Wind developers can run transmission lines on roads
On Monday, the Township of Grey Highlands unanimously voted to abandon its planned Divisional Court challenge. The Township had originally voted to seek judicial review of an Ontario Energy Board decision, allowing wind power developer International Power Corporation to run transmission lin…
View the post titled Wind developers can run transmission lines on roadsCan a permit be refused after EA approval?
One frequently troublesome area of environmental law is the intersection between different types of approvals. Once an overarching, project wide approval, such as an environmental assessment, has been granted, may an individual approval be refused?
View the post titled Can a permit be refused after EA approval?More on Can they make you talk?
Decades after the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights, and Freedoms, and after thousands of Miranda warnings on TV, most Canadians think they have a right to remain silent when the government comes after them. To some extent, this is true–people pulled off the street by uniformed poli…
View the post titled More on Can they make you talk?Nuisance, GHG and climate change
Today, the US Supreme Court reversed the groundbreaking decision, Connecticut v. American Power, which had allowed states, New York City and private land trusts to sue major greenhouse gas producers in nuisance, whether or not their emissions breached federal statute law.
View the post titled Nuisance, GHG and climate changePAPER financing for energy conservation
Some form of municipal financing that runs with the land has tremendous potential to accelerate energy conservation and green energy retrofits for existing buildings. The David Suzuki Foundation has published a detailed report on one such concept, Property Assessed Payments for Energy Retrof…
View the post titled PAPER financing for energy conservationNew brownfield cleanup standards- what dates?
Under regulation 153/04, the benchmark for contaminated site cleanups in Ontario has, since October 1, 2004, been the Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards for Use under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act, March 9, 2004. This standard becomes obsolete July 1, 2011, when subs…
View the post titled New brownfield cleanup standards- what dates?Demand-side management goes to court
Pollution Probe is taking the Ontario Energy Board to court over demand-side management (DSM) for gas utilities. DSM refers to programs that utilities use to assist and encourage their customers to conserve. For example, electric utilities use DSM programs to encourage customers to use less …
View the post titled Demand-side management goes to courtLegal wastewater samples
Samples that are not properly taken, recorded, handled and analyzed are useless in court, and can lead to unjustified enforcement proceedings. The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association has released a useful Guideline on Sampling, Handling, Transporting, and Analyzing Legal Wastewater Sam…
View the post titled Legal wastewater samplesHow reliable are odour units?
345 Given that there are many steps in the process of attempting to calculate odour units which are problematic, and which contain so many points of bias and subjectivity, the Panel finds that the ultimate number or value coming out of an odour unit measurement cannot be relied upon as me…
View the post titled How reliable are odour units?Water meters inexorable
Pay for use or flat rates? Flat rates are often popular, but they are poor public policy. Flat rates encourage waste. Flat rates discourage conservation of water and energy, and devalue their importance. Flat rates make conscientious citizens pay for the bad habits of wasteful neighbours. An…
View the post titled Water meters inexorableReceive Blog Posts
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