Tougher Environmental Regulations – And Regulators – Hit The Road
– by Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada
Buoyed by tougher rules and armed with more enforcement money from the Ontario Parliament, environmental regulators are hitting the road – literally. The ministry says it is getting stricter about damage caused by trucks, buses and other forms of transport if they pollute the environment, even accidentally.
While the vast majority of companies do their best to meet environmental standards at the plant, many forget that their liability remains while it is being transported to a customer, along with the transporting company. Indeed, the MoE is now co-operating with provincial and local police to enforce a trucker’s requirement to deal with spills and other contamination while on the road.
What this means is that a spill hundreds of miles from a plant that occurs while a product or industrial waste is en route to its destination could result in the manufacturer facing fines and other sanctions.
