Greening Canada’s Brownfields: A National Framework for Encouraging Redevelopment of Qualifying Brownfields through Removal of Crown Liens and Tax Arrears
Prepared for The Government of Canada and Provincial and Municipal Governments By The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy and The Canadian Brownfields Network March 2005

Annex 2 - Glossary of Selected Brownfield Redevelopment Terms

Brownfield
An abandoned, vacant, derelict, or underutilized commercial or industrial property where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination and where there is an active potential for redevelopment.

Escheat
The reversion of property to the federal or provincial Crown, as provided by law, for example when property is abandoned.

Greenfield
A vacant property with no actual or perceived contamination, usually located outside urban centres and without municipal services.

Liability

Civil Liability
A legal obligation that arises under the law of private rights, referred to as common law, in comparison with the criminal or administrative law.Civil liability is an action commenced by a court action.

Regulatory Liability
A legal obligation laid out by a statute that creates a regulatory offence. Regulatory offences are usually considered more minor than criminal offences, since they are only intended to secure the effective regulation of conduct in the interest of the community.

Joint and Several Liability
The doctrine of joint and several liability makes any joint defendant against whom a judgment is entered in an action liable to the claimant for the entire judgment, regardless of the defendant’s share of fault. The defendant then has right of contribution and indemnification against the other defendants. If the other defendants are insolvent, then, despite being as little as 1 percent responsible for the damages, the sole remaining solvent defendant must contribute 100 percent of the award.

Lien
The right to retain the lawful possession of the property of another until the owner fulfils a legal duty to the person holding the property, such as the payment of lawful charges for work done on the property. A mortgage is a common lien. In its widest meaning, this term includes every case in which real or personal property is charged with the payment of any debt or duty every such charge being denominated a lien on the property. In a more limited sense, it is defined to be a right of detaining the property of another until some claim is satisfied.

Municipal tax sale
This is the statutory process followed by municipalities to recover property tax arrears. There is an initial notice period during which the municipality sends notices to the property owner initiating the process and requesting payment of a “cancellation price” within a specified time frame. If the cancellation price is not paid, then the property is offered for sale to the highest bidder. If there are no bidders, the property vests in the municipality.

Quitclaim
A transfer of land or real property without guarantee of a clear title.

Quitclaim Deed
A deed that transfers the owner’s interest to a buyer but does not guarantee that there are no other claims against the property.

Remediation
The action taken to clean up, contain, or remove the risk posed by contamination at a site.

Risk assessment
The process of identifying and evaluating risks to human health, human safety, and/or the environment from the actual or potential presence and/or use of specific pollutants.

Site assessment (environmental)
An approach for identifying and assessing potential environmental concerns in respect of activities conducted at a facility and/or the potential presence of contamination at a site in accordance with accepted standards (typically Phase 1 & 2 Environmental Site Assessments as described by the Canadian Standards Association).

Site-specific risk assessment (SSRA)
A risk assessment that incorporates characteristics of a site (e.g., physical and chemical characteristics, geology, soil type, and biology) to establish the risk posed by a specific contaminant or hazard present at a site.

Vested
Having the rights of ownership, although enjoyment of those rights may be delayed until a future date.

Source:
Cleaning up the Past, Building the Future:
A National Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy for Canada
(National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, 2003)