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Environmental Emergency Regulations

made under Sections 74, 136 and 171 and subsection 122A(3) of the

Environment Act

S.N.S. 1994-95, c. 1

O.I.C. 2013-17 (January 22, 2013), N.S. Reg. 16/2013

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Environmental Emergency Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations

“Act” means the Environment Act ;

“Administrator” means a person appointed by the Minister under

Section 3 to

administer these regulations;

“environmental emergency” means an emergency situation in which there is a

release or an impending release of a substance in such quantities that mitigation of

the release is beyond the capability of the person responsible because the person

responsible lacks the resources, is unknown, or is otherwise unwilling or unable to

control and manage the release;

“environmental emergency area” means a property, habitat, land, watercourse or

other area that is established by an inspector under

Section 10 as an area that has

been affected or is likely to be affected during an environmental emergency;

“remediate”, in relation to an area affected by a released substance, means to clean

up the released substance in accordance with a standard or regulation, or as directed

by an inspector;

“reportable release” means a release into the environment of a substance in an

amount specified in Column 3 of

Schedule A for that substance;

“unauthorized release” means a release of a substance into the environment that is

any of the following:

(

i) prohibited by the Act or a regulation or standard made under the Act,

(ii) in excess of an amount specified in an approval or by the Act or a

regulation or standard made under the Act,

(iii) a release described in subclause (

i) or (ii) that is reasonably expected to

occur in the foreseeable future.

Application of regulations

(1) These regulations apply to a release of a substance or impending release of a

substance into the environment, including all of the following:

(

a) an environmental emergency;

(

b) a reportable release;

(

c) an unauthorized release;

(

d) a release of a substance or impending release of a substance into the

environment on lands owned or claimed by Her Majesty in the right of Canada.

(2) The notice and reporting requirements in Sections 6 to 8 do not apply to a release of

a substance

(

a) in an amount that is permitted in an approval; or

(

b) for which a reporting requirement is included in an approval for the release.

(3) The notice and reporting requirements in Sections 6 to 8 do not eliminate the

requirement to comply with a notice or reporting requirement in another enactment.

Administrator

4 The Minister may appoint a person as Administrator to administer these regulations.

Qualifications for appointment as emergency responder

5 A person who is not an employee of the Department and who meets all of the following

qualifications may apply to the Minister to be appointed under subsection 21(2) of the Act

as an inspector for environmental emergencies, to be known as an emergency responder:

(

a) the applicant is a member of either a fire or police service for a municipality

within the Province;

(

b) the applicant has successfully completed the requirements of a national

emergency responders certification program;

(

c) the municipality where the applicant is a member of a fire or police service is

satisfied with the certification of the applicant and provides a written

recommendation to the Minister for the applicant’s appointment.

Duty to report unauthorized release or reportable release

(1) A person with a duty to report under

Section 69 of the Act must report an

unauthorized release as soon as that person knows or ought to know of it.

(2) A person responsible for a reportable release must report that release as soon as that

person knows or ought to know of it.

Verbal notice of unauthorized release or reportable release

7 A person who is reporting a release of a substance under

Section 6 must verbally notify all

of the following:

(

a) the Minister, through the Department’s emergency telephone number;

(

b) if the person reporting is not the owner, the owner of the parcel of land where

the release occurred;

(

c) any person who the person reporting knows or ought to know may be directly

affected by the release, including the owner or occupant of any parcel of land

to which the substance has migrated or is likely to migrate from the location of

the release.

Written report of unauthorized release or reportable release

8 In addition to the verbal notice required by

Section 7, the Administrator or an inspector

may demand in writing that a person required to report an unauthorized release or a

reportable release under

Section 6 submit, within the time period specified in the request, a

written report to the Department that includes all of the following:

(

a) the name, address and telephone number of the owner of the property where

the release occurred;

(

b) the name, address, telephone number and signature of the person who is

submitting the report;

(

c) the location of the release, including the parcel identification number and civic

address;

(

d) if any substance has migrated or is likely to migrate from the location of the

release, a general description of the nature of the migration or likely migration

of the substance;

(

e) the name, address, and telephone number of the owner of any parcel of land to

which any substance has migrated or is likely to migrate from the location of

the release, and the location, including the parcel identification number and

civic address, of that parcel of land;

(

f) a general description of measures taken or to be taken to address the release;

(

g) the action taken to identify the cause of the release;

(

h) the action taken to prevent a recurrence of the release;

(

i) an assessment of the adequacy of the response to the release by a person or

agency involved in the response;

(

j) the action taken or to be taken to dispose of the substance.

