5. Proposed Risk Management Actions for 2,4,6-TTBP

A proposed Risk Management Approach for 2,4,6-TTBP was published on January 31st, 2009. It identified potential risk management actions to address environmental risk associated with 2,4,6-TTBP.

Since the final screening assessment report concluded that 2,4,6-TTBP meets the virtual elimination criteria set out in subsection 77(4) of CEPA 1999, the ultimate environmental objective for 2,4,6-TTBP is virtual elimination of releases to the environment.

As the most significant potential source of release to the environment identified for 2,4,6-TTBP is associated with the transport, storage and handling of gasoline and other fuels containing the substance, the proposed risk management objective is to prevent accidental releases of the substance to the environment.

In the Risk Management Approach, the Government of Canada indicated it would undertake a review of the current regulatory regime that contributes to preventing spills of 2,4,6-TTBP as it is contained in fuels to identify gaps and that it would amend federal regulatory controls accordingly. This review has identified the absence of diesel fuel on the Environmental Emergency Regulations as a gap.

In order to achieve the risk management objective and to work towards achieving the environmental objective, the Government of Canada is proposing:

• to amend the Environmental Emergency Regulations to add diesel fuel to the list of substances covered by these Regulations; and
• to apply the Significant New Activity (SNAc) provisions of CEPA 1999 to 2,4,6-TTBP to enable the Government of Canada to assess any new use that could result in releases to the environment.

The proposed requirements of both measures are discussed further below.

The Environmental Emergency Regulations require anyone storing or using a listed substance at or above specified thresholds for concentration and quantity, or having a container with a capacity for that substance equal to or in excess of the specified threshold quantity, to notify Environment Canada of the place of storage or use, the maximum expected quantity and the size of the largest container for that substance as well as other information. If both of the above criteria are met, a regulatee is also required to prepare, implement and annually test an environmental emergency plan (E2 plan) and notify Environment Canada accordingly.

The E2 plan must document how the person will prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from environmental emergencies caused by the regulated substance.

Gasoline is currently listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations, but diesel fuel is not. Therefore, the Government of Canada proposes to amend the Environmental Emergency Regulations to add diesel fuel to the Schedule of substances covered by the Regulations. The proposed quantity threshold for diesel fuel would be 150 tonnes, which is the threshold already listed for gasoline under the Regulations. This would fill the gap that was identified from the review of the current regulatory regime and contribute to preventing accidental releases of 2,4,6-TTBP when contained in fuels. The draft amendment would be as follows:

Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Environmental Emergency Regulations is amended by adding the following in numerical order:

It is expected that the majority of regulatees that would be subject to the Regulations as a result of the listing of diesel fuel are already subject to the Regulations because of gasoline.

Although antioxidants containing 2,4,6-TTBP are also used in jet fuel, quantities of jet fuel used on an annual basis in Canada total less than 10% of quantities of gasoline and diesel fuel combined. In addition, spills data available indicate that the number of reported jet fuel spills is approximately one seventh of the number of reported diesel fuel spills. Therefore, the addition of jet fuel to the Environmental Emergency Regulations is not being considered at this time.

It should be noted that the addition of 2,4,6-TTBP to the Environmental Emergency Regulations is not being proposed either. As mentioned in section 3.3, releases of antioxidant additives stored at refineries are not expected. In addition, the concentration of 2,4,6-TTBP in these additives does not exceed 15% in volume, and information available indicates that quantities stored at refineries would be below the quantity threshold of 220 kg that would be specified under the Regulations for this substance if listed.

Additional consultation with stakeholders will take place during the development of proposed amendments to the Environmental Emergency Regulations, which would include the addition of diesel fuel to the Schedule of substances covered by the Regulations.

A Significant New Activity "SNAc" is a new use or activity for a substance, that results or may result in:

• a significantly greater quantity or concentration of the substance in the environment; or
• a significantly different manner or circumstances of exposure to the substance.

The application of the SNAc provisions to a substance pursuant to subsection 87(3) of CEPA 1999 results in the substance being listed on the Domestic Substances List with a "SNAc flag". This "flag" means that for certain "significant new activities", the substance will have to be notified under the New Substances provisions of CEPA 1999. A SNAc notice sets out the criteria under which a notification is required.

The Government of Canada proposes to apply the Significant New Activity provisions of CEPA 1999 to 2,4,6-TTBP. This measure will allow the Government of Canada to assess any new use of 2,4,6-TTBP that could result in releases to the environment and to determine if such new uses require further risk management consideration.

A Notice of Intent to apply the SNAc provisions of CEPA 1999 to five toxic substances in Batch 2 of the Challenge, including 2,4,6-TTBP, was published on January 22, 2011 in the Canada Gazette for a 60-day comment period.