There are many reasons to be critical of the lack of federal leadership when it comes to the stewardship of Canadian water resources – not least among them is the lack of a meaningful federal water policy. But recent proposals to export Canadian water, and a NAFTA claim by a US corporation for $hundreds of millions because BC refused it a water export license, have brought a new urgency to safeguarding public control of this vital resource in the new era of privatization, deregulation and free trade .

In response to growing public concern about water exports, the federal government has abandoned early suggestions that it would ban water exports and is now proposing a federal-provincial accord, ostensibly for the same purpose. Unfortunately its strategy appears to have been determined by a reluctance to confront the reality that under NAFTA and World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, water export controls are prohibited. Moreover, under NAFTA, Canada is also precluded from denying US investors and service providers the same access to Canadian water it allows Canadian companies, communities, and residents.

But instead of seeking amendments to these agreements, Canada is attempting to finesse these trade constraints by adopting the highly dubious position that water in its "natural state" is not a tradable "good" and therefore not subject to international trade rules. Furthermore, by focusing attention on water as a tradable commodity, the federal government is ignoring the fact that under NAFTA, water is both an investment and service even if it is not considered to be a "good".

However, rather than confront these problems directly, the federal government seems to be hoping that if it ignores them, they’ll go away. This is particularly troubling because of the consequences of under-estimating the impact of trade rules, including the fact that under NAFTA, once the tap is turned on – it is impossible to turn off. It is also fair to point out that this same government offered similar assurances about the security of Canadian cultural programs in the free trade context. But its protests did nothing to deter the WTO from ruling them out of order, or prevent the US from announcing $300 million in retaliatory trade sanctions when Canada failed to remove them quickly.

West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation is a non-profit society that provides legal research and education to promote protection of the environment and public participation in environmental decision-making. This report was prepared for the British Columbia Hazardous Waste Management Corporation.

Toxic pollutants from a wide variety of large and small sources have contaminated -- and continue to contaminate -- the B.C. environment. The Province of British Columbia has taken various measures against this problem, but it lacks a comprehensive provincial strategy to prevent toxic pollution. This report outlines some of the major elements that should be included in such a strategy.

Principles

The strategy should be based on three fundamental principles:

• the precautionary principle, that action should be taken to prevent contamination before there is conclusive proof of harm;
• the preventative approach principle, that it is far better to prevent the generation of toxic pollutants than it is to try to cope with such pollutants after they have been created; and
• the polluter pays principle, that those who pollute should pay for the ensuing costs and damages.

There are four pillars to the proposed pollution prevention strategy:

1.    Closing the gaps in the existing regulatory system (Chapter 2)

New legislation should mandate eliminating persistent toxic contaminants according to urgent and realistic timetables. It should establish a mechanism for prioritizing pollution problems. The use of certain substances should be banned. Enforceable regulations should set minimum standards, and site-specific pollution permits should add requirements that are more stringent. These standards should be updated periodically, e.g., every five years. Pollution prevention should be advocated by Ministry of Environment officials in land use planning and environmental assessment processes. The report recommends several ways in which enforcement should be strengthened. And it recommends new legislative and policy measures for cleaning up contaminated sites, keeping pollutants out of landfills and sewers, and reducing or eliminating pollution from nonpoint sources.

2.    Providing education and technology transfer (Chapter 3)

Many businesses would actually save money by reducing their pollution discharges. Yet, lack of information about pollution prevention techniques prevents many businesses from cleaning up their operations. The government should establish a British Columbia Pollution Prevention Centre to provide information and technical assistance to industry. The government should fund pollution prevention research and demonstration projects. It should also require that generators of toxic materials prepare comprehensive toxics use reduction plans.

