Environmental & Regulatory

Lawson Lundell’s Environmental Law Group provides advice and assistance to clients in all aspects of environmental law including:

• Commercial transactions – due diligence, risk assessments, allocation of liability, representations and warranties, and indemnities
• Environmental management systems – training, compliance, liability of officers and directors, and environmental audits
• Environmental assessment of projects – federal, provincial and territorial environmental assessment processes, major projects, project descriptions, screenings, comprehensive studies and public reviews under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Yukon Environmental And Socio-Economic Assessment Act, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, and the Nunavut Impact Review Board
• Regulatory and licensing requirements – applications for licences, permits and authorizations under the federal Fisheries Act, and provincial and territorial environmental management and protection acts, and water acts
• Contaminated sites – polluter, generator and responsible persons liability, allocation of liability, site remediation requirements, remediation cost claims, and certificates of compliance
• Reclamation, closure and remediation – bonding, security, and environmental trusts
• Environmental offences – spill reporting, inspections, investigations and defence of environmental prosecutions under the Fisheries Act and provincial and territorial environmental assessment management and protection acts

The Group is experienced in advising clients in all industries including oil and gas, pulp and paper, forest harvesting, mining, transportation (public transit, marine transportation and port facilities, railways, and truck transport), real estate investment, real estate development, aquaculture, and hydroelectric power generation.

Experience

Examples of our experience include:

• Providing advice to project proponents involved in environmental assessments and regulatory approval including:
  • Project counsel to mining projects in British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
  • Project counsel to hydroelectric projects in British Columbia and the North
  • Project counsel to the forest industry and pulp and paper projects
  • Pipeline projects
  • Liquid natural gas projects
  • Marine ports and transportation projects
  • Aquaculture
• Corporate environmental compliance – developing training programs, environmental audits, ISO certification, environmental management systems for major mining companies, forestry companies, manufacturing companies, and companies engaged in oil and gas refining, engineering and real estate
• Environmental agreements – negotiating an environmental agreement (with government and First Nations) to establish an environmental monitoring board for a major mine
• Public hearings – project counsel in public hearings before joint review panels, Environmental Appeal Boards, Water Boards, the National Energy Board, and the Nunavut Impact Review Board
• Environmental litigation – representation of project proponents in mining, marine ports, forestry, aquaculture, and energy in responding to judicial review proceedings in Federal Court (Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, Fisheries Act) and Supreme Court (British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act)
• Environmental insurance – representation of major industrial clients in connection with environmental insurance claims
• Injunctions – representation of resource industry clients in obtaining injunctions to address road blockades of environmental activists
• Defence of environmental prosecutions – all industries

Team