Proposed Amendments will add 49 Substances to Schedule 1 of the Federal Environmental Emergency Regulations

Environment Canada recently posted online a letter outlining its intention to consult on proposed amendments to federal Environmental Emergency Regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. Proposed amendments include:

• the addition of 49 substances to Schedule 1 of the Environmental Emergency Regulations (E2 Regulations), comprising: 
  › 20 substances from the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Challenge
  › 16 substances from the CMP Petroleum Substances Stream Approach;
  › 12 strong acids and bases; and
  › 1 additional substance.

In addition the amendments will:

• revise the threshold for three substances that are already regulated under the E2 Regulations;
• clarify regulatory requirements regarding E2 plans and measures to notify the public; and
  
• identify reporting notification triggers related to minimum substance quantity releases.
  

It is further proposed to consolidate all three parts of Schedule 1 under a single list.

The Notice of Intent and complete list of new substances is available from the Environment Canada website.

The E2 Regulations apply subject to prescribed storage thresholds. Currently the only substance for which water and wastewater utilities are commonly required to is chlorine. From a cursory review of the new substances it doesn’t appear that any are used in water and wastewater treatment, but CWWA will review the list with members of our drinking water and wastewater committees to verify.