EC238 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Demand Curve, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Sulfur
EC238
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
EC238 - Chapter 15
Concurrency – both levels of government have laws over the same thing
- Paramouncy – if the laws are in conflict, the federal law has precedence over the
provincial law
Lack of Clarity and Overlap of Jurisdictional Responsibilities
- Potential for uncertainty as to which level of government has the authority to regulate
for specific environmental problems and objectives
Stakeholder Groups – public and private sector representatives as well as those form non-
governmental organizations that discuss not only regulation but all aspects of environmental
policy
Voluntary Emissions Reductions – reductions done even though no regulation requires it
Canada’s Green Plan – national strategy and action plan for sustainable development with
goals to secure for curret ad future geeratios a safe ad healthy eviroet ad a
soud ad prosperous ecooy
Seven Goals:
1. Clean air, water, land
2. Sustainable use of renewable resources
3. Protection of special spaces and species
4. Preserving integrity of the North; global environmental security
5. Environmentally responsible decision making
6. Minimizing impact of environmental emergencies
The federal government has the power to legislate over ocean and inland fisheries,
navigation and shipping, and federal lands and waters; to negotiate international treaties;
and to implement national concerns under the principle of Peace, Order, and Good
Government.
The provinces have power over local works; property and civil rights within the provinces;
matters of a local or private nature; and authority over provincially owned lands and
resources. The last right gives each province exclusive jurisdiction over the development,
conservation, and management of its nonrenewable resources.
There are relatively few constitutional powers that pertain to the environment and the
division of power between the federal government and the provinces and territories can
sometimes be unclear. However, most of the regulatory power lies with the provinces and
territories which is a major difference between Canada and the US where Congress writes
environmental laws and the Environmental Protection Agency implements them by writing
regulations and setting national standards that the states must then enforce through their
own regulations (US Environmental Protection Agency).
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
The textbook discusses how the Constitution grants the federal government the ability to
set environmental regulations based on the following areas under its power including: 1)
ocean and inland fisheries; 2) navigation and shipping; 3) federal lands and waters; and 4)
the promotion of “Peace, Order, and Good Government” (sometimes referred to as POGG).
The Fisheries Act is an example of a policy established under the first set of powers and the
Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) which deals with toxic materials is an
example of a policy established based on POGG powers.
Apart from POGG, a more comprehensive list than that given in the textbook of where there
is federal jurisdiction over environmental issues include the following: 1) federally owned
public property; 2) sea coast and inland fisheries; 3) navigation and shipping; 4) the
criminal law; 5) Indians and lands reserved for Indians; 6) wildlife on federal lands, aquatic
species including marine mammals and migratory birds; and 7) nuclear activities
(Parliament of Canada).
The Constitution grants provinces and territories the ability to set environmental regulations
based on powers over: 1) local works, property and civil rights within the province/territory;
2) matters of a local or private nature; and 3) provincially owned lands and resources. Due
to this last power, provinces and territories oversee the development of their natural
resource industries – a common area for environmental tradeoffs and conflicts. Each
province and territory has its own environmental regulatory framework in place to address
pollution control and ambient quality issues.
Within provinces, overlap between federal and provincial regulations is seen between the
Fisheries Act and provincial water pollution policies, regulations on accidental spills into
waterways and some air pollution regulations. The federal government regulates the
distribution, use and sale of pesticides although provinces also have their own pesticide
regulations.
When pollution occurs between provinces or territories the federal government’s powers can
be in conflict with the individual provinces and this is certainly a tricky area in terms of
regulation. The federal government also has jurisdiction to regulate air pollution released
from a source in Canada but experienced in a country outside Canada. Before acting, the
federal Minister of the Environment must first try to get the provincial/territorial
government responsible for the area in which the source is located to prevent, control or
correct the air pollution (Parliament of Canada).
The federal government has the power to negotiate international treaties related to the
environment. This leads to implementation problems with such a treaty if any provinces did
not wish to cooperate with the federal government or wished to negotiate independently.
Given the wide variation in pollution problems and environmental quality across the country,
a “one size fits all” national policy might not be fair to the different provinces and territories.
In the case of global warming, it is interesting to note that both Parliament and the
provinces have broad jurisdiction to impose taxes. As a consequence either or both levels of
government could institute a carbon tax as a way to deal with this issue (Parliament of
Canada).
Another area not discussed in the textbook where overlap exists between federal and
provincial powers is related to environmental assessments. “Under both federal law and
provincial law, many types of projects – such as the construction of a mine, pipeline or
factory – must undergo an environmental assessment to ensure that environmental factors
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Concurrency both levels of government have laws over the same thing. Paramouncy if the laws are in conflict, the federal law has precedence over the provincial law. Lack of clarity and overlap of jurisdictional responsibilities. Potential for uncertainty as to which level of government has the authority to regulate for specific environmental problems and objectives. Stakeholder groups public and private sector representatives as well as those form non- governmental organizations that discuss not only regulation but all aspects of environmental policy. Voluntary emissions reductions reductions done even though no regulation requires it. Canada"s green plan national strategy and action plan for sustainable development with goals to (cid:862)secure for curre(cid:374)t a(cid:374)d future ge(cid:374)eratio(cid:374)s a safe a(cid:374)d healthy e(cid:374)viro(cid:374)(cid:373)e(cid:374)t a(cid:374)d a sou(cid:374)d a(cid:374)d prosperous eco(cid:374)o(cid:373)y(cid:863) Seven goals: clean air, water, land, sustainable use of renewable resources, protection of special spaces and species, preserving integrity of the north; global environmental security, environmentally responsible decision making, minimizing impact of environmental emergencies.
