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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.‎

“The environmental practice is excellent and they interact with all groups at the firm.”

The Legal 500

Our deep bench of environmental lawyers features former regulators, prosecutors, and government agency officials – including a former EPA Chief of Staff – who can translate their nuanced understanding of policy and administrative operations into strategies tailored to your business. Combined with our hands-on, industry leading experience at every stage of the decision-making process, we can address nearly any environmental concern, including:

Regulatory counseling

Our team has deep ties to state and federal law makers, actively monitoring laws across the globe and engaging with regulators on their implementation. We ultimately help clients shape modern federal environmental law by participating in notice-and-comment rulemakings, the resulting appellate litigation, and advocacy with the agencies.

Litigation & enforcement

When the stakes are high, our experience defending groundbreaking complex environmental litigation and enforcement actions offers peace of mind. Our seasoned environmental litigators vigorously defend actions arising under any of the federal environmental statutes, including CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, CAA, TSCA, FIFRA, and ESA as well as the state equivalents. Our team is also experienced in defending against cutting edge litigation emanating from key states like California, Maine, New York and others.

Compliance & auditing

From single-issue audits and programs to multi-media audits and programs encompassing all aspects of environmental health and safety, create and manage environmental audit and compliance programs tailored to your business.

Transactional support

Environmental issues can arise from the transfer and financing of businesses and real estate worldwide. To support your most strategic transactions, we help investors, buyers, sellers, and lenders perform environmental diligence, negotiate the allocation of environmental liabilities and advise on insurance major coverage cases and issues involving environmental liability and remediation costs.

ESG/Climate/Sustainability Counseling & Litigation

From assessment and action to accountability and reporting, we can add value to your ESG efforts wherever you may be in your ESG lifecycle. Whether you’re in the early stages of identifying ESG goals and needs or defending litigation and enforcement actions, our team can work hand-in-hand to identify where you want to be and help you get there. Our forward-looking solutions help navigate ESG issues in a way that seizes opportunities and maximizes long-term value.

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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