2. Project Notification/Consultation Activities

• 2.1 Notice of Current Work
• 2.2 Stakeholder Contact List
• 2.3 Contact Survey Work
• 2.4 Stakeholder Consultation Sessions
• 2.5 Other Initiatives
• 2.6 Next Steps

At project commencement, several activities were undertaken in order to communicate with potential stakeholders regarding the scope and intended purpose of the new regulations and to gather relevant background information. A Notice of Current Work and a stakeholder contact list were assembled and contact survey work was completed. These activities were followed up by several stakeholder consultation sessions. Additional consultation activities are further planned following release of this discussion paper, all as described in this section.

Immediately after start of this project, a Notice of Current Work was prepared to assist in promoting awareness of the undertaking. The Notice also served to identify those wishing to be kept informed or who could speak to the issues of concern. A copy of the prepared Notice can be found in Appendix A. It was distributed to all those contacted during the initial survey exercise (Section 2.3) as well as to all attendees at the stakeholder consultation sessions (Section 2.4). Associated recipients are identified in Appendix B.

The Notice was further made available at various booths at the December, 1999 Canadian Solid Waste Expo in Toronto. It was additionally distributed with the assistance of several agencies and associations through postings on web-sites and by electronic mailings. The Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), for example, distributed the Notice to association members. A French version of the Notice, prepared in advance of the Montreal stakeholder consultation sessions (see Section 2.4, below), is also in Appendix A.

As a supplementary tool to the Notice, a two page background project description prepared by Environment Canada additionally received some distribution to stakeholders. This document is further provided in Appendix A.

A list of potential stakeholders was prepared at the commencement of the project. Enhanced during subsequent notification and consultation activities, the list in its current form is provided in Appendix B.

As indicated therein, contact was made with all provincial environment agencies as well as with various federal government departments, municipal entities, private industry, waste management and recycling associations and non-governmental organizations. Contacts were also made in the United States, at the state and federal levels. References are provided on the contact list to show: those contacted during initial survey work; participants in the February/March 2000 consultation sessions; and, others who have expressed a desire to be kept informed on the development of the proposed regulations.

In order to assist in background information gathering, a survey instrument was prepared. The survey form, provided in Appendix C, focused on several areas of interest including:

• present waste quantities imported or exported;
• associated issues related to waste export/import practices (e.g. potential impacts on domestic 3Rs programs);
• assistance with the further distribution of information; and
• other suggested contacts or contact venues.

For the most part, survey forms were completed by study team personnel in the course of telephone discussions with identified potential stakeholders. In some cases, when requested, the forms were sent to the stakeholder and returned when completed. An abbreviated version of the survey form also received some degree of distribution by two Ontario-based waste management associations (to association members).

Survey work was carried out in the latter part of 1999. Those contacted during this time are identified on the stakeholder contact list in Appendix B. Input received from the stakeholder survey activities is noted, as appropriate, throughout the remaining sections of this document.

During February and March, 2000, formal consultation sessions were held to gather input from private and public sector representatives as well as from non-governmental organizations. Each session generally commenced with a presentation of scope and intended purpose of the proposed regulations, the associated policy drivers and an overview of present transboundary flows. Open discussions then followed on several key definitional issues as well as alternative regulatory approaches. Sessions included:

• a meeting with non-governmental organizations on February 17 (morning) in Toronto;
• a conference call with representatives of provincial environment ministries on February 17 (afternoon) in Toronto;
• a meeting with representatives of Ontario municipalities and the private sector on February 18 in Toronto;
• a meeting with Quebec-based industry representatives on February 24 (morning) in Montreal;
• a meeting with non-governmental organizations and Quebec ministry representatives on February 24 (afternoon) in Montreal; and
• a meeting with all sector representatives on March 10 in Vancouver.

Those attending the preceding sessions are identified on the stakeholder contact list in Appendix B. Session minutes are presented in Appendix D. Draft copies of the minutes have been electronically distributed to all session attendees for their review and comment. References to the input received from these sessions can be found throughout this discussion paper.

Subsequent to the consultation sessions, follow-up submissions were received from: the OWMA; the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC); and, the Municipal Waste Integration Network (MWIN). These submissions are located after the session minutes in Appendix D.

Several other initiatives have also been undertaken to facilitate project communication and consultation. These have included:

• a conference on CEPA 99 held in Toronto in November, 1999. Project-specific remarks were forthcoming by the conference chairman, Doug Thomson of McCarthy Tétrault (one of the authors of this paper) as well as by Ms. Suzanne Leppinen of Environment Canada (the latter in a paper entitled "The Revised CEPA and Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Hazardous Recyclable Materials");
• on November 18, 1999 a brief presentation on project scope by SLE&C staff to the OWMA's Government Affairs Committee. Preliminary comments were provided by several committee members at that time;
• a second presentation made to the same OWMA committee by Environment Canada and the study team on January 21, 2000. Further comments were received during this time; and
• extensive and wide ranging one-on-one discussions with a variety of potential stakeholders (from the private and public sectors as well as from non-governmental organizations).

Subsequent consultation/communication activities are planned following the release of this discussion paper. These pan-Canadian consultative events, anticipated to be held in the second and third quarters of fiscal year 2000/2001, are to involve the complete spectrum of potential stakeholders (all levels of government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations).

Based on information gathered during that time, a draft Policy Paper (which would outline Environment Canada's regulatory plan) will be prepared for distribution in the first quarter of fiscal 2001/2002. Written submissions on the paper will then be solicited. Subsequent steps involve the development of Draft Regulations for publication (in Canada Gazette I) in the second quarter of fiscal 2002/2003. A ninety day public comment period will then ensue. The regulations would come into force upon publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II. This is currently expected to occur in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002/2003.