The Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry has released environmental enforcement figures for 2006.
The department’s Investigation and Enforcement Section consists of conservation officers and pesticide regulatory officers located throughout the province. They enforce several pieces of provincial legislation that are in place to protect the environment.
“Enforcement numbers are certainly not the only measure of environmental protection. However, the numbers are important to help identify areas where more work is needed,” said Minister Jamie Ballem. “The focus of provincial enforcement efforts is compliance. Our objective is to ensure that where violations do occur, the individual or company is aware of requirements under environmental legislation and takes steps to be in compliance with the legislation. That will continue to be the approach in 2007.”
Investigation and Enforcement officers laid 106 charges and issued 152 warnings in 2006. That included charges and warnings for open burning, hunting and fishing violations, buffer zone infractions, improper pesticide application, littering and illegal dumping, and altering a watercourse without a permit.
There were several changes in the Investigation and Enforcement Section in 2006 to improve service to Islanders. One position was designated as an Aboriginal Conservation Officer. In addition to other duties, that officer serves as a liaison with the aboriginal people of Prince Edward Island in the areas of conservation of natural resources and protection of the environment and wildlife. Other changes saw some conservation officers assigned a primary focus of environmental enforcement, while others focus more on natural resources – tasks such as bird banding, wildlife surveys, and responding to nuisance animal complaints. As well, pesticide regulatory officers are designated as environment officers and are involved in enforcement of some sections of the Environmental Protection Act. Their primary duty continues to be enforcement of the Pesticides Control Act.
Conservation officers enforce several pieces of provincial legislation assigned to the Department of Environment Energy and Forestry: the Environmental Protection Act, Wildlife Conservation Act, Natural Areas Protection Act, Pesticides Control Act, Unsightly Property Act and Automobile Junk Yards Act. They also enforce several other provincial and federal acts and regulations related to pollution prevention and wildlife protection. For example, conservation officers enforce sections of the Trespass to Property Act related to hunting and fishing, littering offences under the Highway Traffic Act, and the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act related to the protection of migratory birds.