9. Government operations and federal and Aboriginal lands

Part 9 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 provides the authority to regulate departments, boards, and agencies of the Government of Canada, federal works and undertakings, federal land, Aboriginal land, persons on that land and other persons insofar as their activities involve that land, and Crown corporations. It also requires the Minister to establish objectives, guidelines, and codes of practice for the purpose of carrying out the Minister's duties and functions under Part 9 related to the quality of the environment.

Development of the proposed Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations continued in 2005-06. Final consultations with the regulated community were conducted in 2005-06 and the final text of the proposed regulations is expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2006-07.

The proposed regulations will replace the existing Federal Registration of Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products on Federal Lands or Aboriginal Lands Regulations and will provide a more comprehensive framework to prevent soil and groundwater contamination caused by storage tank systems. The proposed regulations will include requirements for the registration of storage tank systems, removal of leaking systems, removal of high-risk systems, leak detection testing, requirements for suppliers of petroleum products, spill reporting, and emergency planning.