This is the fifth post in the Environmental Law Centre’s blog series exploring climate change law in Canada. This blog series provides updates on climate change law developments and includes insights from our related law reform research. This blog series is generously funded by the...
Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to participate in the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)’s Best-in-Class Initiative. This initiative is being conducted by the University of Pennsylvania through its Penn Program on Regulation to develop the tools and framework necessary for the AER to become...
Today’s Edmonton Journal features an article about Alberta Environment ordering Leduc County to clean up a former landfill and a lawsuit brought against the county by residents of the property. This is an unfortunate situation for all parties and one worth avoiding if you can. In...
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It’s every homeowner’s nightmare: You buy a home, move in, then find out there’s an abandoned gas well beneath, leaking and contaminating your property. Think it can’t happen to you? It can. According to the Energy Resources Conservation Board in November 2012 over 150,000 abandoned...
In recent months, there have been several interesting environmental law decisions issued by the Federal Court of Canada. In both Greenpeace Canada v Canada (Attorney General), 2014 FC 463 (CanLII) and Council of the Innu of Ekuanitshit v Canada (Attorney General), 2014 FCA 189 (CanLII),...
Municipal panel sheds light on environmental management challenges at Green Regs & Ham [caption id="attachment_2258" align="aligncenter" width="489"] L to R: Garry Appelt, Don Iveson, Bruce Beattie and Judy Stewart[/caption] Three municipal leaders walk into a hotel: the urban mayor who is said to represent a growing interest...
Municipalities have the potential to play a key role in environmental protection. Many private land uses are controlled and regulated at the municipal level. As well, municipalities are responsible for local land-use planning through municipal development plans, area structure plans and so forth. We would...
As part of its Omnibus Budget Bill last year, the government passed significant changes to the federal Fisheries Act which came into force November 25th (see Order in Council P.C. 2013-1107).These changes mark the end of the prohibition against the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction...
Earlier this month, the Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (the “Report”) was released. This Report is the first issued since the departure of Scott Vaughn from his role as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development last year. The Report focuses...
Following public consultation on proposed amendments earlier this year, the federal government recently passed amendments to the Regulations Designating Physical Activities (RDPA). The RDPA are promulgated under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and are central to the act’s operation. Only projects that appear on the...
This week, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench issued a ruling on public engagement in environmental decision-making in Pembina Institute v. Alberta (Environment and Sustainable Resources Development), 2013 ABQB 567. While the decision is noteworthy because it found that Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development...
