3. Conclusions and Recommendations
The goals of the stakeholder consultation workshops were to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to review the proposed changes to the EIHWR regulations; generate consensus on major issues; and identify additional areas that need clarification in anticipation of drafting amended regulations in late 2002.
This series of stakeholder consultation workshops successfully achieved each of its identified goals. The structure of the workshops was conducive to the full participation of the attendees, which was evident by the substantial amount of discussion that took place.
Representation at the workshops was well distributed between industry, carriers and recyclers. Although efforts were made to include ENGOs in each session, no ENGOs attended the Calgary session. This may be attributed to the fact that many ENGOemployees do not receive payment to attend such workshops. As such, it is recommended that in addition to covering travel and accommodation costs, Environment Canada consider providing an honorarium to ENGO representatives to attend future consultation workshops.
The discussions held in each of the five workshops across Canada did not present many differing regional viewpoints. There were a number of common issues that the majority of participants expressed. These issues were identified as:
- the need to harmonize regulations between the federal government and the provincial governments throughout Canada;
- the need for the proposed regulations to better facilitate and promote recycling;
- to differentiate the regulatory regimes for hazardous waste and recyclable material;
- a generally positive attitude to a proposed renewal mechanism;
- support for easy-to-understand e-filing;
- the need to revisit liability and insurance levels;
- the need to further develop issues concerning Waste Reduction Plans; and,
- the need for clarification of Environmentally Sound Management, its synergies with Environmental Management Systems, and potential application to the new regulations;
In light of the new regulations to be drafted later in 2002, it was recommended that participants be kept informed of any new changes or developments. In addition, it was also recommended that appropriate period of time be provided for comments on ESM once its direction is fully identified by Environment Canada. Once completed, it was suggested that stakeholders be consulted once again in relation to ESM principles within the new regulations.
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