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ARTICLE · 20 APRIL 2021

Canada Proposes To Amend The Canadian Environmental Protection Act

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On April 13, 2021, the federal government introduced Bill C-28, which, if enacted, will amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and other federal legislation.

CanadaEnvironment
Charles Kazaz
Charles Kazaz
Dufferin Harper
Dufferin Harper
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Valentina Cean
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On April 13, 2021, the federal government introduced Bill C-28, which, if enacted, will amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and other federal legislation.

CEPA is the primary federal legislation aimed at pollution prevention and has not been significantly amended since 1999. The primary focus of Bill C-28 is on modernizing Canada's regulation of toxic substances through amendments to CEPA.

The modernization of CEPA has been on the horizon since the Liberal government was elected in 2015 and tasked the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development with completing a comprehensive review of CEPA in March 2016. In June 2017, the Standing Committee released its report, "Healthy Environment, Healthy Canadians, Healthy Economy: Strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999" which included 87 recommendations to update CEPA.

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