10. Permits of Equivalent Levels of Environmental Safety

There is a growing trend in new environmental legislation to provide regulators some discretion to establish alternative regulatory systems for individual circumstances where specific and unique conditions arise. This opportunity is provided in the CEPA, 1999, under the heading of "permits of equivalent level of environmental safety" or PELES. A similar tool has been in place for a number of years under TDGR.

PELES will not be used as a form of deregulation. Instead, they will be used to help meet individual or unique circumstances through a legally binding permit that imposes standards for the environmentally sound management of the wastes or recyclable materials being shipped. These standards will be different from, but equivalent to, those that would otherwise apply under the EIHWHRMR, including a consideration of risk.

CEPA, 1999 establishes two conditions for the issuance of a PELES. First, the permit must ensure the activity it authorizes will be at least as safe as if it took place under the regulations. Second, the actual transboundary movement must be consistent with any relevant international environmental agreements. This second condition will be especially important under EIHWHRMR. The prescriptive nature of the applicable international agreements will limit Environment Canada's flexibility in issuing such permits. There are also provisions to revoke such permits, and a requirement to publish all of them in the Canada Gazette.

The PELES concept will also apply to the interprovincial movement of hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable material being developed under the new CEPA regulations. Some consultation on this mechanism has already taken place under that forum. During the most recent consultation workshop on the interprovincial regulations, stakeholders indicated that they want a system that is fair, consistent, economical and timely. It was requested that the regulations clearly spell out the process and criteria to be employed by the issuing authority.

Stakeholder views on how this mechanism can be applied to transboundary movements are invited during this consultation process. As the procedures for this mechanism evolve under these interprovincial regulations, there will have to be further discussion of how this tool will be adapted for international movements.