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Environment Canada

Business focused answers to your environmental, health and safety issues

DLA Piper Canada's Environmental Law practice has a strong presence in all areas of environmental law, ‎including: contaminated lands ‎litigation, ‎defence of environmental prosecutions, real estate and ‎lender transactions with a ‎particular emphasis on ‎brownfields redevelopment, compliance issues, ‎environmental ‎approvals and assessments, due ‎diligence for mergers and acquisitions, waste ‎management ‎and disposal, recycling, waste diversion and ‎recovery, and transportation of dangerous ‎‎goods.‎

Our group of nationally recognized practitioners are involved in some of the most ‎important ‎and ‎‎impactful Canadian and regional environmental matters, as well as cross-border ‎transactions. ‎We ‎have ‎expertise encompassing all areas of environmental law and are ‎at the forefront of delivering ‎innovative ‎solutions to help clients successfully ‎navigate the ‎complexities of a shifting regulatory ‎landscape in ‎Canada. In particular, we have acted on a ‎number of major cross-border transactions ‎involving key ‎environmental aspects.‎

We also have significant involvement with business issues related to corporate social responsibility ‎as local, national and international stakeholders demand environmental stewardship from the ‎individuals and organizations they do business with. To successfully meet these demands, ‎companies and corporations must integrate environmental management into their business strategy ‎and policies. This requires a preventative approach to environmental compliance and liability issues, ‎as well as an understanding of the evolving regulatory landscape. Our group's experience supports ‎this approach.‎

Our Environment group works closely with top professionals in our Corporate, Litigation, Real ‎Estate, Energy, ‎Projects ‎and Indigenous Law Groups to provide comprehensive service to our ‎clients. We have a robust ‎national ‎reputation for our ability to deliver effective, on-the-ground ‎support while also providing ‎access to the ‎vast resources of the DLA Piper global network. This ‎‎unique combination ‎of local knowledge and international reach represents a distinct advantage and ‎‎competitive edge for our ‎clients.‎

Experience

Experience

  • Providing regulatory compliance advice to environmentally sensitive industries
  • Advising the boards of directors and senior officers of environmentally sensitive industries
  • Making the law on limitation periods for claims of continuing ‎migration of ‎contaminants
  • Providing environmental law advice to companies in the forestry, pulp and paper, real estate, ‎oil & gas, construction, mining and transportation sectors, among others‎
  • Advising the underwriters of transactional ‎representation ‎and warranty insurance policies. Our ‎environmental law expertise is a ‎key aspect of this advisory ‎work. As such, we participate in ‎many of the largest dollar value ‎transactions across Canada‎
  • Restructuring a property sale or purchase so as to minimize environmental liabilities
  • Advising on the applicability of insurance coverage for environmental liabilities
  • Designing and participating in environmental management systems, environmental audits ‎and other due diligence tools
  • Acting as counsel in the review of various projects under environmental assessment and ‎impact assessment legislation
  • Negotiating with regulatory officials to define permit requirements and to facilitate ongoing ‎compliance
  • Conducting appeals under environmental legislation and seeking judicial review before the ‎courts
  • Acting as counsel for plaintiffs and defendants engaged in civil litigation and private ‎arbitrations
  • Defending clients charged with environmental offences under provincial and federal ‎legislation
  • Advising governmental and quasi-governmental entities on policy and legislative ‎developments
Our group works with companies and organizations undertaking innovative environmental ‎projects. ‎Our ‎client base includes companies in the natural resource sector, those operating ‎in the energy and ‎waste ‎management sectors, the oil industry, utilities, provincial energy ‎boards, various levels of ‎government ‎and quasi-governmental agencies, as well as other ‎organizations.‎ Our advice focusses ‎on the impacts of:‎
  • Pending environmental legislation that will increase the demands and scrutiny on businesses ‎that impact the environment
  • Canada's international obligations under various environmental treaties and its commitments ‎under the NAFTA Environmental Cooperation Agreement, which are forcing businesses to ‎take a rigorous approach to environmental planning and remediation
  • The pressing concerns in relation to waste management, waste disposal and recycling: our ‎firm has more experience than any other Canadian firm dealing with these issues
  • Emissions trading, whether provincially, nationally or internationally, which will have ‎increasing significance for companies operating in Canada, as will the potential to be ‎involved in green energy initiatives

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