Chapter 1 - Environmental Law and its Evolution in Canada

Question 1

Define Environmental Law:

Answer 1

The body of legislated statute and common law that can be used to protect and improve environmental conditions.

Question 2

Define Common Law:

Answer 2

A system of law based on the English legal tradition, which relies on precedent rather than on codified rules.

Question 3

Define Jurisdiction:

Answer 3

The power to legislate or make a decision.

Question 4

What is ‘Tort’?

Answer 4

Civil wrong other than a breach of contract, for which damages may be sought to compensate for any harm or injury sustained.

Question 5

Environmental law aims to ___________ and _________ the environment.

Answer 5

protect, restore

Question 6

What are the two types of law at the core of Environmental Law?

Answer 6

1. Environmental Regulatory Law
2. Environmental Assessment Law

Question 7

What is the difference between Regulatory and Assessment Law?

Answer 7

• Regulatory: The law regulating the discharge of harmful substances into the air and water.
• Assessment: The law requiring careful attention to environmental considerations in the planning and approval of new undertakings.

Question 8

What is the ECCC?

Answer 8

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Question 9

What is the ‘Precautionary Approach’?

Answer 9

An approach to evaluations and decision making that recognizes uncertainty and favours steps to anticipate and avoid or mitigate that are potentially significant but not fully delineated.

Question 10

What definition of Sustainable Development does the textbook use?

Answer 10

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Question 11

What are the three main understandings in environmental law in the new world?

Answer 11

1. We are permanently dependent on a natural environment.
2. We will never control nature.
3. We must find better ways to live in and with the rest of nature.

Question 12

What two categories can environmental law be classified within?

Answer 12

1. Laws of General Application
2. Sectoral Laws

Question 13

What is a key indicator of Phase 1 (Common Law Rights and Early Statutes) of Canadian environmental law?

Answer 13

The decade (1960) when legislators began to give serious attention to the environment.

Question 14

What are some of the initial tools in environmental law?

Answer 14

• Causes of Action
• Civil Law

Question 15

Define “Causes of Action”:

Answer 15

Legal grounds for a civil lawsuit.

Question 16

___________ law: The law between citizens, even in a common law jurisdiction.

Answer 16

Civil

Question 17

What is a key indicator of Phase 2 (Waste Control and Cleanup Laws) of Canadian environmental law?

Answer 17

Governments established regulatory systems to identify waste sources and require permits to control the quantity and quality of substances being discharged.

Question 18

What are Cleanup Laws?

Answer 18

Laws designed to minimize discharge of human and industrial waste into the environment.

Question 19

__________________: The ability of air, water, or soil to receive contaminants and cleanse itself without deleterious effects.

Answer 19

Assimilative Capacity

Question 20

What is the CEPA?

Answer 20

Canadian Environmental Protection Act

Question 21

What is the PCPA?

Answer 21

Pest Control Products Act

Question 22

In Phase 4 (Comprehensive approaches to environmental assessment and planning and management regimes) of Canadian environmental law, what are 4 key tools used?

Answer 22

1. Environmental Assessment
2. Planning and Management
3. International Influences
4. Effective and Efficient Application of the Law

Question 23

Explain Environmental Assessment:

Answer 23

The identification and evaluation of actual or potential effects of an undertaking on the environment.

Question 24

What are Planning and Management Regimes?

Answer 24

Legislative schemes that govern a sector with the purpose of maximizing the long-term benefits obtainable from the resource while minimizing the detrimental effects.

Question 25

What is considered in an Environmental Assessment?

Answer 25

- Cumulative Effects - Combinations of factors (social, natural, etc.) - Implications of Uncertainties - Effects of strategic undertakings

Question 26

What are the two associated trends in environmental law?

Answer 26

1. Regional Continental and Global Effects 2. Transparency and Citizen Participation

Question 27

What is the "Dilution Solution"?

Answer 27

The idea that air or water pollution do not pose a problem if they are spread out widely enough.

Question 28

What were some of the demands from the public for the government to be more transparent and include greater citizen participation?

Answer 28

- Timely and convenient access to info - Opportunities for direct involvement - Public access to regulatory requirements - Rights to demand action

Question 29

What main factors drive effective and efficient application of the law?

Answer 29

- Ideological predispositions and **corporate interests**. - Concerns about the **costs of government programs** - Doubts about **effectiveness**

Question 30

Define Voluntary Compliance:

Answer 30

An approach that relies on industry and individuals to do the right thing.

Question 31

What are the three big challenges for environmental law?

Answer 31

1. How best to **promote** steps toward sustainability. 2. How best to **respect** complexity and uncertainty 3. **Transformation**

Question 32

Define a Complex System:

Answer 32

Systems composed of many **interdependent components** with properties that arise from dynamic internal interactions and engagement with other **overlapping** and larger systems.

Question 33

The **implications** for law involve what three interconnected themes?

Answer 33

1. Respecting **Uncertainty** 2. Acting with **precaution** 3. **Embracing complex system** behaviour as a practical basis for understanding and action.

Question 34

What is the IPCC?

Answer 34

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Question 35

True or False: Environmental law is highly normative.

Answer 35

True, because it encompasses the statutory and common law that can be used to protect the environment .

Question 36

First-stage waste control laws of the _______s led to toxics control laws and eventually to environmental assessment, planning, and management as well as modern laws that incorporate ideas of sustainability and, to a degree, precaution against environmental threats even where the likelihood of harm is not fully known .

Answer 36

1970

Question 37

True or False: The four evolutionary phases in the development of environment law are sequential.

Answer 37

False, these four phases are not sequential, nor have they taken place at the same time in all jurisdictions .

Question 38

Environmental laws play a key role not only in reducing _______ to nature and human health but also in moving toward sustainability in a world of rich _________ and unavoidable __________ .

Answer 38

threats, complexity, uncertainty

Question 39

What are the four evolutionary phases in Canadian Environmental Law?

Answer 39

1. Common Law Rights & Early Statutes 2. Waste Control and Cleanup Laws 3. Toxic Control Laws 4. Comprehensive Approaches to Environmental Assessment & Planning