PCB releases into the environment

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) defines a release as including “discharge, spray, inject, inoculate, abandon, deposit, spill, leak, seep, pour, emit, empty, throw, dump, place and exhaust.”

The PCB Regulations prohibit the release of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) into the environment above certain thresholds, and require that owners of PCBs or products containing them notify the relevant authorities in the event or likelihood of a release to the environment.

Under the regulations (section 5), no person shall release:

• more than one gram of PCBs from equipment in use or
• a liquid containing PCBs in a concentration of 2 mg/kg or more from equipment or PCBs not in use or
• a solid containing PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more from equipment or PCBs not in use

In the event or likelihood of a release, you must:

• Make a verbal notification under the Release and Environmental Emergency Notification Regulations
  • The verbal notification must be made as soon as possible to the applicable provincial/territorial authority

If the release is in contravention of section 5 of the PCB Regulations, you must also:

• Provide a written report under the PCB Regulations (section 40)
  • Written reports are to be sent to the Regional Director, Environmental Enforcement Division, Enforcement Branch of the Department of the Environment in the region where the release occurs or is likely to occur

Written reports shall include:

• the name, civic and mailing addresses and telephone number of the person who owns or has the charge, management or control of the PCBs that are released into the environment
• the date, time and location of the release
• a description of the source of the release
• the quantity of liquids containing PCBs released, expressed in litres, the quantity of solids containing PCBs released, expressed in kilograms, and the concentration of PCBs in the liquids and the solids that are released, expressed in mg/kg

Procedure for the notification and reporting of a release

In the event or likelihood of a release to the environment of PCBs, you must:

• Provide verbal notification to appropriate provincial/territorial contacts as soon as possible under the Release and Environmental Emergency Notification Regulations
• Identify PCB concentration and total quantity of release:
  • A written report is required under PCB Regulations (Section 40) if the:
    • total amount of PCBs released from equipment in use is more than 1 gram
    • release from equipment or PCBs not in use (e.g. stored) has a concentration of:
      • 2 mg/kg or more for liquids or
      • 50 mg/kg or more for solids
  • A written report is not required to be submitted if the:
    • total amount of PCBs released from equipment in use is 1 gram or less
    • release from equipment or PCBs not in use (e.g. stored) has at a concentration of:
      • less than 2 mg/kg for liquids or
      • less than 50 mg/kg for solids

The written report is to be submitted to Regional Director, Environmental Enforcement Division, Enforcement Branch of the Department of the Environment.

Disclaimer

The guidance contained in this page should be used for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal guidance, since it does not reflect all the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) or the PCB Regulations. Thus, should there be any discrepancy between this factsheet and the Act or the regulations, the Act and the regulations will prevail.