10. Compliance and Enforcement (Part 10)

• 10.1 Designations and Training
• 10.2 Compliance Promotion
  • 10.2.1 Collaboration with First Nations
  • 10.2.2 Multi-instrument Compliance Promotion
  • 10.2.3 Activities on Individual CEPA Instruments
• 10.3 Enforcement Priorities
• 10.4 Enforcement Activities
  • 10.4.1 Enforcement Statistics
  • 10.4.2 Environmental Protection Compliance Orders
  • 10.4.3 Environmental Protection Alternative Measures
  • 10.4.4 Prosecutions and Court Cases
• 10.5 Domestic and International Actions

CEPA 1999 provides enforcement officers with a wide range of powers to enforce the Act, including the powers of a peace officer. Enforcement officers can carry out inspections to verify compliance with the Act; conduct investigations of suspected violations; enter premises, open containers, examine contents and take samples; conduct tests and measurements; obtain access to information (including data stored on computers); stop and detain conveyances; search, seize and detain items related to the enforcement of the Act; secure inspection warrants to enter and inspect premises that are locked and/or abandoned or where entry has been refused; seek search warrants; and arrest offenders. CEPA analysts can enter premises when accompanied by an enforcement officer and can exercise certain inspection powers.

Enforcement officers can select from a wide range of measures to respond to alleged violations. Many are designed to achieve compliance without resorting to formal court action, including directions, tickets, prohibition orders, recall orders, detention orders for ships, and Environmental Protection Compliance Orders (EPCOs). Measures to compel compliance through court action include injunctions to stop or prevent a violation, prosecutions, and Environmental Protection Alternative Measures (EPAMs).

In 2009-2010, the total number of designated CEPA enforcement officers was 188. An additional 42 emergency officers are designated as CEPA Enforcement Officers with limited powers.

In 2009-2010, Environment Canada completed the redesign of the Basic Enforcement Training program, which produced 37 newly designated officers with full enforcement powers and four emergency officers with limited enforcement powers.

As well, one Limited Powers/Analyst Designation course was delivered, resulting in 17 newly designated CEPA analysts.

Other training accomplishments related to CEPA 1999 regulations in 2009-2010 included:

• the development and delivery of a course to 67 officers on the PCB Regulations;
• the development and delivery of an awareness session to 67 officers on the Chromium Electroplating, Chromium Anodizing and Reverse Etching Regulations;
• the development and delivery of a course to 74 officers on the Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations;
• the provision of expertise for the development and delivery of a course on the Chromium Regulations; and
• the provision of expertise for updates of existing course material on the Fuels Regulations, and delivery of this course.

Compliance promotion relates to the planned activities that are undertaken to increase the awareness and understanding of the law and its regulations. Through these activities, information is provided on what is required to comply with the law, the benefits of compliance and the consequences of non-compliance.

In 2009-2010, numerous compliance promotion activities were delivered for new and existing control instruments under CEPA 1999. Multiple approaches were used to reach the regulated communities, such as mail-outs and information sessions, and were carried out in collaboration with other federal departments, provinces and territories as well as non-governmental organizations (e.g., the Ontario Petroleum Institute, Hydro-Québec, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, and other manufacturers' associations).

Environment Canada continued to work closely with First Nations in 2009-2010. Workshops and presentations were delivered on obligations to comply with regulations under CEPA 1999.

To support efforts to improve storage tank management by First Nations, several workshops about the requirements under the Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations were delivered. Additionally, compliance promotion materials, newspaper articles and the Best Management Practices for Small (<2500 L) Tank Systems CD were delivered to First Nations communities, and activities directed toward storage tank owners promoted the identification of storage tank systems in the Environment Canada FIRSTS database. As a result, reporting rates have improved with the implementation of these initiatives.

