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

Marginal note:Duration of agreement

299 An agreement comes into force on the day on which it is signed or on any later day that is specified in the agreement and continues in force for the period, not exceeding three years, specified in the agreement.

Marginal note:Filing in court for the purpose of public access

• 300 (1) Subject to subsection (5), the Attorney General shall consult with the Minister before entering into an agreement and shall cause the agreement to be filed, as part of the court record of the proceedings to which the public has access, with the court in which the information was laid, within 30 days after the agreement was entered into.

• Marginal note:Reports

  (2) A report relating to the administration of or compliance with an agreement shall, immediately after all the terms and conditions of the agreement have been complied with or the charges in respect of which the agreement was entered into have been dismissed, be filed with the court in which the agreement was filed in accordance with subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Confidential information or material injury

  (3) Subject to subsection (4), the following information that is to be part of an agreement or the report referred to in subsection (2) must be set out in a schedule to the agreement or to the report:

  • (a) trade secrets of any person;

  • (b) financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that is confidential information and that is treated consistently in a confidential manner by any person;

  • (c) information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to result in material financial loss or gain to, or could reasonably be expected to prejudice the competitive position of, any person; or

  • (d) information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with contractual or other negotiations of any person.

• Marginal note:Agreement on information to be in schedule

  (4) The parties to an agreement must agree on which information that is to be part of an agreement or a report is information that meets the requirements of paragraphs (3)(a) to (d).

• Marginal note:Manner in which schedules to be kept secret

  (5) A schedule to an agreement or to the report referred to in subsection (2) is confidential and shall not be filed with the court.

• Marginal note:Prohibition of disclosure

  (6) The Minister shall not disclose any information set out in a schedule to the agreement or to the report referred to in subsection (2), except under section 307 or under the Access to Information Act.

Marginal note:Filing in Environmental Registry

301 A copy of every agreement and report referred to in subsection 300(2) and every agreement that has been varied under subsection 303(1), or a notice that the agreement or report has been filed in court and is available to the public, shall be included in the Environmental Registry.

Marginal note:Stay and recommencement of proceedings

302 Despite section 579 of the Criminal Code,

• (a) the Attorney General shall, on filing the agreement, stay the proceedings or apply to the court for an adjournment of the proceedings in respect of the offence alleged to have been committed for a period of not more than one year after the expiry of the agreement; and

• (b) proceedings stayed in accordance with paragraph (a) may be recommenced, without laying a new information or preferring a new indictment, as the case may be, by the Attorney General giving notice of the recommencement to the clerk of the court in which the stay of the proceedings was entered, but where no such notice is given within one year after the expiry of the agreement, the proceedings are deemed never to have been commenced.

Marginal note:Application to vary agreement

• 303 (1) Subject to subsection 300(5), the Attorney General may, on application by the person bound by an agreement and after consulting with the Minister, vary the agreement in one or both of the following ways that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, is rendered desirable by a material change in the circumstances since the agreement was entered into or last varied:

  • (a) make any changes to the agreement or to its terms and conditions; or

  • (b) decrease the period for which the agreement is to remain in force or relieve the person, either absolutely or partially or for any period that the Attorney General considers desirable, of compliance with any condition that is specified in the agreement.

• Marginal note:Filing of varied agreement

  (2) An agreement that has been varied under subsection (1) shall be filed with the court in which the original agreement was filed in accordance with section 300.

Marginal note:Records of persons

304 Sections 305 to 307 apply only to persons who have entered into an agreement, regardless of the degree of their compliance with its terms and conditions.

Marginal note:Records of police forces and investigative bodies

• 305 (1) A record that relates to an offence that is alleged to have been committed by a person, including the original or a copy of any fingerprints or photographs of the person, may be kept by any police force or body responsible for, or participating in, the investigation of the offence.

• Marginal note:Disclosure by enforcement officer or peace officer

  (2) An enforcement officer or other peace officer may disclose to any person any information in a record kept under this section that it is necessary to disclose in the conduct of the investigation of an offence.

• Marginal note:Disclosure to insurance company

  (3) An enforcement officer or other peace officer may disclose to an insurance company any information in a record kept under this section that it is necessary to disclose for the purpose of investigating a claim arising out of an offence that is committed or alleged to have been committed by the person to whom the record relates.

Marginal note:Government records

• 306 (1) The Minister, enforcement officers and analysts and any department or agency of a government in Canada with which the Minister has entered into an agreement under section 308 may keep records and use information obtained as a result of the use of environmental protection alternative measures to deal with a person

  • (a) for the purposes of an inspection under this Act or an investigation of an offence under this Act that is alleged to have been committed by the person;

  • (b) in proceedings against the person under this Act;

  • (c) for the purpose of the administration of environmental protection alternative measures programs; or

  • (d) otherwise for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of this Act.

