Category: Environmental Page 33 of 60

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Oil Sands Emission Limit Legislation: A Real Commitment or Kicking It Down the Road?

Legislation Commented On: Bill 25: The Oil Sands Emission Limit Act

Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan has four key planks:

Phasing out emissions from coal-generated electricity and developing more renewable energy
Implementing a new carbon price on greenhouse gas emissions
A legislated oil sands emission limit
Employing a new methane emission reduction plan

The province introduced legislation to implement an economy-wide carbon price in June (the Climate Leadership Implementation Act) and in the resumed session this fall (2016) it has introduced Bill 25: The Oil Sands Emission Limit Act to implement the third objective, a legislated oil sands emission limit. This was not something that the Leach Report had recommended but here is what the Government said in making this commitment:

Extending Limitation Periods for Environmental Actions

By Nickie Nikolaou

On October 6, 2016

In Environmental, Limitations

By: Nickie Nikolaou

PDF Version: Extending Limitation Periods for Environmental Actions

Case Commented On: Lakeview Village Professional Centre Corporation v Suncor Energy Inc, 2016 ABQB 288 (CanLII)

The nature of environmental contamination often requires the bending of usual legal rules. Because contamination can take years to develop or be discovered, the application of traditional limitation periods to actions for the recovery of damages from environmental contamination could result in unfairness. It could also mean the ultimate costs of clean-up would fall to the public purse if no financially viable party is liable for the clean-up. Alberta has modified its statutory limitation periods to address this problem. Section 218 of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, RSA 2000, c. E-12 (EPEA) allows a court to extend a limitation period “where the basis for the proceeding is an alleged adverse effect resulting from the alleged release of a substance into the environment.” After years on the books, this is the first case to clarify the procedure courts should follow under section 218 of the EPEA.

Fisheries Act Review Should Be Evidence-Based

By Martin Olszynski

On September 26, 2016

In Environmental, Fisheries Regulation, Protection of Species

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: Fisheries Act Review Should Be Evidence-Based

Matter Commented On: Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Review of the Fisheries Protection Provisions (section 35) of the Fisheries Act R.S.C. 1985 c. F-14.

Consistent with the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Liberal government’s announcement this past summer of a broad review of the federal environmental and regulatory regime, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) is about to begin its review of the changes to the habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act introduced by the previous Conservative government back in 2012. I have previously blogged about those changes here and here, and eventually wrote an article about them. What follows is a letter that I recently sent to FOPO with respect to the scope of its review, urging it to ensure that it has the evidentiary foundation necessary to make its review meaningful.

The International Human Right to Science and its Application to Geoengineering Research and Development

By Kristin Barham

On September 7, 2016

In Environmental, Human Rights, International Law

By: Kristin Barham and Anna-Maria Hubert

PDF Version: The International Human Right to Science and its Application to Geoengineering Research and Development

International Agreements Commented On: Article 27 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 15 of the 1966 United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

“Scientific and technical advances bring unquestioned benefits, but they also generate new uncertainties and failures, with the result that doubt continually undermines knowledge, and unforeseen consequences confound faith in progress.”

Sheila Jasanoff, “Technologies of Humility: Citizen Participation in Governing Science” (2003) 41 Minerva 223, 224

There is a growing body of social science literature emphasising a need for science and technological innovation to be more accountable to society and to take into account the full spectrum of uncertainties surrounding these processes. These calls are often manifested as calls for greater reflexivity, transparency and public participation in R&D. Environmental law – with its focus on the prevention of environmental harm and precaution – provides an important site for regulation and governance for many advances in science and technology. There is an obvious logic to this choice, given the countless examples of technologies that have contributed to environmental damage at various phases of their lifecycles. However, there are conceptual limits to the application of environmental law for governing upstream R&D, as environmental obligations primarily aim at preventing or minimizing actual physical harm to the environment. Precautionary risk assessment and management are examples of governance tools for asserting greater control over research and innovation processes. However, although environmental law is increasingly informed by a broader framework of sustainable development that draws upon a range of legal subject areas, an environmental framing does not directly target the social and ethical concerns that dominate the early stages of science and the development of emerging technologies.

Note to Canada on the Northern Gateway Project: This is NOT What Deep Consultation With Aboriginal People Looks Like

By Sharon Mascher

On August 12, 2016

In Aboriginal, Environmental, Oil & Gas

By: Sharon Mascher

PDF Version: Note to Canada on the Northern Gateway Project: This is NOT What Deep Consultation With Aboriginal People Looks Like

Case Commented On: Gitxaala Nation v. Canada, 2016 FCA 187 (CanLII)

On June 20, 2016, the majority of the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) quashed Order in Council P.C. 2014-809 requiring the National Energy Board (NEB) to issue Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity to Northern Gateway on the basis that Canada had not fulfilled the duty to consult it owed to Aboriginal peoples affected by the Project. Concluding that “Canada offered only a brief, hurried, and inadequate opportunity in Phase IV – a critical part of Canada’s consultation framework – to exchange and discuss information and dialogue” (at para 325), the Court identifies several ways in which the consultation process fell “well short of the mark”. Marking a crucial step in the “Northern Gateway legal saga” (for a list of previous ABlawg posts, going as far back as 2012, see here), the FCA has remitted the matter to the Governor in Council for redetermination. While entitled to make a fresh decision, the FCA has made clear that should it decide to do so the Governor in Council may only issue Certificates for the Project after Canada has fulfilled its duty to consult with Aboriginal peoples (at para 335).

Needless to say, the substantive guidance provided by the majority’s decision will be important whenever the duty to consult is engaged going forward. In the immediate future, attention will be focused on what this means for the Northern Gateway Project and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project consultations currently underway in accordance with the Federal Government’s interim measures.