Battery Deposit and Return Act, 2007 Miller, Norman — Bill 217 (38th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 217, 38-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 217, Battery Deposit and Return Act, 2007

Miller, Norman

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Original

[38] Bill 217 Original (PDF)

Bill 217 2007

An Act to establish a

deposit and return system for batteries

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

Definitions

1. In

this Act,

"investigator" means an investigator appointed under

section 5; (" enquêteur ")

"Minister" means the Minister of the

Environment or whatever other member of the Executive Council to whom the administration

of this Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act ; ("ministre")

"regulations" mean the regulations

made under this Act. ("règlements")

Deposit and Refund for Batteries

Restrictions

on sale

(1) Subject

to the regulations, no person shall sell a battery in a completed form designed

for use unless,

(

a) the battery meets the standards prescribed by

the regulations for the ability to be recycled;

(

b) at the time of the sale, the seller charges a

deposit to the purchaser as part of the sale price; and

(

c) the battery indicates, in the form prescribed

by the regulations, that the deposit is refundable in accordance with

section

Deposit

(2) The seller shall use and dispose of the deposit only

in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the regulations.

Refund

3. A

seller who sells a battery under subsection 2 (1) or an association of such

sellers shall refund the deposit in cash to the person who returns a battery

mentioned under that subsection to the seller or the association, as the case

may be, unless the battery does not meet the standards prescribed by the

regulations, including standards as to whether the battery is in a recyclable

state and whether the battery contains adequate identification that it was

purchased in Ontario.

Reports

4. A

seller who sells a battery under subsection 2 (1) shall file with the Minister

the reports that the regulations prescribe on the sales that the seller makes

of the batteries, the deposits that the seller charges and the refunds that the

seller makes.

Investigations

Investigators

(1) The

Minister may appoint any person to be an investigator for the purpose of determining

whether a person has complied with this Act or the regulations.

Certificate

of appointment

(2) The Minister shall issue to every investigator a

certificate of appointment bearing the Minister's signature or a facsimile of

it.

Police

officers

(3) Police officers, by virtue of office, are

investigators for the purposes of this Act and the regulations, but subsection

(2) does not apply to them.

Proof

of appointment

(4) Every investigator who exercises powers under this Act

shall, upon request, produce the certificate of appointment as an investigator

or identification as a police officer, as the case may be.

Investigation

without warrant

6 .

(1) An

investigator may, without warrant or court order, conduct an investigation in

accordance with this

section if the investigator does so for the purpose of

determining whether a person has contravened or failed to comply with this Act

or the regulations.

Powers

of investigator

(2) In an investigation under this section, an investigator

may,

(

a) enter

and inspect any premises in accordance with this

section if the investigator

has reasonable grounds to believe that it will afford evidence that a person is

contravening

section 2, 3 or 4;

(

b) inquire

into all records and other matters that are relevant to an investigation;

(

c) demand

the production for inspection of any thing relevant to the investigation;

(

d) use

any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system belonging to the

persons being inspected in order to produce a record in readable form of the

records and other matters produced in response to a demand mentioned in clause

(c); or

(

e) in

accordance with the regulations, seize or detain any thing relevant to the

investigation if the thing is capable of being seized or detained.

Entry

to dwellings

(3) An investigator shall not, without the consent of the

occupier, exercise a power to enter a place that is being used as a dwelling,

except under the authority of a search warrant issued under

section 158 of the Provincial Offences Act .

Time

for entry

(4) An investigator shall exercise the power to enter a

premises under this

section only during reasonable hours for the premises.

Written

demand

(5) A demand for things or copies or extracts from them

under subsection (2) shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the

nature of the things that are required to be produced.

obstruction

(6) No person shall obstruct an investigator who is

exercising powers under this

section or provide an investigator with false or

misleading information.

Assistance

(7) An investigator who exercises powers under this

section

may,

(

a) call

on any person for whatever assistance the investigator considers necessary to

accomplish what the investigator is empowered to do;

(

b) call

for the assistance of any member of the Ontario Provincial Police or the

municipal police force in the area where the assistance is required to preserve

the peace.

Person

assisting

(8) A person assisting an investigator in exercising

powers under this

section has the powers of an investigator while acting under

the direction of the investigator.

Police

(9) It is the duty of every member of a police force

called to render assistance under clause (7) (

b) to render the assistance.

