| Montreal, 8/09/2009 – On 3 September 2009, the Quebec Environmental Law Centre (Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement—CQDE) and Nature Québec (the "Submitters") filed with the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) a citizen submission asserting that Canada, and more specifically the province of Québec, is failing to effectively enforce: Québec’s Mining Act: the Regulation Respecting Mineral Substances other than Petroleum, Natural Gas and Brine: and, the Sustainable Development Act, all in connection with the financing and environmental management of remediation and redevelopment of mining sites in Québec.
In Submission SEM 09-004 (Quebec Mining), the Submitters assert that follow-up plans for the remediation and redevelopment of mining sites are lacking, there are irregularities in the payments of financial guarantees set aside for the remediation of Québec mining sites, and that management of access to information is poor. The Submitters also assert that the Auditor General found that Québec paid C$264 million to clean up mining sites abandoned by their owners, while $16 million in statutory owner guarantee payments, which normally must be added to the overall liability, have not been accounted for. Regarding public participation and public disclosure requirements, the Submitters refer to the principles of the Québec Sustainable Development Act and further assert that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife has ceased to publicize information on the mining industry.
The CEC Secretariat has notified the Submitters of a minor error of form in the Submission in accordance with Guideline 3.10, and the Submitters have thirty days to correct this. The CEC Secretariat is in the meantime reviewing SEM-09-004 in order to determine whether it meets the criteria for submissions set out in Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
Articles 14 and 15 NAAEC include procedures allowing private parties to make submissions to the CEC Secretariat asserting "that a Party [to the NAAEC] is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law." The CEC has published "Guidelines for Submissions on Enforcement Matters" explaining these procedures.
In appropriate cases, and upon instruction from the CEC Council, the CEC Secretariat may examine a submission further and develop a factual record.
For more information, please visit the CEC’s "Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters" webpage, and the registry of Submission SEM-09-004 (Quebec Mining). |
