10. Enforcement

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) provides a wide range of responses to alleged violations, including the following:

CEPA 1999, Part 10 also provides enforcement officers with a wide range of powers to enforce the act, including these powers of a peace officer. Enforcement officers can:

CEPA analysts can also enter premises when accompanied by an enforcement officer. They can exercise the following inspection powers: open containers, examine contents and take samples; conduct tests and measurements, and secure access to information. They have no authority to issue warnings, directions, tickets or orders. However, they may be called as expert witnesses for the purpose of securing an injunction or conducting prosecutions.

Part 10 also provides authorities for enforcement officers to issue Environmental Protection Compliance Orders to prevent or stop illegal activity or to require action to correct a violation. CEPA 1999 also provides for Environmental Protection Alternative Measures, which, after the laying of charges, allow for negotiated settlements that avoid the time and expense of lengthy court cases.

In 2001-02, four new enforcement officers were designated, while three officers left the department. Currently there are 92 enforcement officers within Environment Canada. Approximately 20 new officers are expected to be designated in 2002-03.

Enforcement training needs continue to grow as new regulations are developed. Most regulations require some level of specialized training in order to be enforceable. The department is meeting this challenge by developing new training tools, materials and courses, and by delivering a training program that better meets the needs of adult learners. Key accomplishments in 2001-02 included:

Work continues on introducing and providing training using a variety of efficient and effective learning methods. Past efforts have received positive feedback from both managers and learners.

In 2001-02, Environment Canada's regional program officers conducted compliance promotion activities in order to help those subject to CEPA 1999 to understand and achieve conformity with the law. Activities included providing information and education through workshops and seminars and through the development and distribution of material such as brochures, fact sheets and information packages.

The following are some examples of compliance promotion activities conducted in 2001-02:

On May 5, 2001, consultations were held on the proposed Contraventions Regulations under the federal Contraventions Act. The final regulations were published on October 25, 2001 in Part II of the Canada Gazette and are in force. The Contraventions Act, administered by the Department of Justice, provides for the issuing of tickets for alleged offences as an alternative to formal court prosecution. The Contraventions Regulations under that Act identify the CEPA 1999 violations that are punishable by ticket. The CEPA 1999 offences that meet the Contraventions Act criteria for ticketing are those where there is minimal or no threat to the environment or human life or health. Examples of such offences are the failure of a regulatee to provide information or a report as required by regulations, or the failure to provide information or documents within the time limit stipulated in regulations. CEPA 1999 offences that are ticketable are subject to a fine of $500 for every day that the alleged violation continues.

The Contraventions Act tickets dovetail with similar schemes in the provinces. The Department of Justice signs agreements with provinces and territories so that they allow federal tickets and fine collection for tickets to operate under their existing systems. Thus far, the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have signed such agreements. Therefore, in those provinces where agreements with the Department of Justice are in place, CEPA 1999 enforcement officers will be able to issue tickets for alleged violations of the act.

Over the next fiscal year, Environment Canada enforcement officers will receive training from the Department of Justice in the issuance of ticket forms and the relevant procedures to follow under the Contraventions Act.

In 2001-02, the first Environmental Protection Alternative Measures (EPAM) agreement was negotiated between the Attorney General of Canada and a corporation. After the laying of charges, EPAMs allow for negotiated settlements that avoid the time and expense of lengthy court cases. The agreement was negotiated after charges were laid for the illegal export of CFCs to Cuba. As a result of this agreement, the corporation agreed to contribute $30,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund, develop a standard operating procedure for handling substances regulated under CEPA 1999, develop a training program for its employees, and publish an article in a trade magazine to alert others to environmental legislation governing ozone-depleting substances.

Every fiscal year, Environment Canada develops a national inspection plan for the regulations that it administers under CEPA 1999 and the Fisheries Act. The plan sets out the national and regional priorities and activities for the coming year. It also outlines the strategic and tactical approaches taken at both the national and regional levels. In developing the plan, a number of factors are taken into consideration. Examples include the capacity, number, and type of targeted populations or activities, the nature of the regulatory provisions; operational complexity; environmental significance; geographic scale; as well as the profile and compliance history of the regulated sectors.

In 2001-02, National Inspection Plan priorities were set to verify compliance with the following regulations:

Table 7 summarizes the enforcement activities for the fiscal year 2001-2002.

Table 7: National enforcement statistics for 2001-02 - CEPA 1999
 Instruments: Regulations, guidelines, codes of practice, etc. Total # of inspections # of field/site inspections # of administrative verification inspections # of investigations # of prosecutions  # of convictions # of contraventions # of directives  # of referral to others  # of written warnings # of other disposition 
CEPA 1999 4637 1628 3009 57 27 7 0 5 54 517 1037
Asbestos Mines and Mills Release 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Benzene in Gasoline Regulations 176 55 121 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 46
CEPA - Section(s) 395 218 177 13 3 1 0 3 13 41 112
Chlor-Alkali Mercury Release 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25
Chlorobiphenyls 64 61 3 4 5 1 0 1 0 1 4
Chlorofluorocarbon, 1989 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Contaminated Fuel 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diesel Fuel 83 26 57 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 24
Export and Import of Hazardous Wastes 1048 503 545 10 0 0 0 0 18 44 239
Export Control List Notification 159 1 158 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 79
Federal Halocarbon Regulation 194 138 56 11 0 0 0 0 5 148 64
Federal Mobile PCB Treatment and Destruction 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fuels Information, No. 1 76 1 75 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 79
Gasoline 24 15 9 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
Glycol 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
National Pollutant Release Inventory 88 20 68 1 0 0 0 0 0 65 2
New Substances Notification 246 48 198 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 59
New Substances Notification - Biotechnology 242 62 180 1 0 0 0 0 5 4 62
Ocean Dumping, 1988/Disposal at Sea Regulations 46 46 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
Ozone-Depleting Substance Regulations, 1998 914 206 708 8 17 4 0 0 7 39 88
PCB Waste Export, 1996 165 0 165 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 101
Registration of Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products on Federal Lands 14 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Phosphorus Concentration 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances 65 0 65 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 46
Pulp and Paper Mill Defoamer and Wood Chip 92 19 73 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10
Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent Chlorinated Dioxins and Furans 158 23 135 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2
Secondary Lead Smelter Release 13 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Storage of PCB Materials 335 143 192 4 2 1 0 0 0 155 61
Sulphur in Gasoline Regulations 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vinyl Chloride Release, 1992 10 1 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Inspections are compiled - by regulation and by subject - based on the start date of the inspection. Compliance verified on one regulation for one subject amounts to one inspection;

Investigations are compiled by regulation and by suspect, based on the start date of the investigation.

Enforcement actions (for ex.: warnings, prosecutions etc.) are compiled at the section level of a regulation, based on the start date of the activity (inspection/investigation).

Enforcement and Compliance

Key prosecutions and court cases in 2000-01 included the following:

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