Textile mills that use wet processing: working document

The following is a working document presenting the main elements that Environment and Climate Change Canada proposes to include in a section 56 Notice requiring the preparation and implementation of pollution prevention plans for nonylphenol and its ethoxylates (NPE) used in the wet processing textile industry and effluents from textile mills that use wet processing (TME) under Part 4 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999). Comments received on this working document will be used to develop a proposed notice that will be published under section 56 of CEPA 1999 in the Canada Gazette, Part I initiating a 60-day comment period. Following this comment period, a final notice will be published.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999-toxic substances to be included in the notice:

• effluents from textile mills that use wet processing (TME) nonylphenol and its ethoxylates (NPE)

All NPs and NPEs will be targeted by the proposed notice. Presented hereafter is a list of Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers to be used as guidance for some of the most commercially used NPs and NPEs in Canada.

1. Persons or classes of persons required to prepare and implement pollution prevention plans

Any person or class of persons who, on the date of publication of the final notice, owns or operates a facility that is involved in textile wet processing activities including, but not limited to, scouring, neutralizing, desizing, mercerizing, carbonizing, fulling, bleaching, dyeing, printing or any other type of wet finishing activity that:

• discharges effluents produced during wet processes used in textile manufacturing or finishing to a municipal wastewater or sewage treatment plant
• has had an effluent discharge greater than 30 m³ per day, based on average daily discharge, at least once during the five years preceding the publication of the final notice
  • the average daily discharge is calculated from the total yearly flow divided by the number of facility operating days

2. Activities in relation to which the plan is to be prepared

All persons identified in paragraph 1 must prepare and implement a pollution prevention plan in relation to all following activities being carried out at the facility:

• textile wet processing as defined in paragraph 1
• on-site wastewater treatment or preliminary treatment (such as pH adjustment, flow equalisation, or screening)

3. Factors to consider in preparing the plans

When preparing their pollution prevention plan, all persons identified in paragraph 1 shall consider the following factors:

• Environment and Climate Change Canada’s risk management objectives:
  • for NPEs:
    • reduce use of NPEs by at least 97% on a mass basis relative to the annual use for the 1998 base year
      • should there be no NPE use data for the 1998 calendar year, the first year after 1998 for which there is data should be used as the base year
      • the reduction objective should be achieved by the 2009 calendar year
  • for TMEs:
    • achieve and maintain an acute toxicity level which is equivalent to, or less toxic than, an inhibiting concentration (IC50) of 13%, measured according to the method description provided in the document, Biological test method: Toxicity Test Using Luminescent Bacteria (EPS 1/RM/24, November 1992) for a test duration of 15 minutes
      • dilution of the textile mill effluent should not be used to achieve this risk management objective
      • the toxicity objective should be achieved by the 2009 calendar year
    • the Priority Substance List Assessment Reports for both NPE and TME concluded that both substances are "entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that have or may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological diversity"
      • in June 2001, a Canada Gazette notice was published recommending that NPE and TME be formally added to the List of Toxic Substances, Schedule 1 of CEPA 1999
      • the ministers of the environment and of health intend to recommend that NPE and TME be formally added to the List of Toxic Substances, Schedule 1 of CEPA 1999
      • consultations on this working document are being initiated based on obligations stated in section 91(1) of CEPA 1999
    • a review of relevant data for octylphenol and its ethoxylates (OP/OPEs) conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada presented in the Supporting Document to the Priority Substances List Assessment Report on NPEs (November 2000) showed that OP/OPEs have similar toxicological properties to NPEs and therefore should not be used as an alternative to NPEs since their use may amplify rather than reduce the risk to the environment
    • in order to achieve the risk management objectives described in paragraph 3(1) priority should be given to pollution prevention activities, that is, the use of processes, practices, materials, products, substances or energy that avoid or minimize the creation of pollutants and waste and reduce the overall risk to the environment or human health
      • hence, persons identified in paragraph 1 shall give consideration to the following elements, without limiting themselves to:
        • advanced dyeing, such as low liquor ratio dyeing machines and cold pad batch dyeing
        • chemical substitution or reduction, such as NPE-containing surfactants and dyes
        • improved quality control of raw materials
        • optimization of chemical use, such as the use of automated chemical dosing systems and dye machine controllers
        • chemical recovery and reuse, such as a salt bath recovery system
    • to measure textile mill effluent toxicity, the pollution prevention plan should define the monitoring plan to be followed during implementation
      • it should normally require, as a minimum, the analysis of 24-hour composite samples collected at a frequency of at least four per year
      • collection of samples should be evenly spaced throughout the year
      • effluent samples should be collected such that they are representative of the textile mill effluent under typical or regular operating conditions
      • the rationale for the selection of specific monitoring times and the corresponding results shall be documented

4. Period within which the plan is to be prepared

The plan shall be prepared within 12 months of the publication date of the final notice.

