Decision Date: December 14, 1995

Panel: David Perry

This was an appeal from a decision of the Deputy Director of Waste Management holding that the Assistant Regional Waste Manager’s refusal to make a decision on the Appellant’s request for a pollution abatement order did not constitute a “decision” under the Waste Management Act.

The Appellant argued that the refusal to make a decision constituted a decision under section 25(b), which defines “decision” as including “an exercise of a power”. The Appellant submitted that the refusal to make a decision constituted such an exercise of power.

The Board dismissed the appeal. Having examined the statutory context in this case, the Board concluded that if a refusal to make a decision was meant to be included under the section 25 definition of “decision”, the legislature would have specifically stated this in the section.