BILL NO. 122

(as passed)

3rd Session, 61st General Assembly
Nova Scotia
60 Elizabeth II, 2011



Government Bill



Environment Act
(amended)

CHAPTER 61 OF THE ACTS OF 2011



The Honourable Sterling Belliveau
Minister of Environment



First Reading: November 30, 2011 (LINK TO BILL AS INTRODUCED)

Second Reading: December 1, 2011

Third Reading: December 9, 2011

Royal Assent: December 15, 2011

An Act to Amend Chapter 1
of the Acts of 1994-95,
the Environment Act

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 Section 2 of Chapter 1 of the Acts of 1994-95, the Environment Act, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by striking out clause (i) and substituting the following clauses:

2 Section 3 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 6 of the Acts of 2001 and Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) striking out ", including an adverse effect respecting the health of humans or the reasonable enjoyment of life or property" in the second, third and last lines of clause (c) and substituting "or changes the environment in a manner that negatively affects aspects of human health";

(b) striking out ", and includes the renewal of an approval" in the second and last lines of clause (f);

(c) striking out clause (g);

(d) striking out clause (h) and substituting the following clause:

(e) striking out "and Labour" in the second line of clause (o);

(f) adding immediately after clause (p) the following clauses:

(g) relettering the clause immediately after clause (z) as clause (aaa);

(h) striking out "and Labour" in the second line of clause (ag);

(i) adding immediately after clause (ah) the following clause:

(j) adding immediately after clause (ar) the following clause:

(k) adding immediately after clause (as) the following clause:

(l) striking out clause (au) and substituting the following clause:

and

(m) striking out "ground water" in the first line of subclause (be)(ii) and substituting "groundwater".

3 (1) Subsection 3A(1) of Chapter 1, as enacted by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is amended by striking out ", policies, codes, guidelines or other rules" in the third line.

(2) Subsection 3A(2) of Chapter 1, as enacted by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is amended by striking out ", policy, code, guideline or other rule" in the first and second lines.

4 Subsection 8(2) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 3 of the Acts of 2004, is further amended by

(a) striking out "standards," in the second line of clause (b);

(b) striking out ", codes of practice, directives" in the second and third lines of clause (b);

(c) striking out the semicolon at the end of clause (j) and substituting a period; and

(d) striking out clauses (k) and (l).

5 Chapter 1 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 8 the following Section:

6 Sections 9 and 9A of Chapter 1 are repealed and the following Section substituted:

7 Subsection 10(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) adding ", directives" immediately after "orders" in the first line of clause (d);

(b) striking out "codes of practice," in the first and second lines of clause (g); and

(c) striking out ", directives" in the second line of clause (g).

8 Subsection 24(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding ", directive" immediately after "order" in the first line.

9 Subsection 25(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 3 of the Acts of 2004 and Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) striking out "clause 9(a)" in the third line of clause (b) and substituting "subsection 9(1)";

(b) adding "advisory committees and" immediately after "of" in the second line of clause (e);

(c) striking out "its" in the last line of clause (e) and substituting "their"; and

(d) striking out clause (fa).

10 Subsection 29(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out ", in accordance with the regulations," in the first and second lines.

11 Section 36 of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "an administrator" in the second line and substituting "the Minister";

(b) striking out "administrator" in the first and last lines of clause (c) and substituting "Minister".

12 (1) Subsection 37(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "an administrator" in the second line and substituting "the Minister".

(2) Subsection 37(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "an administrator" in the second line and substituting "the Minister".

(3) Subsection 37(3) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "an administrator" in the second line and substituting "the Minister".

13 (1) Subsection 38(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "the Board" in the second line of clause (b) and substituting "a review panel";

(b) striking out "the Board" in the second line of clause (c) and substituting "a review panel"; and

(c) striking out "the Board" in the second line of clause (e) and substituting "a review panel".

(2) Subsection 38(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "the Board" in the first and second lines and substituting "a review panel".

14 (1) Subsection 39(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "the Board" in the second line and substituting "a review panel".

(2) Subsection 39(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "the Board" in the first and second lines and substituting "a review panel".

15 Subsection 40(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "the Board" in the fourth line and substituting "a review panel".

16 (1) Subsection 42(1) of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) Subsection 42(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "The Board" in the first line and substituting "A review panel"; and

(b) striking out "Board" in the third line and substituting "review panel".

(3) Subsection 42(3) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "The Board" in the first line and substituting "A review panel"; and

(b) striking out "Governor in Council" in the third line and substituting "Minister".

(4) Subsections 42(4) and 42(5) of Chapter 1 are repealed.

17 Section 43 of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "The Board" in the first line and substituting "A review panel";

(b) striking out "Board" in the second line of clause (a) and substituting "review panel";

(c) adding "and" after the semicolon at the end of clause (b);

(d) striking out "; and" at the end of clause (c) and substituting a period; and

(c) striking out clause (d).

18 (1) Subsection 44(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "the Board" in the second line and substituting "a review panel"; and

(b) striking out "Board" in the last line and substituting "review panel".

(2) Subsection 44(3) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "the Board" in the second line and substituting "a review panel"; and

(b) striking out "Board" in the last line of clause (c) and substituting "review panel".

19 Subsection 49(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is amended by

(a) striking out "the Board" in the second line of clause (k) and substituting "a review panel";

(b) striking out "the Board" in the second line of clause (l) and substituting "a review panel"; and

(c) striking out "the Board" each time it appears in the second line of clause (m) and substituting "a review panel".

20 The heading immediately after Section 49 of Chapter 1 is amended by adding ", NOTIFICATIONS, STANDARDS" immediately after "APPROVALS".

21 (1) Subsection 50(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "approval" in the last line and substituting "class of approval required for that activity".

(2) Subsection 50(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out the comma immediately after "approval" the first time it appears in the last line; and

(b) striking out "approval" the second time it appears in the last line and substituting "class of approval required for that activity".

22 (1) Subsection 53(1) of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) Subsection 53(5) of Chapter 1, as enacted by Chapter 12 of the Acts of 1999 (Second Session), is further amended by adding "and Advanced Education" immediately after "Labour" in the sixth line.

23 Section 54 of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

24 Subsection 56(4) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out ", policies, guidelines or standards prescribed or adopted by the Department" in the fourth and last lines and substituting "or standards adopted or incorporated by the Minister".

25 Sections 57 and 58 of Chapter 1 are repealed and the following Sections substituted:

26 (1) Subsection 61(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "and any person acting on behalf of the approval holder" in the first and second lines and substituting "or any person engaged in an activity for which an approval may be issued".

(2) Subsection 61(2) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding "the applicant and" immediately after "advise" in the last line.

27 Chapter 1 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 61 the following headings and Sections:

Notifications

28 (1) Subsection 63(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding "or the authorized representative of a designated organization" immediately after "Minister" in the second line.

(2) Subsection 63(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding "or authorized representative" immediately after "Minister" in the first and in the last lines.

29 Subsection 64(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding "or the authorized representative of a designated organization" after "Minister" in the first line.

30 Section 65 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following subsection:

31 Section 65A of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

32 Subsection 66(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) striking out clauses (a) and (b) and substituting the following clauses:

33 Section 69 of Chapter 1 is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsection:

34 Section 80 of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

80 (1) A person conducting pesticide research in the Province shall

(a) notify the Department before commencing the pesticide research; and

(b) provide the Department with such information as the Minister considers necessary.

(2) The Minister may give such additional directions as the Minister considers appropriate to a person to whom a research authorization certificate or a research notification certificate is issued pursuant to the Pest Control Products Regulations (Canada).

(3) Crops used for pesticide research shall be destroyed or otherwise prevented from direct or indirect entry into food-marketing channels, unless otherwise approved for entry into food-marketing channels by the Department of Health (Canada).

35 Subsection 89(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding ", in accordance with the regulations," immediately after "may" in the second line.

36 Subsection 91(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by striking out clause (c) and substituting the following clauses:

(c) respecting the duties and rights of any persons, including, but not limited to, vendors, purchasers, owners, occupiers or site professionals, in relation to property that is or may be contaminated;

(ca) respecting reporting and remediation requirements;

37 Clause 105(3)(g) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "water bodies" in the second line and substituting "water resources".

38 Section 109 of Chapter 1 is repealed.

39 Clause 110(1)(k) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "ground water" in the third line and substituting "groundwater".

40 (1) Subsection 111(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) adding "and" immediately after the semicolon in clause (a);

(b) striking out "; and" at the end of clause (b) and substituting a period; and

(c) striking out clause (c).

(2) Subsection 111(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out the period at the end of clause (g) and substituting a semicolon; and

(b) adding immediately after clause (g) the following clause:

41 (1) Subsection 116(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "an administrator" in the second line and substituting "the Minister" and

(b) striking out "administrator" in the fourth line and substituting "Minister".

(2) Subsection 116(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "administrator" in the second line and substituting "Minister".

(3) Subsection 116(3) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out "An administrator" in the first line and substituting "The Minister"; and

(b) striking out "administrator" in the second line and substituting "Minister".

(4) Subsection 116(4) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "administrator" in the second line and substituting "Minister".

42 (1) Subsection 119(1) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) striking out "the administration of this Act" in the first and second lines and substituting "ensuring compliance with this Act, the regulations, a standard or an order made under Part XIII";

(b) striking out "an approval, certificate, temporary approval, variance or order issued pursuant to this Act relates" in the first and second lines of clause (a) and substituting "this Act applies";

(c) striking out "and" in the first line of subclause (a)(iv) and substituting a comma;

(d) adding "and the standards" immediately after "regulations" in the first and second lines of subclause (a)(iv);

(e) adding "to which this Act applies" immediately after "place" in the first line of clause (b);

(f) striking out "has reasonable grounds to believe" in the second line of clause (b) and substituting "believes";

(g) adding "to which this Act applies" immediately after "place" in the first line of clause (c);

(h) striking out "has reasonable grounds to believe" in the second and third lines of clause (c) and substituting "believes";

(i) adding "to which this Act applies" immediately after "place" in the first line of clause (d);

(j) striking out "has reasonable grounds to believe" in the second line of clause (d) and substituting "believes";

(k) striking out "or is required to be the subject of an approval, temporary approval, certificate of qualification, certificate of variance or order" in the first, second, third and last lines of subclause (d)(i) and substituting "regulated pursuant to this Act, the regulations or a standard";

(l) adding "to which this Act applies" immediately after "place" in the first line of clause (e);

(m) striking out "has reasonable grounds to believe" in the second line of clause (e) and substituting "believes";

(n) adding ", notification, standard" immediately after "approval" the second time it appears in the fourth line of clause (e);

(o) adding immediately after clause (e) the following clause:

(p) adding "to which this Act applies" immediately after "vessel" in the second line of clause (f); and

(q) striking out "has reasonable grounds to believe" in the first and second lines of clause (g) and substituting "believes".

(2) Section 119 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (1A) the following subsection:

43 Subclause 121(1)(b)(v) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "inpractical" in the first line and substituting "unpractical".

44 (1) Subsection 122(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out ", without a court order or a search warrant," in the first and second lines; and

(b) striking out "if the inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been an offence committed under this Act and that the thing will afford evidence as to the commission of the offence" in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh lines.

(2) Subsection 122(4) of Chapter 1 is repealed.

45 Chapter 1 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 122 the following Section:

46 (1) Subsection 128(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by striking out "administrator or other person appointed by the Minister" in the first and second lines and substituting "inspector".

(2) Subsection 128(2) of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by striking out "the Minister" in the second line and substituting "an administrator".

47 Section 133 of Chapter 1 is repealed.

48 Section 137 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (5) the following subsection:

49 Subsection 138(3) of Chapter 1 is repealed.

50 Section 158 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by

(a) adding immediately after clause (g) the following clause:

(b) adding immediately after clause (h) the following clauses:

(c) adding ", 61A, 61C" immediately after "60" in the first line of clause (i); and

(d) adding "or the regulations" immediately after "Act" in the first line of clause (j).

51 (1) Subsection 159(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) adding ", 61A(1), 61C(1)" immediately after "50(1)" in the second line; and

(b) striking out "or (g)" in the second line and substituting ", (g) or (ga)".

(2) Subsection 159(2) of Chapter 1 is amended by

(a) striking out ", 60 or" in the second line and substituting "or 60, subsections 61A(2) or 61C(2), Section"; and

(b) striking out "or (h)" in the fourth line and substituting ", (h), (ha) or (hb)".

52 (1) Section 166 of Chapter 1, as amended by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2006, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (1) the following subsection:

(2) Subsection 166(4) of Chapter 1 is amended by adding "or (1A)" immediately after "(1)" in the first line.

53 Section 174 of Chapter 1 is repealed and the following Section substituted:

54 (1) Every approval issued pursuant to the Environment Act that is subsisting and in force immediately before the coming into force of this Act continues in force until varied, amended, cancelled or suspended in accordance with the Environment Act.

(2) Where a person holds an approval issued pursuant to the Environment Act that is subsisting and in force immediately before the coming into force of this Act, that person

(a) is deemed to hold an approval of the class required; and

(b) is not subject to Section 61A of the Environment Act,

in respect of the activity for which the approval was issued.

55 Every certificate of qualification issued pursuant to the Environment Act that is subsisting and in force immediately before the coming into force of this Act continues in force until varied, amended, cancelled or suspended in accordance with the Environment Act.

56 This Act comes into force on such day as the Governor in Council orders and declares by proclamation.


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