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REAL ESTATE of contamination or an order from the environment ministry. "I think general practitioners who are talking to clients on a fairly high level about transactions involving contaminated sites don't realize there is environmental insurance avail- able for acquisitions and clean up," says Walker. "And it's not prohibitively expen- sive like earthquake insurance." Environmental consultants are also making efforts to provide their services affordably and those with national com- panies have streamlined their reports despite the provincial differences in leg- islation. "As a company, we make sure we can produce a standardized report," says Aaron Pederson, a manager with PHH ARC Environmental Ltd. in Richmond, B.C., a division of the Pinchin Group national consultancy. "It really helps when I talk to the clients that they know what they're going to get in terms of consistency." He says while he's approached often by real estate lawyers who anticipate needing his consultancy's services, the firm works mostly for financial institu- tions that routinely commission envi- ronmental testing of brownfields lands to protect their investments. In Ontario, the government is cur- rently considering feedback it received to proposed amendments to its Ontario Regulation 153/04 Brownfields Records of Site Condition (RSCs), which will require increased due diligence by law- yers, owners, and consultants to fulfill land sale transactions. The amendments include tightened soil and groundwater standards, changes to criteria for phases I and II environmental site assessments, and diminished liability protections for landowners regarding contaminants. Once the amendments are introduced, it's expected there will be a transition period providing a window of 12 months to file a new record of site condition based on the former criteria; after that, all new RSCs will be subject to the new regime. Janet Bobechko, an environmental law specialist at Blaney McMurtry LLP in Toronto, notes that not all real estate practitioners routinely include searches of the Ministry of the Environment's brownfields environmental site regis- try. "Any record of site condition is not available through title registry," which is what lawyers are accustomed to searching to check for liens, she says. "As a result, you have to specify who in the transac- tion is going to search to see if there is a record of site condition. Sometimes the lawyer does it, sometimes the consultant. But someone has to do it." She says she's had transactions as seemingly benign as a former orchard that ended up showing signs of contami- nants from a pesticide used years ago. In that case, the vendor had to incur the costs of cleaning up the site before the transaction proceeded. Also in Ontario, beginning in October, the educational criteria will be raised for environmental consultants provid- ing brownfields land tests in compliance with provincial regulations. Consultants will be required to have geoscience or engineering backgrounds to be con- sidered a "qualified person, risk assess- ment." Bobechko suggests the higher standards will have mixed ramifications for end users. "Right now, the quality of the reports will vary," she says. "So I don't mind that it's becoming more prescriptive. But it means the costs will likely go up." In order to communicate results in a more straightforward fashion, she says some leading consultancies are devel- oping technologies that deliver three- dimensional graphics depicting a cross- section of a property that illustrates con- taminants deep below the surface. "It's incredibly progressive," she says of the field. "But of course in the end, these projects can involve significant dollars." As brownfields remediation require- ments across the country become more complex, it's inevitable that the real estate bar will find its members working more closely with environmental practitioners to best protect clients. "Environmental lawyers should always be part of the team," Bobechko says of transactions dealing with any properties that could be considered brownfields. "At the end of the day from a real estate perspective, there is a lot involved." Aboriginal Law Since Delgamuukw Editor-in-Chief: Maria Morellato, Q.C. Contributors: Murray Browne, Gordon Christie, Allan Donovan, Anna Fung, Q.C., Anne Giardini, Peter Hogg, Q.C., John Hunter, Q.C., Peter W. Hutchins, Douglas Lambert, Louise Mandell, Q.C., Roy Millen, Rob Miller, Patricia Monture, James A. O'Reilly, Arthur Pape, Dr. James I. Reynolds, David M. Robbins, Brian Slattery, Jennifer Spencer, Jean Teillet, Ardith Walkem, Jack Woodward Explore the shifting legal landscape With the Supreme Court of Canada's 1997 seminal decision in , the complexity, nature and substance of Canadian jurisprudence on Aboriginal law continues to rapidly evolve. Analyzes and investigates the issues with reference to the latest and leading cases This text analyzes the major legal developments since and provides practical guidance for those who work in this quickly changing area of law. Order your copy today! Hardbound • Approx. 540 pp • August 2009 • Approx. $115 P/C 0828010000 • ISBN 978-0-88804-486-0 canadalawbook.ca MERGING TRADITION WITH TECHNOLOGY For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.263.2037 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. CL0709 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JULY 2009 25 MORELLATO_Aboriginal Law Since Delgamuukw (CL 1-3sq).indd 1 6/11/09 9:55:49 AM Delgamuukw v. Delgamuukw British Columbia