Environment Canada coordinated and hosted a Fuel Handling and Contaminated Sites Workshop in Happy Valley – Goose Bay (Labrador) in March 2010. Funding for this session was provided by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and administered by Environment Canada through a Memorandum of Understanding. Twenty-two participants from Nunatsiavut, the Innu Nation, Sheshatshiu, Natuashish, Miawpukek, Goose Bay, and the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs, as well as 13 employees of the provincial and federal governments, attended the workshop. Several topics, including fuel storage and handling, contaminated sites, health effects, spills, emergency management and enforcement, were covered over the two-and-a-half-day session. A summary of the workshop along with copies of all the presentations will be distributed in a package that will provide a preliminary guide for operators and managers in the Aboriginal Communities across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Environment Canada organizes a number of multi-instrument workshops and information booths each year to reach regulatees who must comply with more than one regulation.

For 2009-2010, multi-instrument compliance promotion activities covered a broad range of environmental regulations under CEPA 1999, the Fisheries Act, the Environmental Enforcement Actand the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. In total, eight multi-instrument workshops and information booths were organized by Environment Canada's regional offices in various locations across Canada. The workshops covered a number of regulations, such as the Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Regulations, Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Architectural Coatings Regulations, Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and its Salts and Certain Other Compounds Regulations, and New Substances Notification Regulations. The workshops also provided information on more general topics like the Chemicals Management Plan.

Environment Canada delivered its first multi-instrument compliance promotion webinar in 2009-2010. The webinar was broadcast to approximately 90 participants throughout Quebec and was considered highly successful, having received a 95% satisfaction rate from participants.

These multi-instrument compliance promotion activities provide a unique opportunity for regulatees to meet Environment Canada staff and gather key information regarding Acts and Regulations affecting their activities. Regulatees also benefit from the knowledge and experience of the on-site staff, the distribution of printed materials on the legislation, and the provision of resources for further inquiries. For example, the Quebec Region reported a 90% satisfaction rate with their multi-instrument compliance promotion activities.

Compliance promotion activities on individual CEPA 1999 control instruments in 2009-2010 included the following:

• PCB Regulations – Several mailings were carried out to inform regulatees about the PCB On-Line Reporting System. Environment Canada also promoted the PCB Regulations at trade shows and at a compliance promotion workshop. Three mail-outs were sent to regulatees to inform them of the amendments to the PCB Regulations, the extensions to end-of-use deadlines, and the public consultation on the regulatory framework for the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material, including PCBs.
• Chromium Electroplating, Chromium Anodizing and Reverse Etching Regulations – Compliance promotion included several outreach methods to identify and contact potential regulatees on these new regulations. This included mail-outs, contacts by phone and email, and information sessions in Toronto, Edmonton, Québec, Kitchener, Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, Montréal and Moncton.
• Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations – Environment Canada promoted compliance at the annual Canadian Waste and Recycling Expo in Vancouver and gave a presentation at the associated technical seminar. The Department also delivered a mail-out on the regulations and developed a poster illustrating the requirements for the movement of hazardous wastes.
• Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations – A mailing containing annual reporting forms and information was sent in February 2010 to regulatees in each region. Under the Regulations, regulatees are required to provide an annual report to Environment Canada. Reminder postcards were also sent to approximately 1500 dry cleaners countrywide. Environment Canada presented the Regulations at the Atlantic Fabricare Association annual meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and participated in a Fabricare Canada booth at the Clean 2009 trade show in New Orleans in order to reach potential foreign exporters to Canada.
• New Substances Notification Regulations (NSNR) – At several conferences and expositions, Environment Canada staff distributed information kits to participants. The NSNR were highlighted at the Environment Canada booth of the Canadian Offshore Resources Exhibition, a key event to reach the offshore oil and gas industry in the Atlantic region. Additionally, Environment Canada developed and launched the New Substances Online Training website in November 2009. This website provides an overview of the notification process, the notification requirements and the post-notification requirements of the notifier, and the responsibilities of the Government.
• Environmental Emergency Regulations – Environment Canada worked with industry, municipalities, other governments and firefighting services to provide information on the Regulations and to enhance the quality of environmental emergency plans. Environment Canada continued to conduct compliance-promotion site visits to regulatees. These visits provided an opportunity to promote compliance with the Regulations and for Environment Canada to assess the level of quality of environmental emergency plans. These plans will be reviewed to gain information that can be used to determine the future direction of the Regulations.
• Fuels regulations – Compliance promotion activities included the distribution of information packages, including reporting forms, to Canadian fuel producers as well as importers and/or blenders of fuels. The packages included information on the following regulations under CEPA 1999:
  • Fuels Information Regulations, No. 1;
  • Benzene in Gasoline Regulations;
  • Gasoline Regulations;
  • Sulphur in Diesel Fuel Regulations;
  • Sulphur in Gasoline Regulations;
  • Gasoline and Gasoline Blend Dispensing Flow Rate Regulations; and
  • Contaminated Fuel Regulations.
• Site visits were also conducted.
• Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Automotive Refinishing Products Regulations – Information sessions, coordinated with Nova Scotia Occupational Health and Safety, were held for industry stakeholders in that province.
• Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Architectural Coatings Regulations – In partnership with L'Association montréalaise des techniciens du revêtement, Environment Canada participated in the Congrès annuel du Conseil des aéroports du Québec to inform stakeholders about these regulations.
• Federal Halocarbon Regulations, 2003 – Environment Canada conducted six information sessions and nationally distributed an updated fact sheet on the phase-out and disposal of halons in fire-extinguishing systems. In addition, approximately 1200 invitations were sent to regulatees to participate in information sessions held in Winnipeg.
• Vehicle and Engine Regulations – Regulatee lists were updated for the Off-Road Compression-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations and the Off-Road Small Spark-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations. The development of a regulatee list was initiated for the proposed Marine Spark and Off-Road Recreational Vehicle Emission Regulations.
• Gasoline and Gasoline Blend Dispensing Flow Rate Regulations – Presentations were delivered to l'Association québecoise des indépendants du pétrole at their annual congress in May 2009. Environment Canada sent fact sheets on the Regulations to 10 000 potential regulatees.
• Notice requiring the preparation and implementation of pollution prevention plans in respect of effluents from textile mills that use wet processing and nonylphenol and its ethoxylates – Five teleconferences were organized by Environment Canada with the operators of textile mills. Fact sheets were distributed to textile mills throughout Canada.

