4.0 Path forward

While addressing contaminated sites is primarily an area of provincial jurisdiction, the federal government plans to coordinate a number of actions to address the issues related to MTBE contamination. Given the substantial decrease in use of MTBE in Canada, the following initiatives, falling into three areas, are considered appropriate:

1. Preventing releases of MTBE into the environment:
   • Codes of practice for underground and above ground storage tanks developed in 1993 by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) are being updated (expected to be published in 2003).
   • New federal regulations are being developed to put technical requirements such as leak detection in place for all tanks under federal jurisdiction (expected to be completed in 2003).
     
2. Detecting ground water and drinking water contamination:
   • On a broader level, Environment Canada will continue to study and report on the use of MTBE in gasoline in Canada in order to monitor potentially affected regions;
   • Environment Canada will monitor MTBE contamination of ground and drinking water across Canada through information provided to the department by provinces and territories.
     
3. Remediating contaminated sites:
   • The CCME is developing Canadian water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life and the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Subcommittee on Drinking Water is developing Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality for MTBE. These guidelines may be used to guide clean up for cases where standards do not exist (expected to be completed in 2003-2004).

These actions will provide an ongoing understanding of MTBE usage in Canada, mitigate the potential for further MTBE releases, and give guidance for remediation of contaminated sites.