Category: Blog

By Workplace Environment Health & Safety Reporter

Canada’s long-awaited Environmental Emergencies Regulations, 2019, were finally published in Canada Gazette on March 6, 2019. Approximately 4,800 facilities will be subject to the Regulations. Of these facilities, approximately 3,000 will be required to prepare, implement, exercise and update environmental emergency plans.

The final Regulations repeal and replace the Environmental Emergency Regulations, and will come into force 180 days following their registration. The main changes in reference to the Environmental Emergency Regulations are described below.

Consolidation and modification of Schedule 1

Schedule 1 of the Regulations contains a list substances presented in three parts. Part 1 lists substances that are likely to explode, Part 2 lists substances that are hazardous when inhaled, and Part 3 lists other hazardous substances.

The final Regulations introduce 33 additional substances to the consolidated Schedule 1, thereby increasing the number of substances listed in the final Regulations to 249.

Responsibilities of regulated parties

Regulated parties that have the ownership, or the charge, management or control, of any of these listed substances at or above specified thresholds are required to provide facility and substance information. If the thresholds for both the quantity and the container capacity are met, regulated parties are also required to either develop an environmental emergency plan or amend an existing plan to account for the new regulatory requirements, and bring into effect and exercise the plan.

Exercising of environmental emergency plans

The final Regulations require that an annual simulation exercise be completed for each of the applicable hazard categories (identified in column 5 of Schedule 1) present at the facility. A full-scale simulation exercise is required every five years.

Public notification measures

The final Regulations contain more detailed provisions for environmental emergency plans concerning public notifications in advance of the possibility and potential consequences of an environmental emergency that could have harmful impacts outside the boundary of the facility.

Additional requirements for environmental emergency plans

Under the final Regulations, each regulated party required to prepare an environmental emergency plan has to ensure that the plan is adequate to address emergency-related situations that could occur at their respective location. The final Regulations also require that an environmental emergency plan include a plan of the facility showing the location of any substance in relation to the physical features of the facility and, if applicable, a description of consultations with local public safety authorities.

Reporting requirements

Periodic submission of notices

Under the final Regulations, regulated parties that meet either the applicable quantity threshold or the applicable container capacity threshold are required to submit periodic notices every five years with facility and substance information.

Reporting requirements in the event of an environmental emergency

The final Regulations specify that a written report of an environmental emergency is only to be submitted if the release has or may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment, constitutes or may constitute a danger to the environment on which life depends, or constitutes or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health. If there is any doubt as to whether the incident is a reportable environmental emergency, the incident should be reported to the Department of the Environment.

Exclusions

Among other exemptions, the final Regulations contain an exclusion provision under the definition of substances for those substances contained within pipelines and facilities that are regulated under the National Energy Board Onshore Pipeline Regulations and the National Energy Board Processing Plant Regulations.

In force date

The final Regulations come into force, at a minimum, six months (180 days) after their publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II – therefore, approximately September 6, 2019.

More information

Related training course: Environmental Emergencies and Spills – May 8, 2019 – Vaughan, Ontario

This course, part of CANECT 2019, features a presentation on the implications of the new Environmental Emergencies Regulations by Rob Read, Senior Program Officer for Environmental Emergencies Regulations compliance, Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Mr. Read’s presentation centres on the requirements, the timing of provisions, additional substances, key changes, and an outline of the new reporting system. His presentation will be complemented by a presentation by Sat Anand, Quality & Regulatory Manager, Anco Chemicals Inc. and Chair, Toronto North Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) who will outline the practical aspects of complying with the regulations and building an ERAP. Click here to see full course details.

The course is offered, along with several other one-day courses designed to update environmental professionals on the latest regulations at CANECT 2019, to be held May 7-9, 2019. For more details, access: www.canect.net

In addition, Environment and Climate Change Canada is holding a series of webinars in both English and French. If interested in the latter, complete this form.

News item courtesy Courtesy Templegate Information Services Inc.
For information and sample newsletters on environmental regulation and compliance news click here. For information on workplace environment health and safety, click here. See also, HSE Regulatory Alert.

By John Georgakopoulos and Giselle Davidian, Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP

The Ontario government has committed to ending the cap-and-trade program in Ontario, fulfilling a campaign pledge made by Premier Ford earlier this year.

Ontario’s cap-and-trade program was linked to California and Quebec under the Western Climate Initiative. Pursuant to the joint carbon market, the three governments set emissions caps on their energy distributors and industrial emitters, and sold allowances that companies could purchase to comply with the regulations from 2017 to 2020. The program also established a secondary market through which regulated companies and speculators could buy and sell allowances.

The cap-and-trade program was the primary tool to help Ontario achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets of 15% below 1990 levels by 2020, 37% by 2030, and 80% by 2050.