3.    Implementing a system of economic incentives and disincentives (Chapter 4)

The marketplace could be a powerful mechanism for preventing pollution. The report outlines a variety of economic instruments that the government should implement to induce both polluters and consumers to replace polluting practices with practices that prevent pollution, beyond the levels required mandatorily by the regulatory system. Such instruments should include emission charges on industrial emissions, and environmentally-based product taxes. Deposit/refund systems should be established to ensure the return of products containing toxics, as part of a general requirement that businesses take direct responsibility for ultimate disposal of such products. The civil liability of polluters to pay for environmental damage should be expanded, and polluters should be required to post adequate insurance or security to pay for potential pollution damage. Government purchasing policies and subsidy policies should be restructured to encourage clean industry.

4.    Enhancing public participation and revamping the Province's information system (Chapter 5)

Citizen participation is the key to a successful strategy for preventing toxic pollution. The report calls for new legislation to recognize public rights to participate in pollution-prevention decision-making, and to have access to information held by government. Dissemination of environmental information should also be required in certain circumstances. These reforms are closely linked to the need to modernize the Province's system of handling information on environmental standards, compliance and environmental impact, so that all concerned can have efficient access to timely information.

Conclusion (Chapter 6)

In conclusion, the provincial government needs to consult widely with affected parties and the public, in order to formulate a comprehensive strategy to prevent toxic pollution. The principles, purposes and structures of the strategy should be enshrined in legislation.

We appreciate the invitation to comment on the Ministry’s Environmental Mitigation and Offsets discussion paper and ideas for a proposed policy (the “Policy”), as well as your willingness toanswer various questions we raised in previous correspondence. It is our understanding that further public consultations will be held regarding the  proposed Policy in the Spring or Summer, as the Policy is drafted. However, we did want to make some general comments on the current Discussion Paper and on our  hopes and concerns regarding the Policy as currently envisaged.

The Pembina Institute and West Coast Environmental Law are pleased that the Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources will establish a new regulation regulating the environmental impacts of oil and gas activities in British Columbia. That being said, we have serious concerns with the Regulation as proposed. We offer the following comments with regard to the November 4, 2009 draft Environmental Protection and Management Regulation under the Oil and Gas Activities Act (the “Regulation”).

These comments are divided into three sections – general comments pertaining to the approach taken by the Oil and Gas Activities Act, specific issues raised in the consultation draft Environmental Protection and Management Regulation, and some section based comments. In addition to these comments, we have reviewed the submission provided by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society on this regulation and endorse all of the comments made in their letter to Mike Lambert dated 4 December 2009.

West Coast Environmental Law Association (WCELA) provides legal services to members of the public who are concerned about threats to the environment. WCELA and the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation provide legal representation, promote law reform, provide legal education, conduct legal research and maintain a library of environmental legal materials.

We appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks' review of waste discharge criteria (WDC) based on best available control technology (BACT). Our comments below are in response to the Draft Policy dated July 23, 1993 (the "Draft Policy").

Today's environmental imperatives are propelling us into an era where we must rethink our approach to environmental protection. We are challenged to examine what protecting the environment means and to rigourously scrutinize the tools we use to ensure that protection. The need to achieve the greatest possible environmental benefits from environmental protection measures, such as the industrial permitting process, has never been greater.

In the words of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development,

Developed countries will have to cut their use of energy and other raw materials -- and their impact on the environment -- more than 10 times over in little more than a generation, if the needs of the world's growing population are to be met without destroying the planet.²

Perhaps this stark conclusion would be less surprising if it had come from a deep ecology group. But today it is clear that addressing our grave environmental problems has become a priority for every quarter of society. We are even beginning to see that solving environmental problems can unearth significant economic opportunities.

For some time we have known that pollution prevention is a powerful concept which, when properly implemented, can dramatically shift the way we use resources and significantly limit our impact on the environment. To translate this opportunity into reality involves finding ways to transform permit system mechanisms to achieve pollution prevention more quickly and effectively.

