Waste and plastics: Appearance before the Standing Committee – March 24, 2022
Contaminated sites
Q1. What is the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP)?
The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) is the Government’s core program for managing federal contaminated sites. It was established in 2005.
The program was renewed from 2020-2035 and provided $1.16B in funding from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
This program reduces risks to Canadians and the environment. It also supports other government priorities such as skills development, training and employment of Canadians, including in Indigenous communities and in northern and rural areas.
19 federal departments, agencies and crown corporations receive funding under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan.
Q2. How is the Government addressing contaminated sites affecting Indigenous people?
Through the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) the government is addressing federal contaminated sites affecting Indigenous Peoples, including sites on reserve lands and in the North.
When the Government renewed the FCSAP in 2019, it expanded program parameters to accelerate the clean-up of federal sites located on Indigenous reserves and in the North.
The renewed program supports reconciliation by:
Reducing on-reserve contamination and associated liability
Increasing engagement and participation of Indigenous peoples regionally and locally in prioritizing and planning remediation projects
Providing greater opportunities for Indigenous workers and businesses in service-delivery contracts with the federal government.
The Prime Minister’s recent Mandate Letter to ECCC is challenging the government to do even more to identify and prioritize the clean-up of contaminated sites in areas where Indigenous, racialized and low-income Canadians live. Options are being explored to determine how best to address contaminated sites affecting these groups of Canadians.
Q3. What is the role of Environment and Climate Change Canada with respect to contaminated sites?
ECCC has 3 roles; it:
provides government-wide leadership and guidance for federal contaminated sites and, along with Treasury Board Secretariat, serves as the Secretariat for the horizontal Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan;
provides expert technical support and advice to federal custodians; and
assesses and remediates contaminated sites under its responsibility.
Q4. How are contaminated sites managed in the North?
The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan provides funding to federal organizations that have contaminated sites in the North.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) provides overall leadership for contaminated sites in the North.
CIRNAC’s Northern Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program, approved in 2019, addresses the 8 largest and highest-risk abandoned mines in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Q5. What has ECCC been doing to ensure compliance at G&R Recycling?
In 2020, the Department’s Enforcement Branch conducted inspections in collaboration with the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la lutte contre les changements climatiques following complaints of a discharge into a water body next to the G&R site.
Following the analysis of information obtained during these inspections, Enforcement Officers were able to conclude that a violation of the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act had occurred with respect to the deposit of a deleterious substance to waters frequented by fish.
On November 18, 2020, Enforcement Officers issued a Direction under the Fisheries Act to G&R Recycling with respect to the discharges of deleterious substances into waters frequented by fish.
The Direction requires G&R Recycling to take measures to cease all discharges of water containing deleterious substances into water frequented by fish or any place where the deleterious substances can reach such waters.
Enforcement Officers continue to follow-up to ensure the Direction is being respected. The most recent engagement between officers and the business owners took place on February 24, 2022.
Enforcement Officers have also undertaken a number of on-site follow-up inspections: on December 2, 2020, May 13, 2021 and November 24, 2021. To date, G&R Recycling is complying with the measures in the Direction.
Q6. Why did it take so long for ECCC to take action at G&R Recycling?
G&R Recycling S.E.N.C. is a Mohawk company (G&R Recyclage) which operated as a sorting centre for construction and demolition materials in Kanesatake abutting the municipalities of Oka and Saint Placide in Quebec. G&R Recycling operated with a permit granted by the Province of Quebec under the Loi sur la qualité de l’environnement and through a Council Resolution made by the Kanesatake Mohawk Council (the Council). Area residents have long expressed concern about the amount of waste on the site and its impact (particularly in terms of odour) since 2014.
Since 2017, the Environment and Climate Change Canada has been working with Indigenous Services Canada to provide support to the Kanesatake Mohawk Council’s Environment Office to help the community address environmental issues in its territory. In 2021, this included financial support to the Environment Office of the Council to conduct an environmental site assessment to help the Council determine how to proceed with management of the site.
Prior to 2020, the department’s Enforcement Branch had no reasonable grounds to believe that a deposit of dry materials would permit the release of a deleterious substance into waters frequented by fish, considering the nature of the concerns, dry goods piled on land.
Q7. What role does Environment and Climate Change Canada play in the restoration of the G&R Recycling site?
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Enforcement Branch enforces the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, including the general prohibition in paragraph 36(3). These provisions of the Fisheries Act have allowed the Enforcement Branch to intervene with respect to one aspect of the problem related to site contamination: to direct that G&R cease the discharge of water containing deleterious substances from the site.
The company was also subject to a series of provincial enforcement actions under the Québec Environment Quality Act that culminated in March 2020 when the Province issued a ministerial order directing G&R to immediately cease the deposit of residual materials and return the site to its original state.
G&R also operated under a Council Resolution. The site is located on land governed by the Kanesatake Interim Government Act.
To discuss the overall issues related to the site and the actions each are taking within their respective mandates, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Enforcement Branch and Strategic Policy Branch meet regularly with Indigenous Services Canada and the provincial authority, le Ministère de l’Environnement et de la lutte contre les changements climatiques, to exchange information.
Both the provincial and federal governments, including the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la lutte contre les changements climatiques, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Indigenous Services Canada continue to support the Kanesatake Mohawk Council. Site decontamination must be based on the principle of “polluter pays,” meaning that the operators of G&R Recycling remain responsible for all damages and costs.
Plastics
Q1. What are the anticipated impacts of Single-Use Plastic Regulations on small- and medium-sized business (plastic producers and users) and is there support for transition?
The Regulations will apply to all businesses, including small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, we do not expect that they will result in any direct compliance costs to small businesses because they will be able to pass on any increased costs to consumers and because importers can import alternatives to the six categories of single-use plastics being regulated.
The Government estimates that over 110 small businesses that manufacture single-use plastic items could be affected by the proposed Regulations. While these businesses would see a decrease in domestic demand for the six categories of single-use plastic items, they will be able to retool their production lines to manufacture other plastic items.
There are many companies that manufacture, sell or use plastic products that have already transitioned away from certain single-use plastics or invested in innovative solutions for recycling here in Canada. This includes a number of restaurants that have already moved away from using single-use plastic cutlery and straws as well as a number of retailers that have moved away from single-use plastic check out bags in favour of reusable alternatives.
To date, the Government has committed over $19 million through the Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenges, supporting SMEs to develop solutions to address plastic pollution.
The transition to a more circular economy aims to not only reduce pressure on the environment, but also increase competitiveness, stimulate innovation, and boost economic growth by creating new green jobs.
Q2. What are the next steps to establish a legally binding global agreement on plastics? What will the agreement include?
Canada, alongside the other United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) member states, have agreed to launch the necessary process to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution that addresses the full life cycle of plastics.
Canada’s objective going into UNEA 5.2 was to launch an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) to develop a legally binding global agreement, with an open mandate to discuss what an agreement would actually look like, and what it would cover, through that process.
We now expect the INC to start work in the second half of 2022.
From past experiences, we are a few years away from finalizing what an agreement would cover.
Q3. What is the status of the Government’s commitment to reduce landfill methane emissions?
On January 28, ECCC published a discussion paper on reducing landfill methane emissions for a 75-day comment period. This is the first step on the path toward the development of the regulations.
In summer 2022, the Department will establish a technical working group with sector experts to support in-depth discussions on elements of the federal regulations.
ECCC will continue to collaborate with provinces and territories and consult with municipalities, Indigenous organizations and the private sector as it develops the proposed regulatory framework by winter 2023.
