Bill 217, Battery Deposit and Return Act, 2007

Versions

Bill 217 2007

An Act to establish a deposit and return system for batteries

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1. In this Act,

"investigator" means an investigator appointed under section 5; ("enquêteur")

"Minister" means the Minister of the Environment or whatever other member of the Executive Council to whom the administration of this Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act; ("ministre")

"regulations" mean the regulations made under this Act. ("règlements")

Deposit and Refund for Batteries

Restrictions on sale

2. (1) Subject to the regulations, no person shall sell a battery in a completed form designed for use unless,

(a) the battery meets the standards prescribed by the regulations for the ability to be recycled;

(b) at the time of the sale, the seller charges a deposit to the purchaser as part of the sale price; and

(c) the battery indicates, in the form prescribed by the regulations, that the deposit is refundable in accordance with section 3.

Deposit

(2) The seller shall use and dispose of the deposit only in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the regulations.

Refund

3. A seller who sells a battery under subsection 2 (1) or an association of such sellers shall refund the deposit in cash to the person who returns a battery mentioned under that subsection to the seller or the association, as the case may be, unless the battery does not meet the standards prescribed by the regulations, including standards as to whether the battery is in a recyclable state and whether the battery contains adequate identification that it was purchased in Ontario.

Reports

4. A seller who sells a battery under subsection 2 (1) shall file with the Minister the reports that the regulations prescribe on the sales that the seller makes of the batteries, the deposits that the seller charges and the refunds that the seller makes.

Investigations

Investigators

5. (1) The Minister may appoint any person to be an investigator for the purpose of determining whether a person has complied with this Act or the regulations.

Certificate of appointment

(2) The Minister shall issue to every investigator a certificate of appointment bearing the Minister's signature or a facsimile of it.

Police officers

(3) Police officers, by virtue of office, are investigators for the purposes of this Act and the regulations, but subsection (2) does not apply to them.

Proof of appointment

(4) Every investigator who exercises powers under this Act shall, upon request, produce the certificate of appointment as an investigator or identification as a police officer, as the case may be.

Investigation without warrant

6. (1) An investigator may, without warrant or court order, conduct an investigation in accordance with this section if the investigator does so for the purpose of determining whether a person has contravened or failed to comply with this Act or the regulations.

Powers of investigator

(2) In an investigation under this section, an investigator may,

(a) enter and inspect any premises in accordance with this section if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that it will afford evidence that a person is contravening section 2, 3 or 4;

(b) inquire into all records and other matters that are relevant to an investigation;

(d) use any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system belonging to the persons being inspected in order to produce a record in readable form of the records and other matters produced in response to a demand mentioned in clause (c); or

(e) in accordance with the regulations, seize or detain any thing relevant to the investigation if the thing is capable of being seized or detained.

Entry to dwellings

(3) An investigator shall not, without the consent of the occupier, exercise a power to enter a place that is being used as a dwelling, except under the authority of a search warrant issued under section 158 of the Provincial Offences Act.

Time for entry

(4) An investigator shall exercise the power to enter a premises under this section only during reasonable hours for the premises.

Written demand

(5) A demand for things or copies or extracts from them under subsection (2) shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the nature of the things that are required to be produced.

No obstruction

(6) No person shall obstruct an investigator who is exercising powers under this section or provide an investigator with false or misleading information.

Assistance

(7) An investigator who exercises powers under this section may,

(a) call on any person for whatever assistance the investigator considers necessary to accomplish what the investigator is empowered to do;

(b) call for the assistance of any member of the Ontario Provincial Police or the municipal police force in the area where the assistance is required to preserve the peace.

Person assisting

(8) A person assisting an investigator in exercising powers under this section has the powers of an investigator while acting under the direction of the investigator.

Police

(9) It is the duty of every member of a police force called to render assistance under clause (7) (b) to render the assistance.

Obligation to assist

(10) If an investigator makes a demand for any thing under subsection (2), the person having custody of the thing shall produce it to the investigator and, at the request of the investigator, shall provide whatever assistance is reasonably necessary, including using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system to produce a record in readable form, if the demand is for a document.

