Strengthening the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
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HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, HEALTHY CANADIANS, HEALTHY ECONOMY: STRENGTHENING THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, 1999 Report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development Deborah Schulte Chair JUNE 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, HEALTHY CANADIANS, HEALTHY ECONOMY: STRENGTHENING THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, 1999 Report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development Deborah Schulte Chair JUNE 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CHAIR Deborah Schulte VICE-CHAIRS Jim Eglinski Linda Duncan MEMBERS John Aldag Mark Gerretsen William Amos Joël Godin Mike Bossio Martin Shields Darren Fisher OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED David Anderson Wayne Long Vance Badawey James Maloney Sheri Benson Elizabeth May Bob Benzen Ken McDonald François Choquette Jean-Claude Poissant Nathan Cullen Neil R. Ellis Sukh Dhaliwal Sherry Romanado Hon. Ed Fast Brenda Shanahan Peter Fragiskatos Terry Sheehan Garnett Genuis Wayne Stetski Angelo Iacono Karen Vecchio Stéphane Lauzon Arif Virani Paul Lefebvre Jonathan Wilkinson iii CLERKS OF THE COMMITTEE Cynara Corbin Michael MacPherson LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Penny Becklumb, Analyst Tim William, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT has the honour to present its EIGHTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 A. Context: Previous Reviews and Audits of the Act ............................................ 2 B. The Current Review ......................................................................................... 4 1. An Opportunity to Improve ...................................................................... 4 2. Considering CEPA from a Perspective of Environmental Rights ............. 5 a. The Substantive Right to Environmental Quality ................................. 5 b. The Obligation of Non-Discrimination in Environmental Protection ..... 6 c. Procedural Environmental Rights ........................................................ 6 d. A General Statement of Environmental Rights .................................... 7 ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICATION OF THE ACT ............................................. 8 A. Advisory Committees ....................................................................................... 8 B. Administrative Agreements ............................................................................ 10 C. Equivalency Agreements ............................................................................... 11 D. Application of the Act and Other Federal Statutes and Ministers ................... 13 1. The Best-Placed Act ............................................................................. 13 2. Pre-Market Notification and Assessment under the Act of New Substances to be Used in Products Regulated under the Food and Drugs Act .............................................................................................. 15 3. Administration by the Minister of Health ................................................ 16 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND INFORMATION GATHERING ............................... 18 A. Information Gathering .................................................................................... 19 B. Information Dissemination .............................................................................. 21 1. Mandatory Labelling .............................................................................. 21 2. Confidential Business Information ......................................................... 22 3. National Pollutant Release Inventory .................................................... 25 4. Monitoring and Reporting ...................................................................... 30 a. State of the Environment Reporting .................................................. 32 C. Consultation ................................................................................................... 33 1. Indigenous Rights ................................................................................. 35 2. The CEPA Environmental Registry ....................................................... 36 D. Environmental Protection Actions .................................................................. 36 vii AIR AND DRINKING WATER QUALITY .................................................................. 39 A. Air Quality....................................................................................................... 40 B. Drinking Water Quality ................................................................................... 42 POLLUTION PREVENTION PLANS ........................................................................ 43 CONTROLLING TOXIC SUBSTANCES .................................................................. 45 A. The Chemicals Management Plan ................................................................. 45 1. Categorizing Existing Substances ......................................................... 46 B. Assessment of Substances ............................................................................ 48 1. The Definition of Toxic .......................................................................... 48 2. Risk Versus Hazard .............................................................................. 49 a. Reverse Burden of Proof for Substances of Very High Concern ....... 52 3. Scientific Basis of Assessments ............................................................ 53 a. Vulnerable Populations ..................................................................... 54 b. Cumulative Assessments .................................................................. 57 c. Life-Cycle Analysis ............................................................................ 60 d. Persistence and Bioaccumulation ..................................................... 61 4. Triggering an Assessment .................................................................... 63 a. Downstream Notification of Significant New Activities....................... 65 C. Management of Substances .......................................................................... 66 1. The Listing Process ............................................................................... 66 a. Amending the Domestic Substances List .......................................... 67 2. The Response to Listing ....................................................................... 68 a. Timelines for Action ........................................................................... 68 b. Regulations ....................................................................................... 69 i. Regulation by Design ......................................................................... 70 c. Vulnerable Populations and Aggregate Exposure ............................. 71 d. Alternatives Assessment and Substitution ........................................ 72 3. Virtual Elimination ................................................................................. 76 4. Electromagnetic Radiation .................................................................... 79 ANIMATE PRODUCTS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY ...................................................... 80 A. Background .................................................................................................... 80 B. Case Study: Approval of Genetically Modified Salmon .................................. 81 C. Responsible Minister .....................................................................................