5. Period within which the plan is to be implemented

The pollution prevention plan must be implemented within 5 years of the publication of the final notice.

6. Content of plan

Persons preparing the plan are to determine the appropriate content of their own plan; however, it must address all requirements of the final notice, and contain and support the information to be filed in the declarations and interim progress reports.

7. Requirement to keep plan:

All persons identified in paragraph 1 must keep a copy of the plan at the place in Canada in relation to which the plan is prepared.

8. Declaration of preparation

A "Declaration that a Pollution Prevention Plan has been Prepared and is being Implemented: NPE and TME (Section 58(1) of CEPA 1999)" form is given in Schedule 1. This declaration must be filed within 30 days after the end of the period within which the plan is to be prepared referred to in paragraph 4.

9. Declaration of implementation

A "Declaration that a Pollution Prevention Plan has been Implemented: NPE and TME (Section 58(2) of CEPA 1999)" form is given in Schedule 5. This declaration must be filed within 30 days after the completion of the implementation of the plan.

10. Filing of amended declarations

Where a person has filed a declaration of preparation or implementation referred to in paragraphs 8 and 9, and the declaration contains information that, at any time thereafter becomes false or misleading, that person shall file an amended declaration within 30 days after that time.

11. Interim progress reports

Persons identified in paragraph 1 shall complete and file with the minister of the environment an "Interim Progress Report: NPE and TME", using the form given in Schedule 4 for the dates below. If a declaration of implementation is submitted before the interim progress report is due, then the requirement to submit such an interim progress report is nullified.

• Interim progress report No.1: January 31, 2007
• Interim progress report No.2: January 31, 2008
• Interim progress report No.3: January 31, 2009

12. Use of a plan prepared or implemented for another purpose

Pollution prevention plans prepared or implemented for another purpose can be used to satisfy the requirements of the final notice as specified in section 57(1) of CEPA 1999. Under section 57(2) of CEPA 1999, where a person uses a plan that does not meet all the requirements of the final notice, the person can amend the plan so that it meets all of those requirements or prepare an additional plan that meets the remainder of those requirements. Persons using plans prepared for another purpose must still file the declaration of preparation referred to in paragraph 8, declaration of implementation referred to in paragraph 9, any amended declarations referred to in paragraph 10, where applicable, and the Interim progress report referred to in paragraph 11.

13. Extension of time

Where the minister is of the opinion that further time is necessary to prepare the plan as specified in paragraph 4 or to implement the plan as specified in paragraph 5, the minister may extend the period for a person who submits a written Request for Extension of Time: NPE and TME using the form given in Schedule 3 before the expiry of the date referred to in the applicable paragraph 4 or paragraph 5 or before the expiry of any extended period.

Where the minister is of the opinion that further time is necessary to file an interim progress report under paragraph 11, the minister may extend the date on which the interim progress report must be filed for a person who submits a written Request for Extension of Time: NPE and TME using the form given in Schedule 3 before the date referred to in paragraph 11 or before the expiry of any extended period.

14. Application for waiver of factors to consider

Where the minister is of the opinion that it is not reasonable or practicable to consider a factor specified in the final notice, the minister may waive the requirement to consider that factor for a person who submits a written Request for Waiver of Factors to Consider: NPE and TME (Section 56(5) of CEPA 1999) using the form given in Schedule 2, providing reasons for the request before the expiry of the period within which the plan is to be prepared (paragraph 4).

15. More information on pollution prevention planning

Additional information and guidance on preparing pollution prevention plans may be obtained from the Canadian Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse, from the CEPA Registry, from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s regional offices and from the pollution prevention planning website.

Included are:

• Schedule 1: Declaration that a Pollution Prevention Plan has been Prepared and is being Implemented, NPE and TME (Section 58(1) of CEPA 1999)
• Schedule 2: Request for Waiver of Factors to Consider, NPE and TME (Section 56(5) of CEPA 1999)
• Schedule 3: Request for Extension of Time, NPE and TME
• Schedule 4: Interim Progress Report, NPE and TME
• Schedule 5: Declaration that a Pollution Prevention Plan has been Implemented, NPE and TME (Section 58(2) of CEPA 1999)