Removal of things

(11) If a person produces things to an investigator, the investigator may, on issuing a written receipt, remove them and may,

(a) review or copy any of them or part of them; or

(b) bring them before a justice, in which case section 159 of the Provincial Offences Act applies.

Return of things seized

(12) The investigator shall carry out any reviewing or copying of things with reasonable dispatch, and shall forthwith after the reviewing or copying return the things to the person who produced them.

Admissibility of copies

(13) A copy certified by an investigator as a copy made under clause (11) (a) is admissible in evidence to the same extent, and has the same evidentiary value, as the thing copied.

General

Non-compellable witness

7. No person employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act shall be required to give testimony in any civil proceeding, except in a proceeding under this Act, with regard to information obtained in the discharge of the person's duties.

Crown liability

8. (1) In this section,

"Crown appointee" means a person who is appointed under this Act but who is not a public servant; ("représentant de la Couronne")

"public servant" means a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act. ("fonctionnaire")

No liability

(2) No action or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Crown, the Minister or any employee of the Ministry,

(a) for any act done or neglect or default in the execution or intended execution of a power or duty under this Act by,

(i) a person who is not a public servant and not a Crown appointee, or

(ii) a person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 6 if the investigator is not a public servant or not a Crown appointee; or

(b) for any tort committed by a person described in clause (a) or an employee or agent of the person in relation to a power or duty described in that clause.

No personal liability

(3) Except in the case of an application for judicial review or an action or proceeding that any Act or regulation under this or any other Act specifically provides with respect to a person mentioned in this subsection, no action or other proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be instituted against any of the following persons for any act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of any duty or authority under this Act or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of that duty or authority:

1. An employee of the Ministry.

2. A public servant.

3. A Crown appointee.

4. A person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 6 if the investigator is a public servant or a Crown appointee.

Crown liability

(4) Subsection (3) does not, by reason of subsections 5 (2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act, relieve the Crown of liability in respect of a tort committed by an agent or servant of the Crown to which it would otherwise be subject.

Offences

9. (1) A person who contravenes section 2, 3 or 4 or subsection 6 (6) is guilty of an offence.

Directors, officers

(2) If a corporation commits an offence under this Act, every director, officer, employee or other agent of the corporation who authorized the offence or who had the authority to prevent the offence from being committed but knowingly refrained from doing so is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable, on conviction, to the penalty for the offence, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Penalty

(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction,

(a) to a fine of not more than $5,000, if the person is an individual; and

(b) to a fine of not more than $50,000, if the person is not an individual.

Regulations

10. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) prescribing anything that is mentioned in this Act as being prescribed by the regulations;

(b) exempting any person, class of persons or class of batteries from any or all of the provisions of this Act and the regulations and specifying conditions for the exemption;

(c) specifying the information that the reports mentioned in section 4 must contain and the time at which the person is required to submit them to the Minister;

(d) respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the purposes of this Act.

Scope of regulations

(2) A regulation may be of general application or specific to any person, thing or class of persons or things in its application.

Public servant

11. The definition of "public servant" in subsection 8 (1) of this Act is repealed and the following substituted:

"public servant" means a public servant employed under Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006. ("fonctionnaire")

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

12. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2) Sections 1 to 10 come into force on the 180th day after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

(3) Section 11 comes into force on the later of the day the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 comes into force and the 180th day after the day this Act receives Royal Assent.

Short title

13. The short title of this Act is the Battery Deposit and Return Act, 2007.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill enacts a new Act that prohibits persons from selling a battery unless it meets the standards prescribed by the regulations made under the Act for being capable of being recycled, the seller charges a deposit to the purchaser as part of the sale price and the battery indicates that the deposit is refundable. The regulations made under the Act can provide exemptions for certain persons or batteries in certain circumstances.

A seller or an association of sellers is required to refund the deposit in cash to a person who returns a battery if it meets the standards prescribed by the regulations, including standards as to whether the battery is in a recyclable state and whether the battery contains adequate identification that it was purchased in Ontario.

The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act can appoint investigators to enter and inspect any premises without a warrant if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that it affords evidence that a person is contravening the Act.

It is an offence to contravene the Act.