Harmonizing Canadian transboundary waste regulations with international agreements

Petition: 369

Issue(s): Compliance and enforcement, international cooperation, toxic substances, transport, waste management

Petitioner(s): Resident of Canada

Petitioner Location(s): Dundas, Ontario

Date Received: 27 November 2014

Status: Completed—Response(s) to petition received

Summary: This petition concerns the transboundary movement and disposal of waste, and regulatory compliance and enforcement. In 2009, Petition 282 addressed the same issues and asserted that there was inconsistency between Canadian and US timelines for submission of completed waste manifest documents to government authorities, which put Canadian exporters “out of compliance” with Canadian law. That petition suggested that this matter could be rectified by amending Canadian regulations to align Canadian timelines with those required in the United States.

The Minister of the Environment had declined to respond to the questions raised in Petition 282, indicating that the matters in question were then before the courts. Answers to the questions were later obtained through an Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request. This new petition follows up on Environment Canada’s drafted answers to the first three questions and poses some additional questions.

In the response obtained through the ATIP request, Environment Canada reviewed the requirements of international agreements and domestic requirements in Canada and the United States. The Department indicated that regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) required Canadian exporters to submit a copy of the completed waste manifest to the Department within three working days of delivery to the receiving facility. Environment Canada stated that the three‑day requirement was consistent with Canada’s obligations under international agreements (the Canada–US Agreement and the Basel Convention) and was reasonable. It also noted that the US rule (30-day requirement for submission of completed US manifests) applied to American receiving facilities.

Environment Canada drew a distinction between Canadian reporting requirements for completed waste manifests and requirements regarding confirmation of final disposal. With regard to confirmation of final disposal, the Department indicated that an amendment to the regulations under CEPA 1999 was not required, as Canadian exporters were already required to submit written confirmation of final disposal or recycling to Environment Canada within a 30-day period. The Department indicated that it had not prescribed a form to be used for confirmation of final disposal because it anticipated that companies would transmit this information electronically in the near future.

This new petition asks whether the Canada–USA Agreement is the “highest level governing agreement” between the two countries on this subject, and whether the regulations under CEPA 1999 were put in place to address Canada’s obligations under the bilateral agreement. In addition, the petition questions the influence of the Basel Convention, given that the United States has not ratified it, and it asks whether Canada’s waste manifest document must conform to standards of the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development. It asks whether the Department still plans to establish a system to allow Canadian exporters to submit confirmation of final disposal electronically, and if so, when such a system will be established.

Federal departments responsible for reply: Environment Canada