’, introducing new amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation which came into effect on March 1, 2023. A few of the major changes are explored below. ...

Recent Changes to BC’s Site Identification System

01. June 2023 0
Back in 2021, we posted about the significant changes to BC’s site profile system that came into effect that year. At the time, the “old” site profile system was replaced with the new site disclosure system. You can check out that blog post here. On March 1, 2023, new amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation ...

Take Credit with Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit Regulation

10. March 2023 0
On June 8, 2022, the Canadian Government enacted the Canadian Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System Regulations which enables certain federal projects to generate and sell carbon credits. The goal of the program is to incentivize reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Once a project is eligible to participate in the program, credits are generated when the ...

Richard Bereti and Una Radoja co-author Halsbury’s Laws of Canada – Environment

14. September 2022 0
We are excited to announce that Harper Grey partners, Richard Bereti and Una Radoja have co-authored the newly revised and thoroughly updated Halsbury’s Laws of Canada – Environment (2022 Reissue). Published by LexisNexis, this volume provides a clear and straightforward understanding of the maze of laws, regulations and legal issues that frame the subject area of environmental law. Harper Grey associate, Nicola ...

Are you up for the challenge?

13. September 2022 0
Time to get your running shoes out…just kidding, it’s not that type of challenge. The federal government recently announced a voluntary Net-Zero Challenge to encourage businesses to develop and implement credible and effective plans to transition their facilities and operations to net-zero emissions by 2050. For companies to participate, they must commit to meet the minimum requirements, ...

A Swift Kick in the Assessment Act

08. September 2022 0
In a recent decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal examined the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act (the “IAA”) and found it to be an “example of legislative creep” and an unconstitutional exercise of the federal government’s power. The IAA was introduced in 2019 as a mechanism to allow the federal government to regulate major ...