West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation Newsletter

BAR BACKS CHANGES

The Canadian Bar Association adopted a wide-ranging package of environmental law recommendations at its Mid-Winter Meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 26.

The proposals cover environmental impact assessment, citizen access to environmental justice, solid wastes, toxic contamination, enforcement, marine conservation, endangered species, forestry, migratory birds, the Arctic and climate change. The full text of the resolution is reprinted on Page 2 and 3 of this Issue.

The proposals are based on Sustainable Development in Canada: Options for Law Reform, a recently published book prepared by the CBA's Sustainable Development Committee. WCELA's Bill Andrews played an active role on the Committee. The book's 22 chapters were written by a wide variety of legal experts.

The book parallels a book called Law Reform for Sustainable Development in British Columbia edited by WCELA's Calvin Sandborn and released by the CBA B.C. Branch in June, 1990. Limited copies of the B.C. book are available from WCELA. For copies of the federal book, contact the CBA Ottawa: (613) 237-2925.

WCELA PUSHES PESTICIDE REFORMS

WCELA has asked federal minister of agriculture Don Mazankowski to implement critically important recommendations made recently by the Federal Pesticide Registration Review Team:

• Registration of pesticides should be administered by a Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which would report directly to the Minister of Health and Welfare. This would be a change from the present system in which Agriculture Canada has the `final say' on registration.
• A Pest Management Promotion Office, administered by the Minister of Agriculture, should be established to support integrated pest management and to set targets and work plans for reduction of the use of pesticides in all sectors.
• The Pest Management Promotion Office should publish a newsletter about alternative pest management strategies.
• A system should be established for public access to health, safety and environmental data on pesticides. This would be an improvement over the present regime, in which such data is routinely withheld from the public.
• Criteria for the kind of information (e.g., safety data) that must be submitted by pesticide manufacturers should be established in regulations, as opposed to being simply stated in non-enforceable policy statements.
• The government should establish a policy designed to reduce environmental health risks from formulants -- the chemicals that are combined with `active ingredients' to form commercial pesticide products.
• Citizens should be given the right to appeal Government decisions to register, or maintain the registration, of pesticides.
• Pesticide labels should be required to stipulate minimum periods of time that must pass before farm workers re-enter sprayed fields. Appropriate provisions of the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System should apply to farm workers.
• A comprehensive policy should be established for re-evaluating older pesticides.
• The federal government should cooperate with the provinces to establish minimum national guidelines for training and licensing programs for applicators, reuse and recycling of pesticide containers, and action levels for pesticides in ground water and drinking water.

WCELA also called on the Minister to establish a special pesticide tax that would be used to finance alternative pest control research. Such taxes have been established in such jurisdictions as Denmark and the State of Iowa.

For copies of the Review Team's Report, contact: Communications Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C5.

The following is the text of a resolution passed by the Canadian Bar Association at its mid-Winter meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 26, 1991.

FEDERAL ACTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

WHEREAS The Canadian Bar Association at its Annual Meeting in Vancouver in August 1989 confirmed a strong commitment to promoting sustainable development in Canada, resolving to:

1. endorse the goal of sustainable development [[Footnote: (1) -- 1. . "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, 1987, p.43.

End of Footnote]] z

2. commit itself to ensure that its law reform activities promote the goal of sustainable development;

3. encourage its Branches, Sections and Members to participate actively in efforts towards sustainable development;

4. urge the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments in Canada to review and reform their legislation, regulations, policies and programs in order to promote sustainable development; and

5. call on other professional associations, industry, academia, labour, governments and the public to work together to foster sustainable development in Canada and worldwide;

WHEREAS The Canadian Bar Association formed a Sustainable Development Committee of forty-three participants from across Canada, and the Committee has prepared a Report identifying key national and international law reform issues entitled Sustainable Development in Canada: Options for Law Reform;

WHEREAS a motion to receive the Report of the Sustainable Development Committee was passed at the Annual Meeting of The Canadian Bar Association in London, England in September 1990;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT The Canadian Bar Association urge the adoption of the following measures to promote sustainable development:

1. that the Government of Canada take strong measures to protect the environment and promote sustainable development to the full extent of its constitutional authority, including, where appropriate, under its peace, order and good government power;

2. that the Government of Canada demonstrate its commitment to promoting sustainable development by legislating an environmental impact assessment process which:

a) ensures full public participation;

b) covers all areas of federal responsibility, all types of new and existing initiatives (including policy, planning and expenditures) as well as regulatory activities and permitting practices, and;

c) which provides for:

i) an independent review agency with authority to grant or deny approval of initiatives;

ii) intervenor funding and awards of cost during the course of public hearing; and

iii) mandatory environmental impact analyses regarding proposed cabinet decisions;

3. that the Government of Canada demonstrate its commitment to improving public access to environmental justice by modifying relevant federal statutes:

a) to broaden the rules of standing in environmental matters, including in respect of civil liability, injunctive and declaratory relief and upon judicial review;

b) to improve citizen suits and civil remedies for the violation of environmental statutes and regulations;

c) to remove statutory limits on the quantum of civil liability for environmental damages where they currently exist; and

d) to legislate a rule-making process for the development of environmental regulations to enhance the opportunities for public input;

4. that the Government of Canada affirm its commitment to reducing solid wastes in Canada by:

a) adopting federal procurement policies which give preference to products and material that are recyclable, contain recycled material or are otherwise environmentally sound; and

b) requiring labelling of products and materials in Canada to communicate whether the product or material is recyclable of otherwise environmentally sound and other relevant information, including recommendations as to environmentally sound use and disposal;

5. that the Government of Canada adopt a national strategy to address the problem of toxic contamination and set a national regulatory goal of zero discharge for persistent toxic chemicals;

6. that the Government of Canada strengthen the enforcement of federal environmental legislation in Canada, especially by:

a) promulgating clear standards to enable precise verification of compliance;

b) legislating expanded investigation and enforcement powers, including a wide array of sanctions; and

c) formulating and submitting for public review and comment written enforcement and compliance policies and the details of any proposed or existing federal-provincial agreements for the administration and enforcement of federal environmental statutes;

7. that the Government of Canada show its commitment to conservation of the marine environment by:a) developing regional action plans for internationally shared marine areas and specific protocols for the setting of regional standards and to address land-based pollution, ocean dumping, special-areas protection, and liability for compensation for marine spills; and

b) adopting an Oceans Act, launching a national coastal-zone management program, and establishing a coordinated and integrated process for designating and managing protected marine areas;

8. that the Government of Canada:

a) participate actively in the formulation of international agreements on biodiversity and forestry within the framework of the United Nations and its 1992 Conference on Environment and Development, and future treaties on wildlife and habitat.

b) implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan on migratory birds agreed to by Canada and the U.S.A. in 1986, and accede to the 1979 UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals; and

c) adopt legislation within the scope of federal jurisdiction to conserve efficaciously Canadian and foreign wildlife, endangered species and their habitat subject to the recognition of the traditional use by aboriginal people of wildlife habitat for harvesting and subsistance activities;

9. that the Government of Canada demonstrate its commitment to the conservation of the Arctic environment by developing an international strategy which recognizes the rights of aboriginal people and includes:

a) review of existing and development of new international agreements to regulate internationally shared resources according to the principle of sustainable development; and

b) reaching agreement with the United States, the Soviet Union and other circumpolar states to ensure the environmental and socioeconomic assessment and ongoing regulation of projects which have or may have an impact on Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous people;

10. that the Government of Canada take a leading role in the development and implementation into domestic law of international instruments, including conventions and protocols, regarding the protection to the atmosphere and the regulation of climate change.