This paper focuses on several themes essential to this transformation:

1. The importance of an appropriate legal framework to encourage preventing pollution rather than simply controlling it after it occurs
2. The need for tough standards that protect the environment, rooted in the principles of precautionary, preventative action, even if the technology does not yet exist to achieve the standards
3. The need to set legally enforceable standards far in advance of the date for compliance and phase them in where appropriate
4. The necessity of clear, accurate monitoring and compliance information that is routinely made available to all interested parties
5. The importance of meaningful public participation
6. The need to recognize and ambitiously pursue the economic benefits associated with pollution prevention

To illustrate these themes, the pulp mill effluent regulations in effect in British Columbia will be examined. These regulations have contributed substantially to moving the industry from being a heavily polluting industry to one achieving significant improvements in environmental performance.

The following is a comparison of WCELA's October 1991 constitutional recommendations1 with the August 1992 Charlottetown constitutional agreement2 reached by Canada's first ministers ("the agreement").

To find an acronym, search this document using your WWW browser. In Netscape, for example, select Edit Find from the Netscape menu, enter the acronym you're looking for, and click Find next. Hint: add a colon (:) after your search term, if the letters you are looking for occur commonly in the middle of other words.

Bill 12, the Mining Rights Amendment Act, 1998, was introduced into the BC legislature on April 22nd and rushed through to Second Reading on April 29th. It appears to have been developed in closed door discussions with the mining industry. No consultation occurred with stakeholders other than industry. Government statements indicate a desire to pass the Bill with no opportunity for meaningful debate or opportunity for sober second thought. In the opinion of West Coast Environmental Law Association, the Bill represents a major step backward in environmental protection and could cost taxpayers heavily and unnecessarily.

The West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation began the Electronic Crossroads project in February, 1993.

The project's overall goal is to enhance public access to computerized environmental legal information relevant to British Columbia.

The project began with three specific objectives:

• to convert WCELRF's library card catalogue into a flexible, multiuser database,
• to prepare an annotated, selected listing of sources of computerized environmental and environmental legal information, and
• to produce a policy analysis report with recommendations.

Personnel and advisory committee

The project manager is William Andrews, Barrister & Solicitor, who took a one year leave from his duties as Executive Director of WCELRF to lead the project. By the end of the project, more than a dozen staff and contract personnel had worked on the project. The project also received assistance from a multisector advisory committee.

Funders

Funding for Electronic Crossroads and related subprojects was generously provided by

• the British Columbia Ministry of Environment;
• the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office;
• the federal Environmental Innovations Program;
• the Notary Foundation of British Columbia;
• the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia;
• the VanCity Community Fund; and
• the Vancouver Foundation.

System design

The project began with the design of an information system, called the Environmental Legal Information Base (ELIB), capable of serving each of the specific objectives. The design phase identified the need for both database capability and hypertext capabilities. Following an extensive evaluation and selection procedure, the project manager selected Gencat relational database software and Folio Views full-text software.

He then created an automated system for converting catalogue information in the database into the full-word-indexed, hypertext Folio Views format for maximum ease of access by users. This system allows cross-references in the catalogue (from item to item, and from an item to the full text of the item -- where the full text is in ELIB) to be turned into jump links in the Folio Views format.

Putting information into ELIB

WCELRF's existing catalogue was cleaned up and imported into the Gencat system. In addition, numerous computerized sources of relevant information were catalogued, and selected ones were annotated. Dozens, and eventually hundreds of electronic books, reports, newsletters and statutes were catalogued and put into ELIB.

A user-driven menu system was created, providing simple access to the information in ELIB (in addition to access provided by the powerful searching features in the Views software). An was also added.

Special ELIB collections were developed on environmental assessment, voluntary legal methods of protecting private land, the newsletters of the B.C. Environmental Network, and the decisions of the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board.

With funding from the Real Estate Foundation, the protection of private land collection was augmented with an interactive educational interface. The user's answers to a series of questions guide him or her to relevant legal information.

In addition, an easy, menu-driven guide to the WCELRF library catalogue was created, to facilitate searches by subject, type of item, location, geographic focus, etc.