Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (S.C. 1999, c. 33)

Marginal note:Incineration

• 126 (1) No person shall incinerate a substance on board a ship, a platform or another structure in an area of the sea referred to in any of paragraphs 122(2)(a) to (e) unless

  • (a) the substance is waste generated on board the ship, platform or other structure during normal operations; or

  • (b) the incineration is done in accordance with a permit issued under subsection 128(2).

• Marginal note:Incineration by ship

  (1.1) No ship shall incinerate a substance on board the ship in an area of the sea referred to in any of paragraphs 122(2)(a) to (e) unless

  • (a) the substance is waste generated on board the ship during normal operations; or

  • (b) the incineration is done in accordance with a permit issued under subsection 128(2).

• Marginal note:Incineration in waters under foreign jurisdiction, etc.

  (2) No person shall incinerate a substance on board a Canadian ship or a Canadian platform or other structure in an area of the sea referred to in paragraph 122(2)(f) or (g) unless

  • (a) the substance is waste generated on board the Canadian ship or the Canadian platform or other structure during normal operations; or

  • (b) the incineration is done in accordance with a permit issued under subsection 128(2).

• Marginal note:Incineration by Canadian ship in waters under foreign jurisdiction

  (3) No Canadian ship shall, in an area of the sea referred to in paragraph 122(2)(f) or (g), incinerate a substance on board the ship unless

  • (a) the substance is waste generated on board the ship during normal operations; or

  • (b) the incineration is done in accordance with a permit issued under subsection 128(2).

Permits

Marginal note:Permit

• 127 (1) The Minister may, on application, issue a permit authorizing the loading for disposal and disposal of waste or other matter and, subject to the regulations, renew it no more than four times.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) The application must

  • (a) be in the prescribed form;

  • (b) contain the information that may be prescribed or that may be required by the Minister for the purpose of complying with Schedule 6;

  • (c) be accompanied by the prescribed fees; and

  • (d) be accompanied by evidence that notice of the application was published in a newspaper circulating in the vicinity of the loading or disposal described in the application or in any other publication specified by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Factors for consideration

  (3) Before issuing a permit under subsection (1) or renewing it, the Minister shall comply with Schedule 6 and shall take into account any factors that the Minister considers necessary.

Marginal note:Exception

• 128 (1) Paragraphs 125(1)(a), (2)(a), (2.1)(a), (3)(a) and (3.1)(a) do not apply if a permit is issued under this section.

• Marginal note:Permits for emergency disposal

  (2) The Minister may, on application, issue a permit to dispose of or incinerate a substance if the Minister is of the opinion that

  • (a) the disposal or incineration of a certain quantity of the substance is necessary to avert an emergency that poses an unacceptable risk relating to the environment or to human health; and

  • (b) there is no other feasible solution.

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) An application for a permit must

  • (a) be in the prescribed form;

  • (b) contain the information that may be prescribed or that may be required by the Minister for the purpose of complying with Schedule 6;

  • (c) be accompanied by the prescribed fees; and

  • (d) subject to subsection (4), be accompanied by evidence that notice of the application was published in a newspaper circulating in the vicinity of the loading, disposal or incineration described in the application or in any other publication specified by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (4) The Minister may permit the publication referred to in paragraph (3)(d) to be made at any time after the application is made.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (5) The Minister shall

  • (a) offer to consult with any foreign state that is likely to be affected by the disposal or incineration and with the International Maritime Organization; and

  • (b) endeavour to follow any recommendations that are received from the International Maritime Organization.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (6) The Minister shall inform the International Maritime Organization of any action taken under this section.

Marginal note:Conditions of permit

• 129 (1) A Canadian permit shall contain any conditions that the Minister considers necessary for the protection of marine life, any legitimate uses of the sea or human life, including conditions relating to the following:

  • (a) the nature and quantity of the substance for loading, disposal or incineration;

  • (b) the method and frequency of the disposal or incineration authorized including, if necessary, the date or dates on which disposal or incineration is authorized;

  • (c) the manner of loading and stowing the substance authorized for disposal or incineration;

  • (d) the site at which disposal or incineration may take place;

  • (e) the route to be followed by the ship or aircraft transporting the substance to the disposal or incineration site;

  • (f) any special precautions to be taken respecting the loading, transporting, disposal or incineration of the substance; and

  • (g) the monitoring of the disposal, the incineration and the disposal site to determine the effects of the disposal on the environment and human life.

• Marginal note:Duration of permit

  (2) A Canadian permit shall specify that it is valid for a particular date or dates or for a particular period that shall not exceed one year. For greater certainty, this subsection applies to each renewal of a permit issued under subsection 127(1).

• Marginal note:Powers to suspend, revoke or vary permit

  (3) The Minister may suspend or revoke a Canadian permit or vary its conditions where, having regard to Schedule 6 or the establishment of, or any report of, a board of review under section 333, the Minister considers it advisable to do so.

Exception for Safety Reasons

Marginal note:Exception

• 130 (1) Despite the other provisions of this Division, a person may dispose of a substance if

  • (a) it is necessary to avert a danger to human life or to a ship, an aircraft, a platform or another structure at sea in situations caused by stress of weather or in any other case that constitutes a danger to human life or a threat to a ship, an aircraft, a platform or another structure at sea;

  • (b) the disposal appears to be the only way of averting the danger or threat; and

  • (c) it is probable that the damage caused by the disposal would be less than would otherwise occur.

