8. Compliance and Enforcement

As part of an ongoing monitoring process, Environment Canada will be requesting copies of some environmental emergency plans prepared under Part 8 of CEPA 1999 be submitted to the Department for review, in both a random and targeted manner. Such action will help determine whether departmental guidance on environmental emergency planning is adequate and being properly interpreted. An ongoing auditing of environmental emergency plans is also necessary to ensure that security is upheld within all affected areas in Canada.

Since the Environmental Emergency Regulations have been promulgated under CEPA 1999, when verifying compliance with the Regulations, Enforcement officers will apply the Compliance and Enforcement Policy for CEPA 1999. This policy sets out the range of possible responses to violations: warnings, directions, environmental protection compliance orders, ticketing, ministerial orders, injunctions and prosecution as well as environmental protection alternative measures.

Enforcement officers are entitled to enter places and inspect environmental emergency plans under section 218 of the Act in order to confirm that they have been prepared and are being implemented in accordance with the Environmental Emergency Regulations and section 199 notices/declarations that have been filed. Enforcement officers may do so at facilities targeted for other inspections or investigations or on a random basis, and also during or after an emergency response.

Enforcement officers will make determinations on the completeness of the documents. Environment Canada will continue to evaluate the adequacy of the results obtained through the submission of section 200 and section 199 notices/declarations in order to determine which plans are to be reviewed.

When an enforcement officer discovers an alleged violation, the officer will choose the appropriate enforcement action based on the nature of the alleged violation and the effectiveness in achieving compliance within the shortest possible time with no further repetition of the violation.

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