PART XV PROVINCIAL OFFICERS
Inspection by provincial officer
156 (1) For the administration of this Act or the regulations, a provincial officer may, without a warrant or court order, at any reasonable time and with any reasonable assistance, make inspections, including, (a) entering any part of the natural environment to ascertain the extent, if any, to which contaminants have caused an adverse effect, the causes for any adverse effect, and how any adverse effect may be prevented, eliminated or ameliorated and the natural environment restored; (b) entering any place in which the provincial officer reasonably believes can be found anything that is governed or regulated under this Act or anything the dealing with which is governed or regulated under this Act; (c) entering any place in or from which the provincial officer reasonably believes a contaminant is being, has been or may be discharged into the natural environment; (d) entering any place that the provincial officer reasonably believes is likely to contain documents related to, (i) an activity or undertaking that is, or is required to be the subject of a permit, licence, approval, environmental compliance approval, certificate of property use, renewable energy approval, program approval, agreement or order under this Act, (ii) an activity that is or is required to be registered under Part II.2, (ii.1) an activity or undertaking that is exempted by a regulation from any requirement to have a permit, licence, environmental compliance approval or renewable energy approval under this Act that is regulated by the provisions of the regulation, or (iii) the discharge of a contaminant into the natural environment; (e) entering any place that the provincial officer reasonably believes, (i) is, or is required to be, subject to or referred to in a permit, licence, approval, environmental compliance approval, certificate of property use, renewable energy approval, program approval, agreement or order under this Act, (ii) is or is required to be subject to or referred to in a registration under Part II.2, or (iii) is subject to or referred to in a regulation that provides for an exemption from any requirement to have a permit, licence, environmental compliance approval or renewable energy approval under this Act where the regulation includes provisions that regulate the place; (e.1) entering any property for which a record of site condition has been submitted for filing or has been filed in the Environmental Site Registry established under section 168.3 for the purpose of sampling, testing or examining anything referred to in the record of site condition; (f), (g) Repealed: 2019, c. 14, Sched. 8, s. 9. (h) entering any ice shelter to carry out his or her duties under Part IV; (i) entering any abandoned motor vehicle to carry out his or her duties under Part VII; (j) entering any place where the provincial officer reasonably believes the permit and plates of a vehicle may be found, in order to seize them in accordance with section 48 or 49; and Note: On a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, clause 156 (1) (j) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted: (See: 2019, c. 9, Sched. 7, s. 3) (j) entering any place where the provincial officer reasonably believes the permit and number plates for a vehicle, whether issued under the Highway Traffic Act
or by an authority outside Ontario, may be found, in order to seize them in accordance with section 49 or 50; and (k) entering any place where a pollutant as defined in Part X is spilled.  1998, c. 35, s. 14 (1); 2001, c. 17, s. 2 (30-32); 2005, c. 12, s. 1 (32, 33); 2007, c. 7, Sched. 13, s. 2; 2009, c. 12, Sched. G, s. 14; 2010, c. 16, Sched. 7, s. 2 (58, 59); 2019, c. 14, Sched. 8, s. 9. Same (2) During an inspection under subsection (1), the provincial officer may, (a) make necessary excavations; (b) require that any thing be operated, used or set in motion under conditions specified by the provincial officer; (c) take samples for analysis; (d) conduct tests or take measurements; (e) examine, record or copy any document or data, in any form, by any method; (f) record the condition of a place or the natural environment by means of photograph, video recording or other visual recording; (g) require the production of any document or data, in any form, required to be kept under this Act and of any other document or data, in any form, related to the purposes of the inspection; (h) remove from a place documents or data, in any form, produced under clause (g) for the purpose of making copies; and (i) make reasonable inquiries of any person, orally or in writing.  1998, c. 35, s. 14 (2). Limitation re records (3) A record made under clause (2) (f) must be made in a manner that does not intercept any private communication and that accords with reasonable expectations of privacy.  1998, c. 35, s. 14 (2). Limitation re removal of documents, data (3.1) A provincial officer shall not remove documents or data under clause (2) (h) without giving a receipt for them and shall promptly return the documents or data to the person who produced them.  1998, c. 35, s. 14 (2). Power to exclude persons (4) A provincial officer who exercises the power set out in clause (2) (i) may exclude from the questioning any person except counsel for the individual being questioned.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.19, s. 156 (4); 1998, c. 35, s. 14 (3); 2009, c. 33, Sched. 15, s. 5 (1). Entry to dwellings (5) A person shall not exercise a power conferred by this Act to enter a room actually used as a dwelling without the consent of the occupier except under the authority of an order under section 158.  R.S.O. 1990, c. E.19, s. 156 (5). (6) Repealed:  1998, c. 35, s. 14 (4). Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y) 1994, c. 23, s. 66 (3, 4) - 28/03/1995; 1998, c. 35, s. 14 (1-4) - 01/02/1999 2001, c. 17, s. 2 (30-32)
- 01/10/2004 2005, c. 12, s. 1 (32, 33) - 13/06/2005 2007, c. 7, Sched. 13, s. 2 - 01/07/2011 2009, c. 12, Sched. G, s. 14 (1-4) - 24/09/2009; 2009, c. 33, Sched. 15, s. 5 (1) - 15/12/2009 2010, c. 16, Sched. 7, s. 2 (58, 59) - 31/10/2011 2019, c. 9, Sched. 7, s. 3 - not in force; 2019, c. 14, Sched. 8, s. 9 - 01/07/2022