Committee studies: appearance before the Standing Committee (March 10, 2021)

CEPA and the Chemicals Management Plan

What is the Chemicals Management Plan?

• The CMP is a jointly managed initiative of Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. It brings together various federal chemicals programs under a single strategy aimed at assessing environmental and human health risks posed by chemical substance and organisms, and managing toxic substances according to the risks they present to human and environmental health. The CMP has been funded in three phases since its inception in 2006, with the final phase sunsetting in March 2021.

What does ECCC do to enforce the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) under CEPA?

• The CMP consists of several core functions: risk assessment, risk management, compliance promotion and enforcement, research, monitoring and surveillance, stakeholder engagement and risk communications, and policy and program management.
• Enforcement activities are undertaken to verify and correct compliance. Enforcement activities include inspections, investigations, enforcement measures, and prosecutions. The number of regulatory instruments has doubled since 2006 to over 400 instruments.

What tools does ECCC have at its disposal to enforce CMP?

ECCC has a number of enforcement measures it can take under CMP. These include:

• Written warnings
• Directions (typically issued to prevent or eliminate release of regulated substances, can be verbal or written)
• Tickets (for minor provisions)
• Administrative Monetary Penalties (financial disincentives to non-compliance without the need for court proceedings)
• Environmental Protection Compliance Orders (EPCOs, a type of order that requires action to be taken to stop an alleged violation from continuing or to prevent an alleged violation from occurring)
• Prosecutions
• Other orders (ministerial orders, detention orders for ships, injunctions, court orders following conviction, and civil suits to recover costs)

How many inspections/investigations has ECCC conducted under CEPA in the last five years?

• Under CEPA, ECCC’s enforcement officers have conducted 2527 inspections and started 28 investigations in the last five years.

What has ECCC done to improve its enforcement under CMP/CEPA?

• ECCC’s Enforcement Branch has made significant investments in the development of a sophisticated, risk-based approach to the assessment of priority areas for enforcement activities.
• ECCC’s methodology for assessing risk was developed based on jurisprudence, consultation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife Service, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the European Commission. Additionally, in January 2020, ECCC consulted independent experts from across Canada on its methodology for assessing risk.
• Through this approach, risks are determined based on the environmental harm resulting from instances of non-compliance and the likelihood of those instances occurring. This information informs risk models that establish risk rankings for ECCC’s work under the CMP. This targeted approach allows for more effective enforcement of CMP.

What resources does Enforcement Branch have under the CMP?

• For the five years of Phase 3 of CMP, the Enforcement Branch has received $14,219,395, or approximately $2,817,984 a year.

Zero-Emission Vehicles

*redacted*

Recent ZEV measures include:

• Investing an additional $287 million over two years, starting in 2020-21, to continue the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program until March 2022.
• Investing an additional $150 million over three years in charging and refueling stations across Canada, as announced in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement.
• Providing a 100% tax write off for commercial light-duty, medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs.
• Working with partners in the year ahead on supply-side policy options to achieve additional reductions from Canada’s light-duty vehicle fleet, including regulations and investments to accelerate and expand the consumer availability of ZEVs in Canada as demand grows.
• Advancing the government’s commitment to help procure 5,000 zero-emission public transit buses and school buses, including by leveraging the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
• Conducting stakeholder consultation on measures to increase the supply of, and demand for, medium-and heavy-duty ZEVs in Canada, to ensure businesses have access to the types of ZEVS that meet their needs.
• Maintaining the federal government’s commitment to cut the corporate tax rate in half for companies making zero-emissions products.
• Launching the Strategic Innovation Fund – Net Zero Accelerator - $3 billion over five years to scale-up clean technology and accelerate Canada’s industrial transformation across all sectors. Two of the three focus areas are: supporting clean technology development in Canada’s automobile and aerospace manufacturing sectors and supply chains; and supporting the development of a Canadian battery innovation and industrial ecosystem.
• Introducing Canada’s Hydrogen Strategy to set out a path for integrating low emitting hydrogen across the Canadian economy.