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Bill C-74

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First Reading

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Definition of ``public authority in Canada''	(2) In subsection (1), ``public authority in Canada'' means Her Majesty in right of a province, an aboriginal government or any other body designated by the Governor in Council for the purposes of that subsection as a public authority in Canada.
Strict liability subject to certain defences	(3) The person's liability under subsection (1) does not depend on proof of fault or negligence, but the owner is not liable under that subsection if the owner establishes that the environmental emergency
	(a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities or insurrection or from a natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character;
	(b) was wholly caused by an act or omission of a third party with intent to cause damage; or
	(c) was wholly caused by the negligence or other wrongful act of any government, public department or public authority.
Reduced liability	(4) Where the person who is liable under subsection (1) establishes that the environ mental emergency resulted wholly or partially
	(a) from an act or omission done by the person who suffered the damage with intent to cause damage, or
	(b) from the negligence or wilful conduct of that person,
	the liability of the person referred to in subsec tion (1) to that other person is reduced or nulli fied in proportion to the degree to which the environmental emergency resulted from the factors mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b).
Person's rights against third parties preserved	(5) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as limiting or restricting any right of recourse that the person who is liable under subsection (1) may have against any other person.
Person's own claim for costs and expenses	(6) Costs and expenses incurred by the person referred to in subsection (1) in respect of measures voluntarily taken to prevent, repair, remedy or minimize damage from the environmental emergency, including mea sures taken in anticipation of an environmen tal emergency, to the extent that the measures taken and the costs and expenses are reason able, rank equally with other claims against any security given by that person in respect of that person's liability under this section.
	PART IX
	GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND FEDERAL AND ABORIGINAL LAND
	Interpretation
Definition of ``regulations''	206. In this Part, ``regulations'' means regulations made under this Part.
	Application
Application to Government, etc.	207. (1) This Part applies to
	(a) departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada;
	(b) federal works and undertakings; and
	(c) aboriginal land, federal land, persons on that land and other persons in so far as their activities involve that land.
Crown corporations	(2) This Part also applies to Crown corpora tions, as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, but objectives, guidelines, codes of practice and regulations made under this Part shall not impose any requirements on them that are more stringent than those applicable to persons in the private sector.
Limitation	(3) This Part does not restrict any of the following powers in so far as they may be exercised in relation to air and all layers of the atmosphere above federal land or aboriginal land:
	(a) powers under the Aeronautics Act or a provision of any other Act of Parliament relating to aeronautics or air transportation; or
	(b) powers under the National Defence Act or a provision of any other Act of Parlia ment relating to national defence and security.
	Objectives, Guidelines and Codes of Practice
Minister shall establish	208. The Minister shall establish objec tives, guidelines and codes of practice for the purpose of carrying out the Minister's duties and functions under this Part related to the quality of the environment.
	Regulations
Regulations for the protection of the environment	209. (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations for the protection of the environ ment including, but not limited to, regulations respecting
	(a) the establishment of environmental management systems;
	(b) pollution prevention and pollution pre vention plans;
	(c) environmental emergencies, releases of substances and likely releases, including their prevention, preparedness for them, reporting them, both as soon as possible in the circumstances and in detail at a later stage, and the measures to be taken to respond to them and to correct damage to the environment;
	(d) the designation of persons for the purposes of paragraph 212(1)(a) and sub section 212(3) and 213(1) and prescribing the form of the report to be made under those provisions and the information to be contained in the report;
	(e) the circumstances in which a report is not required under paragraph 212(1)(a);
	(f) any substance; and
	(g) any other matter necessary to carry out the purposes of this Part.
Content of the regulations	(2) Regulations with respect to any sub stance may provide for, or impose require ments respecting,
	(a) the quantity or concentration of any substance that may be released into the environment either alone or in combination with any other substance from any source or type of source;
	(b) the places or areas where the substance may be released;
	(c) the commercial, manufacturing, proces sing or other activity in the course of which the substance may be released;
	(d) the manner in which and conditions under which the substance may be released into the environment, either alone or in combination with any other substance;
	(e) the quantity of the substance that may be manufactured, processed, used, offered for sale or sold in Canada;
	(f) the purposes for which the substance or a product containing the substance may be imported, manufactured, processed, used, offered for sale or sold;
	(g) the manner in which and conditions under which the substance or a product containing the substance may be imported, manufactured, processed or used;
	(h) the quantities or concentrations in which the substance may be used;
	(i) the quantities or concentrations of the substance that may be imported;
	(j) the countries from or to which the substance may be imported or exported;
	(k) the conditions under which, the manner in which and the purposes for which the substance may be imported or exported;
	(l) the total, partial or conditional prohibi tion of the manufacture, use, processing, sale, offering for sale, import or export of the substance or a product containing the substance and the total, partial or condition al prohibition of the import or export of a product that is intended to contain the substance;
	(m) the quantity or concentration of the substance that may be contained in any product manufactured, imported, exported or offered for sale in Canada;
	(n) the manner in which and conditions under which and the purposes for which the substance or a product containing the substance may be advertised or offered for sale;
	(o) the manner in which and conditions under which the substance or a product containing the substance may be stored, displayed, handled, transported or offered for transport;
	(p) the packaging and labelling of the substance or a product containing the substance;
	(q) the manner, conditions, places and method of disposal or recycling of the substance or a product containing the substance, including standards for the construction, maintenance and inspection of disposal or recycling sites;
	(r) the submission to the Minister, on request or at such times as are prescribed, of information relating to the substance;
	(s) the maintenance of books and records for the administration of any regulation made under this section;
	(t) the conduct of sampling, analyses, tests, measurements or monitoring of the sub stance and the submission of the results to the Minister;
	(u) the submission of samples of the substance to the Minister;
	(v) the conditions, test procedures and laboratory practices to be followed for conducting sampling, analyses, tests, mea surements or monitoring of the substance;
	(w) circumstances or conditions under which the Minister may, for the proper administration of this Act, modify
	(i) any requirement for sampling, analy ses, tests, measurements or monitoring, or
	(ii) conditions, test procedures and labo ratory practices for conducting any re quired sampling, analyses, tests, mea surements or monitoring; and
	(x) the decommissioning and decontamina tion of storage, handling, transportation, disposal and recycling sites for the sub stance.