• Marginal note:Danger to be minimized

  (2) Any disposal under subsection (1) shall be carried out in a manner that minimizes, as far as possible, danger to human life and damage to the marine environment.

• Marginal note:Negligence not a defence

  (3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the danger was caused or contributed to by the person’s negligent act or omission.

• Marginal note:Duty to report

  (4) If disposal takes place under subsection (1), the master of the ship, the pilot in command of the aircraft or the person in charge of the platform or other structure shall report the disposal without delay to an enforcement officer or any other person whom the Governor in Council may, by order, designate, at the location and in the manner that may be prescribed, and the report shall contain any information that may be prescribed.

Marginal note:Fisheries Act not applicable

131 If a person disposes of a substance in accordance with the conditions of a Canadian permit or section 130, subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act is not applicable.

Site Monitoring

Marginal note:Monitoring of sites

132 The Minister shall monitor sites selected by the Minister that are used for disposal or incineration at sea.

Publication

Marginal note:Publication

• 133 (1) When issuing a Canadian permit or varying any of its conditions or renewing a permit issued under subsection 127(1), the Minister shall publish the text of the permit, the varied condition or the renewed permit, as the case may be, in the Environmental Registry.

• Marginal note:Publication before disposal or loading

  (2) Publication under subsection (1) shall be made

  • (a) in the case of a permit issued under subsection 128(2), as soon as possible after the permit is issued; and

  • (b) in every other case, at least seven days before the effective date of the permit, the variation of its conditions or its renewal.

Notice of Objection

Marginal note:Notice of objection

• 134 (1) Any person may file with the Minister a notice of objection requesting that a board of review be established under section 333 and stating the reasons for the objection, if the Minister

  • (a) issues or refuses a Canadian permit;

  • (a.1) renews or refuses to renew a permit issued under subsection 127(1); or

  • (b) suspends or revokes a Canadian permit or varies its conditions, otherwise than in accordance with the recommendations of a report of a board of review established under section 333 in respect of the permit.

• Marginal note:Time for filing notice of objection

  (2) The notice of objection shall be filed within seven days after

  • (a) the date the text of the Canadian permit or the permit renewed under subsection 127(1), as the case may be, is published in the Environmental Registry; or

  • (b) the date the person receives a notice from the Minister that the Canadian permit has been refused, suspended or revoked, that its conditions have been varied or that the renewal of a permit issued under subsection 127(1) has been refused.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 135 (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Division and Schedule 6, including regulations

  • (a) for carrying out and giving effect to the provisions of the Convention or the Protocol;

  • (b) defining the expression Canadian platform or other structure;

  • (b.1) respecting time limits for issuing permits under subsection 127(1) or for refusing to issue them, specifying the circumstances under which any of those time limits do not apply and authorizing the Minister to extend any of those time limits or to decide that a time limit does not apply when the Minister considers that it is appropriate to do so;

  • (b.2) respecting the renewal of permits under subsection 127(1), including regulations respecting time limits for renewing them or for refusing to renew them, specifying the circumstances under which any of those time limits do not apply and authorizing the Minister to extend any of those time limits or to decide that a time limit does not apply when the Minister considers that it is appropriate to do so;

  • (c) respecting the report referred to in subsection 130(4);

  • (d) respecting the conduct of sampling, analyses, tests, measurements or monitoring;

  • (e) respecting the conditions, test procedures and laboratory practices to be followed for sampling, analysing, testing, measuring or monitoring;

  • (f) respecting the monitoring of disposal sites;

  • (g) specifying, for the purpose of paragraph 122(2)(e), areas of the sea adjacent to areas referred to in any of paragraphs 122(2)(a) to (d);

  • (h) limiting the quantity or concentration of a substance contained in waste or other matter for disposal; and

  • (i) prescribing any other thing that by this Division is to be prescribed.

• Marginal note:Amendments to Schedules 5 and 6

  (2) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, by order, amend Schedules 5 and 6.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Minister may make regulations

  • (a) prescribing the form of an application for a Canadian permit or for the renewal of a permit issued under subsection 127(1);

  • (b) specifying the information required to be contained in or to accompany an application referred to in paragraph (a);

  • (c) specifying acts or omissions that constitute a disposal for the purposes of paragraph (g) of the definition disposal in subsection 122(1);

  • (d) specifying, for the purposes of paragraph (h) of the definition disposal in subsection 122(1), the operations that are deemed to be, or deemed not to be, the normal operations of a ship, an aircraft, a platform or another structure or of any equipment on a ship, an aircraft, a platform or another structure;

  • (e) specifying, for the purposes of subsections 125(1) to (3.1), disposals that are deemed to be, or deemed not to be, disposals of substances referred to in paragraph (h) of the definition disposal in subsection 122(1), which specifications may refer, among other things, to any quantity or concentration of any substance or to any place or area; and

  • (f) specifying, for the purposes of section 126, the operations that are deemed to be, or deemed not to be, normal operations of ships, including Canadian ships.