Does Section 17(3) of the NGT Act apply the no fault principle outside an accident?

No. Sub-section (3) of Section 17 specifically applies to the cause of an accident, and the word “accident” would refer to cases involving hazards, such as gas leak. Where the proceeding does not concern the consequences of any accident, liability cannot rest on Section 17(3), though the polluter pays principle itself has assumed a place of permanence in our environmental jurisprudence.

National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 — s.15 — s.17(3) — Restoration and rehabilitation distinguished — Polluter pays principle — No fault liability — Causal link — Interim order — National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 — s.15 — Restoration is not rehabilitation — Held: Rehabilitation means complete reparation so that the affected area becomes fully functional, while restoration means bringing it back to its original state regardless of how optimum that state was. Section 15 permits restitution or restoration; ordering rehabilitation exceeds that jurisdiction. (¶46, 47) Environmental law — Polluter pays principle — Causal link with the alleged polluter — Held further: The principle is contingent upon the causation of real damage and a causal link between the actions of the project proponent and the degradation. The alleged person must be a polluter before being held absolutely liable in law. (¶53) National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 — s.17(3) — No fault applies to an accident — Held further: Sub-section (3) of Section 17 specifically applies to the case of an accident, the word referring to cases involving hazards such as a gas leak. It cannot found liability where no accident is in question. (¶52) Practice and procedure — Findings in an interim order — Without prejudice order — Held further: Findings in an interim order are interim because they rest on no full analysis of facts and evidence; treated as permanently binding, the order ceases to be interim and assumes finality. Impugned judgment set aside. (¶34)

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