Remedial measures

9 For the purpose of clause 71(

b) of the Act, an inspector may issue a directive to a person

under

Section 122A of the Act requiring the person to take any or all of the following

measures as necessary to prevent, reduce or remedy adverse effects after a release of a

substance:

(

a) recognize an environmental emergency area;

(

b) restrict a person or persons from entering into an environmental emergency

area;

(

c) restrict vehicle access into an environmental emergency area;

(

d) recognize an unsafe area established by an inspector;

(

e) construct works required to contain, control or manage the release;

(

f) any immediate action that the inspector considers necessary to contain, control

or manage the release;

(

g) measures as directed by the inspector to remediate the area affected by the

release.

Emergency measures

10 For the purpose of

Section 72 of the Act, in an environmental emergency an inspector may

take any or all of the following emergency measures as necessary to prevent, reduce or

remedy the adverse effects of a release of a substance:

(

a) establish an environmental emergency area;

(

b) restrict a person or persons from entering into an environmental emergency

area;

(

c) restrict vehicle access into an environmental emergency area;

(

d) establish an unsafe area;

(

e) construct works to contain, control or manage the release;

(

f) any immediate action that the inspector considers necessary to contain, control

or manage the release;

(

g) any measures that the inspector considers necessary to remediate the area

affected by the release.

Emergency orders

(1) An emergency order under

Section 128 of the Act may be made by an inspector,

including an emergency responder, during or after an environmental emergency or

unauthorized release.

(2) An order referred to in subsection (1) may order a person to take any action

authorized under

Section 125 or 126 of the Act, including any or all of the

following:

(

a) to take the action specified to dispose of the substance that has been released;

(

b) to remediate the environment impacted by the release;

(

c) to do all things identified as necessary to repair an injury or damage directly or

indirectly caused by or resulting from the release.

(3) An order referred to in subsection (1) must be confirmed as required by subsection

128(2) of the Act.

(4) An inspector or the Administrator may determine when an environmental emergency

has ended.

(5) If a person ordered to take action under subsection (1) fails to comply with the order,

the Minister may act under

Section 132 of the Act.

Recovering costs

(1) For the purpose of

Section 169 of the Act, reasonable costs, expenses or other

charges that are incurred by the Minister, the Administrator or an inspector in

carrying out measures with respect to an environmental emergency or an

unauthorized release and that are supported by proper receipts may be recovered by 1

of the following methods:

(

a) for a claim of less than or equal to $5000, by issuing an order to pay against the

person responsible for the need to take the measures;

(

b) for a claim of greater than $5000 or greater , by taking an action in a court of

competent jurisdiction against the person responsible for the need to take the

measures.

(2) If the person against whom an order is issued under clause (1)(

a) fails to pay, the

Minister or the Administrator may file the order with the prothonotary of the

Supreme Court and it has the same effect as an order filed under subsection 132(7)

of the Act.

Schedule A

Reportable Release of Substance Amounts

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

TDGA

Class*

Description of Substance

Reportable

Release Amount

All Class 1

explosive

any amount

2.1

compressed gas (flammable)

100 L or more

2.2

compressed gas (non-corrosive, non-flammable)

100L or more

2.3

compressed gas (toxic)

any amount

flammable liquid

100 L or more

4.1

flammable solid

25 kg or more

4.2

spontaneously combustible solid

25 kg or more

4.3

water reactant solid

25 kg or more

5.1

oxidizing substance

50 L or more

–or–

50 kg or more

5.2

organic peroxide

1 L or more

–or–

1 kg or more

6.1

poisonous substance

5 L or more

–or–

5 kg or more

6.2

infectious substance

any amount

radioactive substance

any amount

corrosive substance

5 L or more

–or–

5 kg or more

9 (in part)

miscellaneous product or substance, excluding

PCB mixtures and environmentally hazardous

substances

25 L or more

–or–

25 kg or more

9 (in part)

PCB mixture of 50 or more parts per million

0.5 L or more

–or–

0.5 kg or more

9 (in part)

environmentally hazardous substance

1 L or more

–or–

1 kg or more

n/a

asbestos waste as defined in the Asbestos Waste

Management Regulations made under the Act

50 kg or more

n/a

used oil as defined in the Used Oil Regulations

made under the Act

100 L or more

n/a

contaminated used oil as defined in the Used Oil

Regulations made under the Act

5 L or more

n/a

pesticide in concentrated form

5 L or more

–or–

5 kg or more

n/a

pesticide in diluted form

70 L or more

n/a

unauthorized sewage discharge into fresh water or

sensitive marine water

100 L or more

n/a

ozone-depleting substance as defined in the Ozone

Layer Protection Regulations made under the Act

25 kg or more

(*“TDGA Class”, in relation to a substance, refers to the class of that substance as listed in the

Schedule to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act (Canada).)