¶ Published Tuesday, March 16th In Environment - No Comments »
First-generation pollution control laws are hardly ideal for fighting climate change, but they do offer worthy tools in the absence of GHG-specific legislation. The Obama administration has been signaling for some time that the Environmental Protection Agency will use its Clean Air Act authority to regulate GHGs (though incredibly, the U.S. Senate will soon vote on a measure that would block the EPA from enforcing the Clean Air Act to fight global warming). Interestingly, the EPA is now considering using water law to fight ocean acidification — the other major climate change issue facing us. Following a law suit settlementRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, December 14th In Environment - No Comments »
Another sign that governments in Canada are beginning to tighten enforcement against environmental violations: The Manitoba government proclaimed this month several amendments to the province’s Environment Act. The changes bolster the inspection powers of environment officers and contain new reporting requirements for the release of pollutants. Environment officers are now able to inspect wastewater systems in sensitive areas (namely the north Red River corridor) and may intervene preemptively to avoid adverse environmental effects. Pollutants causing adverse effects to the environment must now be reported. Further, all proposed projects must now be evaluated with respect to potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, September 28th In Environment - No Comments »
In my latest article for National magazine, I assess some of the challenges facing lawyers and businesses in addressing the growing patchwork of climate change legislation.
¶ Published Tuesday, July 21st In Environment - 1 Comment »
Julius Melnitzer explains why new green laws, more than ever before, are narrowing the gap between business and environmental law. And indeed over the last couple of years, law firms have worked hard to show their expertise in this field. I have spoken to more than a few lawyers now that tell me that climate change is becoming a mainstream practice area, albeit one that draws upon a number of specialties. Lawyers are now giving advice on the ability to generate and trade carbon credits, ownership of those credits, and how offsets must be treated from a tax perspective. There’sRead the Rest…
¶ Published Friday, March 6th In Environment - No Comments »
One thing about the Conservative government in Ottawa: they’re comfortable with the notion of law enforcement. You might have heard that under a new federal Environmental Enforcement Act introduced this week, corporate polluters would risk multi-million dollar fines — as high as $6 million. Even smaller companies would be exposed, albeit to lesser fines ($25,000 to $4 million). If passed the new law would also subject them to a public shaming by creating a registry for Canadians who want to check their environmental records. Its adoption would amend nine existing laws, principally the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), to harmonizeRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, March 4th In Environment - No Comments »
There’s an interesting debate forming around NAFTA and environmental protection laws. Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of U.S. chemical giant Dow Chemical is suing Canada for more than CAD $2 million in damages under NAFTA. Why? In a move well received by environmental groups, Quebec has prohibited the sale of 2,4-D, a widely used herbicide, in the province. Dow claims the ban lacks scientific support and amounts to an “expropriation” of its business in the province (many Dow products contain 2,4-D). Dow is not the first to use NAFTA’s dispute-settlement provisions to attack public health measures. In his column today,Read the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, February 26th In Environment - No Comments »
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how one should never let a good crisis go to waste. Moving right along, Ontario appears to be following that advice seriously. On Monday the Ontario government released its proposed Green Energy Act, a sweeping bill that would amend 15 existing provincial statutes. The new Act is incentive-based and would, among other things, encourage renewable energy projects, promote energy efficiency programs, and build a smart grid, which in turn would present opportunities to develop new technologies. Through the initiative, the McGuinty government hopes to create some 50,000 jobs. Environmentalists, so far seem happyRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, September 22nd In Legal Issues - No Comments »
An interesting survey done by our friends at Canlii shows that they are the most consulted legislative source in Canada. Next up after free sources is commercial ones. Though the survey was geared towards lawyers, it shows that libraries are less and less consulted as people move online.
¶ Published Wednesday, August 20th In Announcements, Environment, Miscellaneous - No Comments »
We are actively looking to partner with industry associations. In our experience, companies in similar industries (and who are often part of an association) share the same environmental concerns and are impacted by the same regulations – so why not share the burden? The system can be modified to suit association needs, companies can leave comments and best practices to be shared across an association and we will offer a bulk reduced price to association members! With the new version of NIMONIK coming soon, we hope your association will take a free account for a test drive. If you are interestedRead the Rest…