Each year, a National Enforcement Plan is developed that describes the inspection activities to be carried out that fiscal year for CEPA 1999. To maximize the effectiveness of these activities, priority is given to specific regulations.

Factors that influence the identification of the priority regulations include the risk to the environment and human health represented by the regulated substance or activity, compliance issues, new and amended regulations, the nature of regulatory provisions, operational complexity and capacity, and domestic and international commitments and obligations. In 2009-2010, the National Enforcement Plan identified the following instruments as national priorities:

• Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations;
• Federal Halocarbon Regulations, 2003;
• Off-Road Compression-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations;
• Off-Road Small Spark-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations;
• On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations; and
• Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and its Salts and Certain Other Compounds Regulations.

The number of inspections carried out under the enforcement plan is supplemented by a large number of inspections resulting from responses to spills, complaints, intelligence, or other information. In addition, a number of regulations are identified as regional inspection priorities. The priority placed on regulations in each region is influenced by a number of factors, including geography, demographic factors, and provincial and territorial environmental sensitivities.

Table 13 summarizes the inspections, investigations and enforcement measures undertaken in 2009-2010.

Explanatory Notes:

* Includes activities related to enforceable provisions of CEPA 1999.

Tickets, written warnings, written directions, injunctions, ministerial orders and Environmental Protection Compliance Orders (EPCOs) are tabulated at the section level of a regulation. For example, if the outcome of an inspection is the issuance of a written warning that relates to three sections of a given regulation, the number of written warnings is three.

Inspections – The number of regulatees who were inspected for compliance where inspections were completed during the fiscal year.

Investigations – The total number of investigations is the number of investigation files started in the fiscal year. An investigation file may include activities relating to another law or to more than one regulation. Therefore, the total number of investigations shown does not add up to the total number of investigations by regulation.

EPAMs – The number of regulatees who signed Environmental Protection Alternative Measures, regardless of the number of regulations involved.

Prosecutions – The number of regulatees who were prosecuted, regardless of the number of regulations involved.

