7. Liability and Insurance

This part will describe insurance requirements.

Environment Canada proposes to retain the provisions in the current EIHWR:

• Exporters, importers and carriers of a hazardous waste or recyclable materials must have insurance for:
  
  
  1. any damages to third parties for which the exporter, importer or carrier is responsible; and
  2. any costs imposed by law on the exporter, importer or carrier to clean up the environment in respect of any hazardous waste or recyclable materials that is released into the environment.
• In the case of exporters and importers, the amount of insurance in respect of each export or import shall be at least $5,000,000 for wastes and $1,000,00.00 for recyclable materials.
• For carriers, the amount of insurance in respect of each shipment shall be the amount required by the law of the country in which the hazardous waste or recyclable materials is carried.
• A requirement to submit proof of this insurance at the time of notification.
• The insurance shall cover liability arising:
  
  
  1. for exports, from the time the hazardous waste or recyclable leaves the shipping site of the exporter to the time an authorized facility (including a facility in Canada if the waste or recyclable is returned to Canada in accordance with the regulations), accepts delivery;
  2. for imports, from the time the hazardous waste or recyclable material enters Canada to the time an authorized facility in Canada accepts delivery, or to the time the hazardous waste or recyclable leaves Canada in compliance with the repatriation of the shipment; and
  3. where Canada is a country of transit, from the time the hazardous waste or recyclable materials enters Canada to the time it leaves Canada.

At present, Environment Canada intends to retain the existing insurance provisions. At the same time, it intends to continue to discuss additional, related issues, such as:

• the linkage to the civil liability provisions under s.40 of CEPA, 1999;
• the extent of the generator's liability;
• whether to allow the above financial responsibilities to be satisfied in ways other than third party insurance (e.g., though a guarantee, a surety bond, or qualification as a self-insurer); and
• the Basel protocol⁵.

⁵Additional consultations in this specific area are planned