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Canada (Minister of the Environment) v. Custom Environmental Services Ltd. (F.C.).

Pays/Territoire
Canada
Type de cour
Nationale - cour supérieure
Date
Mai 18, 2006
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Nom du tribunal
Federal Court
Siège de la cour
Ottawa
Juge
Layden-Stevenson.
Numéro de référence
2008 FC 615
Langue
Anglais
Sujet
Déchets et substances dangereuses, Questions juridiques
Mot clé
Déchets solides Gaspillage alimentaire Déchets organiques Élimination de déchets Déchets ménagers Gestion des déchets Déchets industriels Transport/dépôt
Résumé
This was an appeal from the decision of a Chief Review Officer (CRO) exempting Custom Environmental Services Ltd. (CESL) from the operation of the Storage of PCB Material Regulations (Storage Regulations) in accordance with sub¬section 3(4). CESL operates a hazardous waste management facility, which includes the collection and transfer, for disposal, of all classes of hazardous wastes (including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) waste) and the processing of hazardous recyclables. As a broker of hazardous waste, CESL is authorized to operate as a receiver, generator or carrier of hazardous waste and must comply with relevant legislation. The Storage Regulations require that specific information with respect to received and removed PCB material be recorded and reported to Environment Canada. When Environment Canada asked CESL for an inventory update on its stored PCB material, CESL replied that it was exempt under subsection 3(4) which states that the Regulations do not apply in respect of the handling, offering for transport or transport of PCB material governed by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act TDGA. An environmental protection compliance order (EPCO) was issued requiring CESL to comply with the recording and reporting requirements of the Storage Regulations. Upon review, the CRO cancelled the EPCO because its operations are all covered by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act (TDGA) and its associated Regulations, namely the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR). The CRO determined that CESL does not store PCB material in the sense of warehousing since its intent is to process the material and ship it for destruction. She concluded that during the separation processes, the material can be considered "in use" while the phase after processing may be considered packing and handling in the course of transport. The Court held the appeal should be allowed. The CRO’s interpretation of the applicable legislative provisions was incorrect and unreasonable. At issue was the period between the arrival and departure of PCB material. Whether CESL is keeping the PCB material for destruction, later transportation or permanent storage, the material is being store. The acts of “unloading” PCB material on CESL’s site and of “loading” PCB material for shipment from CESL are clearly captured by the TDGA’s definition of “handling”. The processing of PCB material (sorting/cleaning/ separating processes) to prepare it for destruction is not “using” the material since it arrives at CESL after its useful cycle has ended and the “use” is not reincarnated by virtue of the sorting/ cleaning/separating process. Given the purpose and context of the definitions in the legislative provisions, the TDGR must be read to mean storage that is necessarily incidental to the transport of PCB material, not storage for the purpose of future transportation. CESL’s accumulation of a sufficient quantity of PCB material to warrant an economically viable shipment does not constitute storing the material in the course of transportation.
Texte intégral
COU-156857.pdf
Site web
reports.fja-cmf.gc.ca