Repealed Law

As of July 3, 2018, the Ontario government repealed the cap-and-trade program regulation O. Reg. 144/16 and filed O. Reg. 386/18: Prohibition against the Purchase, Sale and Other Dealings with Emission Allowances and Credits. O. Reg. 386/18 sets out that no registered participant shall, on and after July 3, 2018, purchase, sell, trade or otherwise deal with emission allowances and credits.

On July 25, 2018, Bill 4, Cap-and-Trade Cancellation Act, 2018 was introduced into the Ontario Legislature. Bill 4, if passed, will repeal the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, 2016 and wind down Ontario’s cap-and-trade program.

Key elements and effects of the Cap-and-Trade Cancellation Act, 2018 include:

• Repeal of the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, 2016.
• Cancellation of the cap-and-trade “eligible instruments”, including allowances, held by participants on July 3, 2018, as well as undistributed instruments.
• Potential compensation of participants who hold more “eligible instruments” as of July 3, 2018 than would be necessary to meet that participant’s compliance obligation over the prescribed time period. The potential compensation is to be determined in accordance with yet to be published regulations. Bill 4 sets out which participants will not be entitled to compensation, including:
  • non-emitting market participants who acquired instruments for resale
  • natural gas and petroleum distributors, who are expected to have recovered their costs from consumers
  • other compensation claims against the Government of Ontario related to cancelled compliance instruments and the repeal of the Climate Change Mitigation and Low- carbon Economy Act, 2016.
• Prohibition of any compensation claims, causes of action, or proceedings against the Crown as a result of various steps implemented to cancel Ontario’s cap-and-trade program and compliance instruments. Bill 4 also extinguishes existing proceedings, regardless of when the cause of action arose.

On August 1, 2018, the new O. Reg. 390/18: Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Quantification, Reporting and Verification came into force under the Environmental Protection Act. The new reporting requirements require that capped participants provide, no later than October 1, 2018, a report and verification statement about the specified GHG activities at a facility, and the electricity importation, natural gas distribution or petroleum product supply, for the period beginning on January 1, 2018 and ending on July 3, 2018. GHG emissions reported through this regulation will be used to determine the number of cap-and-trade instruments to be retired for the participants under the winding down of the cap-and-trade program.

With the proposed repeal of the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, 2016 and its regulations, there remains much uncertainty about what will become of the credits many Ontario companies had purchased through auctions.

The Ontario government posted Bill 4 on the Environmental Registry of Ontario for public comment until October 11, 2018.

Implications of Cap-and-Trade Pullout

Since March 2017, there have been six joint auctions, through which Ontario’s government had sold $2.8 billion in allowances. Ontario’s auction proceeds went towards the operation of the Green Ontario Fund to pay for climate-friendly programs, rebates for home upgrades, and clean-technology pilot projects.

As a result of the cancellation of the cap-and-trade program in Ontario, several green initiative programs funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account have been cancelled. This includes:

• The GreenON Industries Program, which provided financial support for eligible clean technology projects and large-scale technology deployment and facility modernization; and
• The GreenON Small and Medium Businesses Program, which offered financial incentives for capital retro-fits and energy saving projects.

Since the announcement, California and Quebec have locked Ontario out of the secondary market to prevent companies from dumping $2.8 billion in emissions credits and depressing prices in future auctions.

Ontario’s repealed laws and regulations may create uncertainty and fear in the market, potentially resulting in negative impacts to the success of the California and Quebec programs.

What’s Ahead?

On July 11, 2018, one week after repealing the cap-and-trade program, the Ontario government canceled the province’s Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program (EHVIP). The EHVIP offered rebates of up to $14,000 to those buying qualifying electrical vehicles. The program was funded by the profits from Ontario’s cap-and-trade program.

On August 10, 2018, Tesla Inc. filed a lawsuit in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) against the Ontario government over the government’s cancellation of electric vehicle rebates. Tesla claimed that the province “deliberately and arbitrarily” targeted Tesla by excluding Tesla’s customers from the incentive, while allowing purchasers of other brands to receive the rebate during a transition period.

On August 27, 2018, the ONSC ruled that the provincial government’s decision to exclude Tesla from a grace period for an electric vehicle rebate program was arbitrary and had singled out Tesla for harm. Myers, J. quashed and set aside the “Minister’s unlawful exercises of discretion to implement the transition program announced July 11, 2018.”

The Ontario government subsequently expanded the program to include Tesla. The Ontario government has announced that it will not appeal the ONSC decision.

It will be interesting to see what other legal challenges the Ontario government will face, from corporations and Ontario citizens alike, as a result of the province’s cancellation of the cap-and-trade program and the green programs it funded.

John Georgakopoulos is a partner and Certified Environmental Law Specialist at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP.

Giselle Davidian is an associate lawyer at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP.

For more information, email: jgeorgakopoulos@willmsshier.com or gdavidian@willmsshier.com.

The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader only and do not constitute legal advice or opinion. The reader should seek specific legal advice for particular applications of the law to specific situations.

Article Copyright Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP.