NPRI Consulting On Proposed Changes to Broaden Reporting Requirements for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Environment Canada has recently recommended changing reporting requirements for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to the NPRI.

 

 The proposal calls for:

 

• changing the current incidental manufacture and release/transfer mass threshold for Part 2 PAHs to a release/transfer mass threshold under which all sources of PAH releases and transfers will have to be reported: intentional and incidental manufacture, processing and other use;
• removing the 5 kg threshold for reporting of individual PAHs in Part 2. The threshold for total PAHs would remain unchanged (50 kg). Once the 50 kg threshold is met, all known quantities of individual listed PAHs would be required to be reported;
• reducing the reporting threshold for anthracene and naphthalene by moving them from Part 1A to Part 2 of the NPRI substance list. In Part 1A, these substances have a mass threshold of 10 tonnes and a concentration threshold of 1%. Moving anthracene and naphthalene to Part 2 will lower the mass threshold and remove the concentration threshold and change the reporting unit from tonnes to kilograms for these two substances; and
• changing the name of benzo(a)phenanthrene to chrysene. This would change the way this substance is listed to its more common name, but not affect the requirements for this substance.

ECCC notes that changing the threshold type for Part 2 PAHs is expected to result in some facilities that already report for PAHs being required to report additional quantities or additional individual PAHs and may result in reporting from certain facilities that were not previously required to report for PAHs.

 

Public comments on this proposed change should be sent to ec.inrp-npri.ec@canada.ca by September 15, 2016.

 

 

CWWA is consulting with both our Wastewater/Stormwater Committee and Biosolids Committee to submit comments.