Non- application of regulations	210. Where provisions of any other Part of this Act or any other Act of Parliament, or regulations made under them, are in force in respect of an aspect of the protection of the environment and apply to a federal work or undertaking, federal land or aboriginal land, regulations made under this Part relating to the same aspect do not apply to the federal work or undertaking, the federal land or the aborigi nal land.
	Information about Works and Activities
Minister may require information	211. (1) For the purpose of making regula tions, the Minister may require information from any person who carries on, or proposes to carry on, a federal work or undertaking, or an activity on federal land or aboriginal land.
Kind of information	(2) The required information shall be information that will enable the Minister to determine any environmental effects that the work, undertaking or activity may have, and it may include
	(a) plans, specifications, studies, proce dures, schedules, analyses, samples or other information relating to the work, undertak ing or activity; and
	(b) analyses, samples, evaluations, studies or other information relating to the environ ment that is or is likely to be affected by the work, undertaking or activity.
	Release of Substances
Report and remedial measures	212. (1) If a substance is released into the environment in contravention of a regulation, or if there is a likelihood of such a release, a person described in subsection (2) shall, as soon as possible in the circumstances,
	(a) subject to the regulations, notify an inspector or any other person designated pursuant to the regulations and provide a written report on the matter to the inspector or other person;
	(b) take all reasonable measures consistent with the protection of the environment and public safety to prevent or eliminate any dangerous condition or minimize any dan ger to the environment or to human life or health that results from the release or may reasonably be expected to result if the substance is released; and
	(c) make a reasonable effort to notify any members of the public who may be adverse ly affected by the release or likely release.
Application of subsection (1)	(2) Subsection (1) applies to any person who
	(a) owns or has the charge, management or control of the substance immediately before its release or its likely release into the environment; or
	(b) causes or contributes to the release or increases the likelihood of the release.
Report by other persons	(3) A person, other than a person described in subsection (2), shall, as soon as possible in the circumstances, report a release of a substance to an inspector or to a person designated by the regulations if their property is affected by the release and they know that the substance has been released in contraven tion of a regulation.
Intervention by inspector	(4) Where measures required by subsection (1) are not taken, an inspector may take them, have them taken or direct a person described in subsection (2), to take them.
Limitation on direction	(5) If the direction to the person described in subsection (2) is inconsistent with a require ment imposed by or under any other Act of Parliament, it is void to the extent of the inconsistency.
Access to property	(6) An inspector or other person authorized or required to take measures under subsection (1) or (4) may, for the purpose of taking those measures, enter and have access to any place or property and may do anything reasonable that may be necessary in the circumstances.
Personal liability	(7) A person who provides assistance or advice in taking the measures required by subsection (1), or who takes any measures authorized under subsection (4), is not person ally liable either civilly or criminally for any act or omission in the course of providing assistance or advice or taking any measures under those subsections, unless it is estab lished that the person acted in bad faith.
Voluntary report	213. (1) If a person knows about a release or likely release of a substance into the environ ment in contravention of a regulation, but the person is not required to report the matter under this Act, the person may report any information about the release or likely release to an inspector or to a person designated by the regulations.
Request for confidentia- lity	(2) The person making the report may request that their identity and any information that could reasonably reveal their identity not be released.
Requirement of confidentia- lity	(3) No person shall disclose, or have disclosed, the identity of the person making the request or any information that could reasonably be expected to reveal their identi ty, unless the person making the request authorizes the disclosure in writing.
Employee protection	(4) Notwithstanding any other Act of Par liament, no person shall discipline, dismiss or harass an employee of any of the following organizations for making a report under this section or section 212:
	(a) a department of the Government of Canada;
	(b) an agency of the Government of Canada or other body established by or under an Act of Parliament that is ultimately accountable through a Minister of the Crown in right of Canada to Parliament for the conduct of its affairs;
	(c) a Crown corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Adminis tration Act; or
	(d) a federal work or undertaking.
Recovery of costs and expenses	214. (1) The costs and expenses related to taking any measures under subsection 212(4) may be recovered by Her Majesty in right of Canada from
	(a) any person referred to in paragraph 212(2)(a); and
	(b) any person referred to in paragraph 212(2)(b), to the extent of the person's negligence or wilful conduct in causing or contributing to the release.