DLA Piper'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.
Our comprehensive expertise includes:
- 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
Emerging Issues
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.