The Environmental Protection Act is Ontario's key legislation for environmental protection. The act grants the Ministry of the Environment broad powers to deal with the discharge of contaminants which cause negative effects. The act specifically:
- prohibits the discharge of any contaminants into the environment which cause or are likely to cause negative effects - and in the case of some approved contaminants requires that they must not exceed approved and regulated limits
- requires that any spills of pollutants be reported and cleaned up in a timely fashion.
The act also deals with commercial transactions involving contaminated land.
Ontario's Environmental Protection Act has the authority to establish liability on the party which is at fault, including liability for corporate officers or directors who have failed to take all reasonable care to prevent unlawful discharges of contaminants into the environment.
