How Are Environmental Laws Made?

• Date: 01 May 2019
• Author: Surtees, Jeff
• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Author: Surtees, Jeff

Written environmental laws come in all different sizes and shapes. For example, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 has 356 sections, six schedules and fifty-seven sets of regulations. Other environmental laws are only one page long. Big or small, they all have a few things in common. They must be put in place by a government that has the constitutional authority to create a law about whatever it is that is being regulated. (We looked at the issue of jurisdiction in the March/April 2017 issue of LawNow.) Also, for every law there will some kind of process that was followed to put it in place.

Laws are usually defined as rules that are enforceable using state power. If you break a law, there is at least the possibility that you will face a penalty. The penalty could be a fine, loss of a licence or privileges, or even jail. Laws are different from policies. Government policy can be defined many ways but essentially it is the plan of action the government wishes to take. Governments often need to pass laws to put their policies into effect.

Much of the debate about environmental law creation takes place during the policy formation stage. A government will formally and informally seek input from the public about things it is thinking about doing. It may release a 'green paper' setting out possible alternatives for discussion or a 'white paper' showing the alternative that the government likes the best. It...