Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the environmental guideline for contaminated site remediation. I mentioned in my statement that there's no specific legislative authority sited in the document. The most logical would be the Environmental Protection Act. But can the Minister tell us whether this guideline is intended to be legally binding and enforceable? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the guidelines has existed in the NWT since 2003 and has now been updated. The guidelines is one of the many tools under the Environmental Protection Act that is administered by ECC. The guideline describes the general contaminant sites remediation process. Although not legally binding, it sets soil, surface water, and groundwater quality standards for the site remediation to act in compliance with the Environmental Protection Act. Most of the contaminant sites that the guidelines apply to occur on private lands within communities. And in these cases, environment and climate change officers can direct or order remediation of contaminated sites to the standards specified in the guidelines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. It might be helpful to actually amend the document to cite the Environmental Protection Act. But I also wonder whether this guideline will apply to privatelyowned lands or a contaminated site might be located even if the contamination has not escaped the site. So can the Minister tell us whether this guideline will apply to privatelyowned lands and how? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Environmental Protection Act and this guideline applies to the whole of the Northwest Territories, including privatelyowned land.
Environment and climate change officers, under the authority of the Environmental Protection Act, can direct or order the remediation of contaminated sites even if the contaminants had not escaped the site. The land use permits, and water licenses issued under the authority of the Water Act or the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, boards can choose to apply the guidelines or select their own standards. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that because I know one site, in Yellowknife, I'm going to direct his way, probably right at the end of this day. In my statement, though, I also said that the only mention of the public in this document is as a recipient of some sort of vague notice that a site is found to be contaminated. There's no role for the public in the remediation process, nothing about whether any of the information or decisions are public. So can the Minister explain this failure to include any role for the public in the remediation process as set out in the document? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned previously or mentioned before, most of the contaminant sites that this guideline applies to occur on private lands within the communities. The site remediation process is primarily between the owner of the residence or business and the environment and climate change officer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Sometimes neighbours want to know what's happening next door, and this doesn't provide any mechanism for that to happen. But the site closure section of this document is particularly troubling. It would enable GNWT to accept contaminated sites where there could be residual environmental liabilities without any financial security and could allow GNWT to accept sites requiring perpetual care at taxpayers' expense. So can the Minister explain why this guideline would allow GNWT to accept financial liabilities and perpetual care at public costs without any public disclosure? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned earlier, this guideline does not apply to sites that have land use permits and/or water license. The guideline does not allow the GNWT to accept financial liability or perpetual care at the GNWT cost. Under the Environment Protection Act, the parties responsible for the contamination is responsible for cleaning it up. If the responsible party is unable to address the contamination and is deemed an environmental emergency, the Act gives environment and climate change the authority to undertake the work required and recover the costs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