Obligation

to assist

(10) If an investigator makes a demand for any thing under

subsection (2), the person having custody of the thing shall produce it to the

investigator and, at the request of the investigator, shall provide whatever assistance

is reasonably necessary, including using any data storage, processing or

retrieval device or system to produce a record in readable form, if the demand

is for a document.

Removal

of things

(11) If a person produces things to an investigator, the

investigator may, on issuing a written receipt, remove them and may,

(

a) review

or copy any of them or part of them; or

(

b) bring

them before a justice, in which case

section 159 of the Provincial

Offences Act applies.

Return

of things seized

(12) The investigator shall carry out any reviewing or

copying of things with reasonable dispatch, and shall forthwith after the

reviewing or copying return the things to the person who produced them.

Admissibility

of copies

(13) A copy certified by an investigator as a copy made

under clause (11) (

a) is admissible in evidence to the same extent, and

has the same evidentiary value, as the thing copied.

General

Non-compellable

witness

7 . No

person employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act shall be

required to give testimony in any civil proceeding, except in a proceeding

under this Act, with regard to information obtained in the discharge of the

person's duties.

Crown

liability

8 .

(1) In

this section,

"Crown

appointee" means a person who is appointed under this Act but who is not a

public servant; (" représentant de la Couronne ")

"public servant" means a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act . (" fonctionnaire ")

liability

(2) No action or other proceeding shall be instituted

against the Crown, the Minister or any employee of the Ministry,

(

a) for

any act done or neglect or default in the execution or intended execution of a

power or duty under this Act by,

(

i) a

person who is not a public servant and not a Crown appointee, or

(ii) a

person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under

section 6 if

the investigator is not a public servant or not a Crown appointee; or

(

b) for

any tort committed by a person described in clause (

a) or an employee or agent of

the person in relation to a power or duty described in that clause.

personal liability

(3) Except in the case of an application for judicial

review or an action or proceeding that any Act or regulation under this or any

other Act specifically provides with respect to a person mentioned in this

subsection, no action or other proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be

instituted against any of the following persons for any act done in good faith

in the execution or intended execution of any duty or authority under this Act

or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of that

duty or authority:

1. An

employee of the Ministry.

2. A

public servant.

3. A

Crown appointee.

4. A

person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under

section 6 if

the investigator is a public servant or a Crown appointee.

Crown

liability

(4) Subsection (3) does not, by reason of subsections 5

(2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act ,

relieve the Crown of liability in respect of a tort committed by an agent or

servant of the Crown to which it would otherwise be subject.

Offences

(1) A

person who contravenes

section 2, 3 or 4 or subsection 6 (6) is guilty of an

offence.

Directors,

officers

(2) If a corporation commits an offence under this Act,

every director, officer, employee or other agent of the corporation who

authorized the offence or who had the authority to prevent the offence from

being committed but knowingly refrained from doing so is a party to and guilty of

the offence and is liable, on conviction, to the penalty for the offence,

whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Penalty

(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under this

section is liable, on conviction,

(

a) to

a fine of not more than $5,000, if the person is an individual; and

(

b) to

a fine of not more than $50,000, if the person is not an individual.

Regulations

(1) The

Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(

a) prescribing

anything that is mentioned in this Act as being prescribed by the regulations;

(

b) exempting

any person, class of persons or class of batteries from any or all of the

provisions of this Act and the regulations and specifying conditions for the

exemption;

(

c) specifying

the information that the reports mentioned in

section 4 must contain and the

time at which the person is required to submit them to the Minister;

(

d) respecting

any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the purposes of this

Act.

Scope

of regulations

(2) A regulation may be of general application or specific

to any person, thing or class of persons or things in its application.

Public

servant

11. The

definition of "public servant" in subsection 8 (1) of this Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

"public

servant" means a public servant employed under

Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 . (" fonctionnaire ")

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

(1) Subject

to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into force on the day it receives

Royal Assent.

(2) Sections 1 to 10 come into force on the 180th

day after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

(3) Section 11 comes into force on the later of the day

the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 comes into

force and the 180th day after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

13. The

short title of this Act is the Battery Deposit and Return

Act, 2007 .

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts a new Act that prohibits persons from selling a battery unless it

meets the standards prescribed by the regulations made under the Act for being

capable of being recycled, the seller charges a deposit to the purchaser as

part of the sale price and the battery indicates that the deposit is

refundable. The regulations made under the Act can provide exemptions for

certain persons or batteries in certai

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 217, 38-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p38 s2 bill 217 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	016a4f5b852606e0859b74661c5dd270aaa814b5

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