Charges – The number of charges (excluding tickets) is tabulated at the section level of the regulation by charge date, by regulatee.

Counts – The number of counts is tabulated at the section level of the regulation, by offence date relating to the regulatee's charge.

Convictions – The number of convictions is represented by the number of counts for which the regulatee was found guilty or pleaded guilty.

Additional Statistics:

There were 22 referrals to other federal, provincial or municipal governments or departments.

Of the 44 investigations started in 2009-2010, 13 ended in 2009-2010 and 31 are ongoing. In addition, of 68 investigations started before 2008-2009, 42 were completed in 2008-2009 and 26 are ongoing.

EPCOs are an enforcement measure to secure an alleged violator's return to compliance, without the use of the court system.

In 2009-2010, 56 EPCOs were issued, 47 to dry cleaners for alleged violations of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations and nine for alleged violations of various other regulations.

EPAMs agreements are an enforcement tool that allow for a negotiated return to compliance without a court trial. If an EPAM agreement is successfully negotiated, it is filed with the court and is a public document. The agreement must also appear in the CEPA Environmental Registry.

In 2009-2010, as part of an EPAM agreement, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) agreed to contribute $50,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) and to meet several compliance measures in order to address seven CEPA 1999 violations. The violations leading to the EPAM were noted on March 8, 2007, following an Environment Canada investigation of air conditioning units in a Government of Canada building at 266 Graham Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Once the court is satisfied that PWGSC has complied with the terms of the EPAM agreement, all charges will be dismissed.

Key prosecutions and court cases in 2009-2010 included the following:

• On June 4, 2009, the owner of a Nova Scotia company pleaded guilty to violating the Disposal at Sea Regulations and was fined $2,000.
• On July 28, 2009, the owner and operator of a company from Saskatchewan pleaded guilty to charges relating to five violations of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations. He was ordered to pay $1,900 in fines and contribute $5,000 to the EDF.
• On July 15, 2009, the Crown and an Alberta company agreed to a joint submission, where the company pleaded guilty to one count in relation to the contravention of a provision of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations. The company was ordered to pay $200 in fines and contribute $2,300 to the EDF.
• On October 15, 2009, an Ontario man pleaded guilty to one charge of providing a person with false or misleading information under CEPA 1999. The accused was fined $20,000, with the fine directed to the EDF, and he was placed on a one-year probation. In addition, he was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, to be performed within 10 months.
• On October 20, 2009, a company from British Columbia was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and make a $14,000 contribution to the EDF after pleading guilty to committing an offence under paragraph 272(1)(a) of CEPA 1999 for using more solvent than what is allowed under the company's Environment Canada permit.
• On October 21, 2009, a company from Nova Scotia pleaded guilty to violating one section of the Vehicle, Engine and Equipment Emissions Provisions of CEPA 1999. The court-ordered penalty was $3,500, and the company was also ordered to forfeit the non-compliant engines to Environment Canada for destruction at the company's expense.
• On December 21, 2009, an Alberta company pleaded guilty to one count in relation to a contravention of a provision of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations. The company was fined $5,000, of which $4,500 was directed to the EDF.
• On January 12, 2010, an Alberta company pleaded guilty to one count in relation to a contravention of a provision of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations, and received a $5,000 fine. The fine was directed to the EDF.
• On February 25, 2010, an Ontario company pleaded guilty to one count in relation to the export of hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material without a permit. The $15,000 fine was directed to the EDF.

Enforcement-related activities are carried out under various international and domestic agreements and organizations. Under the auspices of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's Enforcement Working Group, Canada participates in several enforcement-focused projects with the United States and Mexico. For example, the three countries cooperate under the Non-Compliant Imports Entering North America project, which identifies non-compliant engines subject to on-road vehicle and engine emission regulations in member countries. In addition, the Enforcement Working Group has developed an online hazardous waste training course for use by customs and border inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Environment Canada also participates in Interpol's working group aimed at combating illegal traffic of electronic waste to developing nations. In 2009-2010, the Department's Enforcement Branch took part in an international joint operation addressing the illegal transit of hazardous waste between Canada and the United States in southern Ontario.