The members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary and the President of the University of Calgary. [...] Catalysts for Municipal Environmental Bylaws Environmental management is an emergent governance issue in municipalities in Alberta where two of the five purposes of municipal corporations are to ‘foster the well-being of the environment,’ and ‘to develop and maintain safe and viable communities.’1 A healthy environment is critical to the health and welfare of citizens, and the safety and viability. [...] 7 Ibid, s 1(j): “enactment” means (i) an Act of the Legislature of Alberta and a regulation made under an Act of the Legislature of Alberta, and (ii) an Act of the Parliament of Canada and a statutory instrument made under an Act of the Parliament of Canada, but does not include a bylaw made by a council.’ 2 / A Guide to Alberta Municipal Environmental Bylaws . [...] Environmental laws and regulations enacted by the provinces and the federal government generally regulate the diversion and use of provincially and federally owned natural resources (such as water, forests, minerals, and oil and gas), and grant licenses, permits and approvals for the release of limited quantities of emissions and deleterious substances into the environment. [...] In 2023, the bylaw was reviewed by the Tribunal in Ball v City of Airdrie (Development Authority),109 but the Development Permit in question was a permitted use and the subject matter of the appeal was held to be not within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
Authors
- Pages
- 89
- Published in
- Canada
Table of Contents
- Glossary 7
- List of Tables and Figures 8
- Acknowledgements 9
- 1. Purpose 11
- 2. Catalysts for Municipal Environmental Bylaws 12
- 3. Municipal Authority to Pass Environmental Bylaws 13
- 3.1 What is the ‘environment’ in the context of municipal environmental bylaws? 13
- 3.2 Are municipal corporations a ‘level of government’? 14
- 3.3 How do municipal councils take action to achieve municipal purposes? 19
- 3.4 What is the difference between a municipal policy and a bylaw? 19
- 3.5 What is municipal ‘general jurisdiction to pass bylaws’? 20
- 3.6 What are municipal ‘special powers’ to pass bylaws? 20
- 3.7 Why was the Spraytech decision important to Alberta municipalities? 21
- 4. Anatomy of a Bylaw Passed under ‘General Jurisdiction to Pass Bylaws’ 22
- 5. Examples of Municipal Environmental Bylaws in Alberta 26
- 5.1 Bylaws that amend environmental policies in statutory plans under Part 17 26
- 5.2 Land use bylaws to implement environmental policies in statutory plans 30
- 5.3 Environmental bylaws passed under MGA Part 2: Section 7 and Section 8 36
- 5.4 Reserve and environmental reserve bylaws passed under Section 7 and Section 8 38
- 5.5 Environmental bylaws arising from City Charter Regulations 41
- 5.6 Environmental bylaws passed under MGA Part 3: Public Utilities and Roads 43
- 5.7 Environmental bylaws arising under the municipal purpose to foster the well-being of the environment 46
- 6. Recommendations for Five Critical Environmental Bylaws 48
- 6.1 Conserve and manage riparian lands and natural infrastructure 48
- 6.2 Prohibit development and buildings in identified flood hazard areas 53
- 6.3 Require public transit in downtown core 55
- 6.4 Regulate and control use of alternate forms of energy 57
- 6.5 Regulate and control use of storm drainage through fit-for-use bylaw provisions 59
- 7. Concluding Remarks 60
- 8. Table of Notable Municipal Environmental Bylaws in Alberta 61
