2. Public participation

Public participation in matters related to Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) is an integral part of the success of the act. Part 2 outlines participation requirements under the act, such as the establishment of an environmental registry, whistleblower protection, and the right to seek damages.

The CEPA Environmental Registry was launched on Environment Canada's website with the proclamation of CEPA 1999 on March 31, 2000. Since that time, ongoing efforts have been made to increase the Registry's reliability and user-friendliness. The content and structure of the Registry continue to evolve as new documents are added and as improvements are identified by users. To date, the usage reports have indicated that the information found on the Registry is useful not only to the public, but also to the department itself. The Registry continues to expand in order to serve Canadians better and now encompasses thousands of CEPA-related documents and references. It has become a primary source of environmental information for the public and private sectors, both nationally and internationally, and promotes greater public participation in key departmental priorities.

Since the launch of the CEPA Environmental Registry, usage has continued to follow an upward trend. By February 2005, the average was almost 90 000 visits per month. This represented a significant increase over the 38 000 visits per month averaged in 2003. It is believed that the "spike" that appears in the final quarter of 2004-05, shown in Figure 2, may be attributed, in part, to the improvements that staff have made to the Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus of keywords that search engines use to index a website such as the Registry.

During 2004-05, 13 formal Notices and Orders made under CEPA 1999 were published in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Government of Canada. Further supplementing the posting of these initiatives in the Canada Gazette during 2004-05, 12 environmental and health protection initiatives were posted on the CEPA Environmental Registry for stakeholder and public input (see Table 1). Some initiatives are also posted on various Environment Canada websites.

Public consultations

Table 1: CEPA 1999 public participation initiatives for 2004-05 reported in the CEPA Registry

Risk management

• Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations
• Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2005
• Regulations Amending the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992
• Regulations Amending the Ozone-depleting Substances Regulations, 1998
• Off-Road Compression-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations
• Regulations Amending the Sulphur in Diesel Fuel Regulations
• Chromium Electroplating, Chromium Anodizing and Reverse Etching Regulations
• Risk Management Strategy for Pentachlorobenzene and Tetrachlorobenzenes
• Guidelines for the Reduction of Ethylene Oxide Releases from Sterilization Applications
• Proposed Addition of Tetramethyl Lead, Tetraethyl Lead, and Ethyl Parathion to the Prior Informed Consent Procedures of the Rotterdam Convention
• Adding Substances to the List of Toxic Substances
• Proposed Pollution Prevention Plans in Respect of Specified Toxic Substances Released from Base Metals Smelters and Refineries and Zinc Plants
• Reducing Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from Off-Road Vehicles and Equipment
• Scoping the Issues: Preparation for the Parliamentary Review of CEPA 1999
• Developing a Proposed Process for the Review of the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
• Canada's Draft National Implementation Plan under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
• Review of the Canada-wide Standard for Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil

Risk assessment

• Screening Assessment of Specific Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)
• Approach Documents for the Ecological Categorization of Organometallics, Polymers, and UVCBs (Substances of Unknown and Variable Composition, Complex Reaction Products, or Biological Materials) on the Domestic Substances List
• Publication of Screening Assessment of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and its Salts and Precursors
• Regulations Repealing the New Substances Notification Regulations
• Regulations Amending the New Substances Fees Regulations
• New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms)
• New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers)

CEPA 1999 Review

• The CEPA Review link on the CEPA Environmental Registry is a comprehensive source of public information about departmental activities related to the Parliamentary Review of CEPA 1999. See Section 11.2 for results of the consultation.