WCEL > Services > Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund

What is the fund?
Funding policies
How to apply
Application deadline
Further information
Frequently Asked Questions
EDRF Forms

What Is The Fund?

The West Coast Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund (the Fund) is designed to help environmental and community groups use the law to better protect the environment. Established in 1989 with the generous support from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the Fund has helped groups across the province on issues as diverse as stopping helicopter logging in watersheds, to making submissions to government for better air quality regulations with respect to crematorium emissions. Through the Fund, groups can retain private lawyers, who may provide a legal opinion on an issue, represent the group in negotiating a solution to an environmental dispute, or argue a case in court or before a tribunal. The Fund provides financial assistance to concerned citizens and groups for three purposes:

1. litigation or participation in administrative tribunals;
2. participation in alternative methods of dispute resolution such as negotiation, mediation, or multistakeholder consultation, and,
3. experts' fees to hire scientific experts such as fisheries biologists or hydrologists to provide an expert opinion in relation to a case supported by the Fund.

Grants from the Fund may be used to pay for:

1. lawyers' fees to a maximum of $80 per hour, provided that the lawyer is working on a partially pro bono basis;
2. reasonable fees of technical experts;
3. reasonable disbursements, such as filing fees, copying, telephone, postage, travel, etc.;
4. any necessary financial contribution toward the costs of alternative dispute resolution proceedings which are shared jointly by the various participating parties.

Individuals or groups are financially eligible for the assistance of the Fund if they would otherwise be unable to afford the services to be provided. Efforts on the part of the individual or group to raise money from sources other than the Fund are a positive factor in consideration of the application.

Generally, the Fund makes grants for alternative dispute resolution only where all the relevant parties have agreed to participate in the ADR process. In special cases, however, the Fund will consider applications for support of legal and expert services aimed at persuading the relevant parties to agree to an ADR process.

Typical grants range between $2,000 and $5,000; some are larger. To help groups in better understanding their legal options, the Fund can make available development grants for up to 30 hours of work for initial legal research pertaining to a dispute. Donations to the Fund are tax creditable. The Fund will not be used to pay for:

1. a private litigant's liability for an adverse cost award;
2. the purchase of land;
3. defence against contempt proceedings arising from civil disobedience;
4. the cost of the applicant's clerical or coordination services, except in extraordinary circumstances which have been approved in advance.

How to Apply

Before applying for a grant from the Fund, contact West Coast to talk about your project and to ask for an application form, or download a printable copy of the form in PDF format (90 Kb) or in Microsoft Word format (Zip - 44 Kb).  You can download a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat reader to view PDF files from Adobe. Please complete the application form, which covers the following information: 

• the name, background, and contact information of the individual(s) or organization(s) seeking assistance and the legal and/or expert professional(s) to be retained;
• the nature of the environmental issues and dispute and the specific objectives of the applicant;
• a description of the dispute resolution process(es) and strategies to be used;
• a prospective timeline for the project;
• the applicant's commitment to pay back to the Fund the proceeds of any cost award regarding the case, up to the amount of the grant; and, 
• a detailed budget specifying anticipated expenses and revenues for the project, including the amount of the individual or organization's own contribution to the work.  Please use the budget sheet provided in the application. 

Applicants are invited to submit relevant supplementary materials (key correspondence, photographs, reports, etc.) to support your application and provide further information.  Please note that application forms must be accompanied by a letter from the lawyer who will conduct the work.  If you do not have a lawyer, please contact the EDRF Project Coordinator, Todd Monge, or the EDRF Liaison Lawyer, Andrew Gage at West Coast Environmental Law.

The EDRF lawyer's letter must specify:

• The names of the persons who will be conducting the work outline in the application.
• The fee that the EDRF lawyer will be charging the client and an acknowledgment that the EDRF will only reimburse the client to a maximum of $80/hour for pre-approved legal expenses; and
• A sufficiently detailed description of the legal issues and strategy to be undertaken in order for the EDRF Management Committee to evaluate the application.

Deadlines for Applications

Applications received by the beginning of each month will be considered at the monthly meeting of the Fund's Management Committee.

Further Information

First, take a look at the EDRF frequently asked questions page.  Other questions regarding the Fund or the application process should be directed to Andrew Gage or the EDRF Project Coordinator, Todd Monge, at 1 800 330-WCEL in BC or (604) 684-7378.

Thanks!

We are grateful to the Law Foundation of British Columbia for core funding of West Coast Environmental Law Association and West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation.