On February 1, 2021, amendments to B.C. s
Environmental
Management Act and the
Contaminated Sites Regulation
(the Stage 13 Amendments) will come into effect which will affect
the application process for redevelopment of lands formerly used
for specified industrial or commercial uses. These amendments will
affect most subdivision, zoning, development permit and building
permit applications for such lands, automatically requiring the
applicant to undertake site investigations before the applications
are approved. The amendments could also see a proliferation of
litigation as developers/owners may seek to recover the increased
costs of development from historical owners and operators
responsible for any contamination on the lands.
Part 3
Without question, the top story over the last year has been the
COVID-19 pandemic and its tremendous ongoing effects felt across
Canada and the world.
This time has had a significant impact on Canada s energy
industry and many of the changes and developments that took place
in 2020 will continue to influence trends, business decisions and
the future growth of Canada s energy industry in 2021.
As we look back at 2020, we have highlighted the Top 20 industry
developments and decisions made throughout the year in four key
areas: Judicial decisions, regulatory decisions, legislative and policy
developments, and transactions and trends.
In this article, we analyze the
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On Feb. 1, 2021, the Province of British Columbia brought new
obligations for identifying and addressing contaminated sites
through amendments to the
Contaminated Sites Regulation (the
Regulation) into force.
What you need to know
The legislation establishes the
process for identifying potentially contaminated sites and ensuring
that such sites are investigated and remediated as needed after
they have been decommissioned, where operations have ceased, or
before re-use or redevelopment.
B.C. has stated that the amendments
to the EMA and Regulation are needed to address weaknesses and gaps