Articles

Paper originally presented for Ontario Bar Association Annual Institute “Managing New Environmental Quagmires – Perspectives from the Litigation, Regulatory and Transactional Context” - February 4, 2015

Since 2009, new wind farms being developed in Ontario require a renewable energy approval ("REA"). REAs are issued by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change ("MOECC"). The issuance of a REA by the MOECC gives rise to a statutory appeal right pursuant to section 142.1 of the Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.19 ("EPA").

More than 650 million cows, pigs, and chickens are slaughtered each year in Canada for food. By some estimates, 95 per cent of these animals are raised in intensive livestock operations (“ILOs”). The environmental effects associated with feeding, housing, and transporting them can be significant.

An unusual provision in ‎Ontario's Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act is Section 11, which, in Subsection 11(1.1), introduces a prohibition on the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) in connection with certain projects.

On December 29, 2014, the Ontario Divisional Court released its decision in Dixon v. Director, Ministry of the Environment.

On January 1, 2015, the federal government’s amendments to the PCB Regulations, SOR/2008-273 under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 entered into force.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: New decision sets framework for a global deal to reduce GHG emissions.

The Ontario government first introduced Bill 167, the Invasive Species Act, 2014 (“ISA”), on February 26, 2014. It passed second reading on April 8, 2014, but died on the order paper due to the June 2014 election. On November 5, 2014, the ISA was reintroduced as Bill 37. Bill 37 was debated at second reading on December 8, 2014. If passed, the ISA will come into force one year after receiving Royal Assent.

The former rule against threatening criminal or quasi-criminal proceedings to gain a benefit for a client has been broadened. Now threatening to make a complaint to a “regulatory authority” is prohibited.

A look at Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller's 2013/2014 Annual Report, Managing New Challenges, released on October 7.