31.16. Every operator of an industrial establishment shall submit an application to the Minister for a depollution attestation within the time and in the manner and form prescribed by regulation.
If the operator fails to submit an application to the Minister within the time and in the manner and form prescribed by regulation, the Minister may order the operator to cease to emit, deposit, release or discharge into the environment a contaminant resulting from the operation, by the operator, of an industrial establishment until the operator submits an application for a depollution attestation in the manner and form prescribed by regulation.
Before making an order, the Minister shall serve on the operator a prior notice of 30 days of his failure to submit an application for a depollution attestation within the time and in the manner and form prescribed by regulation and specifying that in the event of his failure to submit his application in the manner and form prescribed by regulation on the expiry of 30 days after the service of the prior notice, the Minister will be authorized to order him, in accordance with the second paragraph, to cease to emit, deposit, release or discharge a contaminant into the environment. The Minister shall also transmit a copy of the prior notice to the secretary-treasurer or clerk of the municipality in whose territory the industrial establishment is located.
The order must set out the reasons of the Minister. It shall take effect on the thirtieth day following the date on which it is served on the operator of the industrial establishment or on any later date specified therein, unless the operator submits, before the order takes effect, an application for a depollution attestation in the manner and form prescribed by regulation.
1988, c. 49, s. 8; 1991, c. 30, s. 8.