Reviews of environmental penalty notices now go to the Environmental Protection Tribunal, not review officers

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

The body that handles challenges to administrative monetary penalty notices under federal environmental laws has changed. Previously, requests for review were directed to the Chief Review Officer and handled by review officers under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act framework. Those roles have been repealed and replaced: reviews are now conducted by the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada, with the Tribunal's Chairperson presiding or designating Tribunal members or panels. Procedural steps — requesting a review, cancelling or correcting a notice, summoning witnesses, rendering a written decision within 30 days, and the finality of determinations — remain largely the same, just with the Tribunal substituted throughout. Anyone who receives a notice of violation under a covered environmental law and wants to contest it should direct their review request to the Tribunal, not to a review officer.

Who this affects: businesses and individuals who receive environmental penalty notices · ships and vessels subject to federal environmental enforcement · compliance and legal teams handling environmental enforcement matters · federal enforcement officers issuing notices of violation