On May 24, 2019, the British Columbia Court of Appeal decided
unanimously that B.C.'s proposed amendments to the
Environmental Management Act (Proposed Law) regarding the
Trans Mountain expansion project (TMX Project) were
unconstitutional. The court's decision will have important
implications for all provincial regulation of any works and
undertakings, such as pipelines or railways, that cross provincial
boundaries.
BACKGROUND
The Proposed Law sought to regulate the possession of
"heavy oil" B.C., including the type of heavy crude and
diluted bitumen that will be transported through the TMX Project.
The Proposed Law applied only to persons who possessed more heavy
oil in the province than they had between 2013 and 2017. It
prohibited such possession unless the person obtained a permit from
a provincial official. Using the permit, the official could place
wide-ranging conditions on the person's possession of heavy
oil. For example, the permit could include any