• Marginal note:Supervision records

  (2) Any person may keep the records and use the information obtained by the person as a result of supervising compliance with an agreement that are necessary for the purpose of supervising compliance with the agreement.

Marginal note:Disclosure of records

• 307 (1) Any record or information referred to in section 305 or 306 may be made available to

  • (a) any judge or court for any purpose that relates to proceedings relating to offences that are committed or alleged to have been committed by the person to whom the record relates;

  • (b) any prosecutor, enforcement officer or other peace officer

    • (i) for the purpose of investigating an offence that the person is suspected on reasonable grounds of having committed, or in respect of which the person has been arrested or charged, or

    • (ii) for any purpose that relates to the administration of the case to which the record relates;

  • (c) any member of a department or agency of a government in Canada, or any agent of such a department or agency, that is

    • (i) engaged in the administration of environmental protection alternative measures in respect of the person, or

    • (ii) preparing a report in respect of the person under this Act; or

  • (d) any other person who is deemed, or any person within a class of persons that is deemed, by a judge of a court to have a valid interest in the record, to the extent directed by the judge, if the judge is satisfied that the disclosure is

    • (i) desirable in the public interest for research or statistical purposes, or

    • (ii) desirable in the interest of the proper administration of justice,

    and if that person gives a written undertaking not to subsequently disclose the information except in accordance with subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Subsequent disclosure

  (2) Where a record is made available to a person under subparagraph (1)(d)(i), the person may subsequently disclose information contained in the record, but shall not disclose it in any form that could reasonably be expected to identify the person to whom it relates and any other person specified by the judge.

• Marginal note:Information, copies

  (3) Any person to whom a record is authorized to be made available under this section may be given any information that is contained in the record and may be given a copy of any part of the record.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (4) Nothing in this section authorizes the introduction into evidence of any part of a record that would not otherwise be admissible in evidence.

• Marginal note:Exception for public access to court record

  (5) For greater certainty, this section does not apply to an agreement, a varied agreement or report that is filed with the court in accordance with section 300.

Marginal note:Agreements respecting exchange of information

308 The Minister may enter into an agreement with a department or agency of a government in Canada respecting the exchange of information for the purpose of administering environmental protection alternative measures or preparing a report in respect of a person’s compliance with an agreement.

Marginal note:Regulations

309 The Minister may make regulations respecting the environmental protection alternative measures that may be used for the purposes of this Act including regulations

• (a) excluding specified offences under this Act from the application of those measures;

• (b) prescribing the form and manner in which and the period within which an application to participate in the measures is to be made, and the information that must be contained in or accompany the application;

• (c) respecting the manner of preparing and filing reports relating to the administration of and compliance with agreements;

• (d) respecting the types of reasonable costs and the manner of paying the costs associated with supervising and verifying compliance with an agreement; and

• (e) respecting the terms and conditions that may be provided for in an agreement and their effects.

Contraventions

Marginal note:Ticketing

• 310 (1) Despite anything in this Act, the Governor in Council may, by regulation, on the recommendation of the Minister, designate any offence under this Act as an offence with respect to which, despite the Criminal Code, an enforcement officer may lay an information and issue and serve a summons by completing a ticket in the prescribed form, affixing to it the enforcement officer’s signature and delivering it to the person who is alleged to have committed the offence specified in it at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) Any regulations made under this section

  • (a) shall establish a procedure for entering a plea and paying a fine in respect of each offence to which the regulations relate;

  • (b) shall prescribe the amount of the fine to be paid in respect of each offence; and

  • (c) may prescribe any other matter necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

• Marginal note:Failure to respond to ticket

  (3) Where a person is served with a ticket and does not enter a plea within the time prescribed by the regulations, a justice shall examine the ticket and

  • (a) if the ticket is complete and regular on its face, the justice shall enter a conviction in the person’s absence and impose a fine of the prescribed amount; or

  • (b) if the ticket is not complete and regular on its face, the justice shall quash the proceedings.

Other Remedies

Marginal note:Injunction

• 311 (1) Where, on the application of the Minister, it appears to a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has done or is about to do or is likely to do any act or thing constituting or directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act, the court may issue an injunction ordering any person named in the application

  • (a) to refrain from doing any act or thing that it appears to the court may constitute or be directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act; or

  • (b) to do any act or thing that it appears to the court may prevent the commission of an offence under this Act.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) No injunction shall be issued under subsection (1) unless 48 hours notice is given to the party or parties named in the application or the urgency of the situation is such that service of notice would not be in the public interest.