Iron, steel and ilmenite sector: pollution prevention planning notice
New reporting deadline
The deadline for submitting the seventh interim progress report for the 2024 calendar year is extended to September 1, 2025.
The notice requires iron, steel and ilmenite facilities to prepare and implement a pollution prevention plan in respect of sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The notice includes targets for SO2 and NOx. Also, facilities must consider implementing best practices to reduce fugitive VOCs emissions where appropriate and practicable.
This notice is in effect from May 6, 2017 to June 1, 2028 and applies to any owner or operator of:
- a facility listed in Table 1 of the notice
- an iron, steel or ilmenite smelting facility that started operations between May 6, 2017, and December 31, 2027
For more details, refer to the iron, steel and ilmenite sector notice.
Deliverables and deadlines
Facilities listed in Table 1 of the notice must prepare and implement a pollution prevention plan, and submit declaration and progress reports by the following deadlines.
Deliverable |
Type of report |
Reporting year |
Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
Prepare a pollution prevention plan by May 2, 2018 |
Schedule 1: declaration that a pollution prevention plan has been prepared and is being implemented |
January 1 to December 31, 2017 |
June 1, 2018 |
Interim progress report |
Schedule 4: Interim progress report #1 |
January 1 to December 31, 2018 |
June 1, 2019 |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #2 | January 1 to December 31, 2019 | August 1, 2020 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #3 | January 1 to December 31, 2020 | September 1, 2021 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #4 | January 1 to December 31, 2021 | September 1, 2022 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #5 | January 1 to December 31, 2022 | September 1, 2023 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #6 | January 1 to December 31, 2023 | September 1, 2024 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #7 | January 1 to December 31, 2024 | September 1, 2025 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #8 | January 1 to December 31, 2025 | September 1, 2026 | |
| Schedule 4: Interim progress report #9 | January 1 to December 31, 2026 | September 1, 2027 | |
Implement a pollution prevention plan by May 2, 2028 |
Schedule 5: declaration that a pollution prevention plan has been implemented |
January 1 to December 31, 2027 |
June 1, 2028 |
Facilities that become subject to the notice after May 6, 2017 must:
- prepare a pollution prevention plan no later than 6 months after the start of your operations, and submit a report (schedule 1) within 30 days following the end of the 6-month period
- submit annual interim progress reports (schedule 4) on June 1 of the year after the start of your operations and every subsequent year on June 1 until the year 2027. (Note: the reporting date of interim progress reports have been moved from June 1 of each year to September 1)
- implement a pollution prevention plan no later than May 2, 2028, and submit a report (schedule 5) by June 1, 2028
Reporting
You must complete and submit reports by the deadlines detailed above. See the following pages for guidance:
Performance results
One facility out of 14 facilities subject to the notice is officially closed. All 13 facilities subject to the notice submitted their declaration of preparation (schedule 1) for year 2017 and their interim progress report (schedule 4) for the years 2018 to 2023. The industry seventh interim progress reports (schedule 4) with data from 2024 are expected by September 1, 2025.
The sixth interim progress report (IPR 6) submission was due by September 1, 2024. All thirteen facilities submitted on or prior to the due date.
The BLIERS NOx target for the integrated mills and mini mills facilities is to reduce NOx emissions by May 2, 2020. In the 2020 reporting year, one integrated facility and one mini mill did not meet the target. In the 2021 reporting year, the integrated facility still did not meet the NOx target, however in 2022 all twelve facilities met their target. In the 2023 reporting year, one mini mill facility did not meet the target due to an unforeseen technical issue. Corrective actions have been taken to meet the target for the 2024 reporting year.
The BLIERS target for the ilmenite smelting facility is to reduce SO2 emissions to 2.66 kg per tonne of titanium slag produced, by May 2, 2019. For the years 2019 to 2023, the facility met this target. They emitted from 2.34 to 2.58 kg of SO2/tonne of titanium slag produced.
All other targets are to be met by 2025 or 2026 and will be assessed at that time. Refer to table 2 of the iron, steel and ilmenite sector notice for more details on the BLIER air emission targets for NOx and SO2.
Facility type |
Number of facilities |
BLIERS targets |
Deadline to meet the target |
Number of facilities that meet the target in 2023 |
Number of facilities that did not meet the target in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Integrated mills |
4 |
NOx: calculated |
May 2, 2020 |
4 |
0 |
Integrated mills |
4 |
SO2: 1.5 kg/tonne coke produced |
January 1, 2026 |
NA1 |
NA |
Integrated mills |
4 |
VOCs: Implementation of best practices |
January 1, 2025 |
NA2 |
NA |
Mini mills |
8 |
NOx : 60 g/GJ |
May 2, 2020 |
7 |
1 |
Mini mills |
8 |
VOCs : Implementation of best practices |
January 1, 2025 |
NA2 |
NA |
Ilmenite smelting |
1 |
SO2 : 2.66 kg/tonne of titanium slag produced |
May 2, 2019 |
1 |
0 |
Total |
13 |
- |
- |
NOx – 11 |
NOx – 1 |
1 To be assessed with the interim progress report #9 in 2027
2 To be assessed with the interim progress report #8 in 2026
The following charts show the sector average emission intensity for NOx and SO2 from 2017 to 2023.
Comparing with 2017 emissions, the sector average NOx emission intensity in 2023 from the four integrated mill facilities decreased by approximately 7%. For the eight mini-mill facilities, the intensity decreased by approximately 23%.
Comparing with 2017 emissions, the sector average SO2 emission intensity in 2023 from the four integrated mill facilities decreased by approximately 10%. For the ilmenite smelting facility, SO2 decreased by approximately 2%.
Chart 1: Integrated mills and Mini-mills NOx Emission Intensity
Note: NOx emissions in Chart 1 are for specific equipment targeted under the P2 Notice and may differ from total NOx emissions the facility reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) or to other jurisdictions.
Long description: Chart 1
The lines in Chart 1 show averages of NOx emission intensity and targets for both integrated and mini mills from 2017 to 2023.
Integrated facilities have a NOx target due by May 2, 2020 based on their specific facility energy usage. The targets change on an annual basis (the integrated facilities’ average emission intensity targets are: 72.8 g NOx/GJ in 2017, 71.7 g NOx/GJ in 2018, 73.0 g NOx/GJ in 2019, 74.5 g NOx/GJ in 2020, 72.9 g NOx/GJ in 2021, 71.2 g NOx/GJ in 2022 and 72.4 g NOx/GJ in 2023). The reported intensities have followed a similar trend with the integrated facilities being consistently below the target. The integrated facilities’ average emission intensity was 67.6 g NOx/GJ in 2017, increased to 68.4 g NOx/GJ in 2018, 70.9 g NOx/GJ in 2019 and 71.9 g NOx/GJ in 2020 and decreased to 68.4 g NOx/GJ in 2021, 66.2 g NOx/GJ in 2022 and 62.9 g NOx/GJ in 2023.
The NOx emissions target for mini mills is set at 60 g NOx/GJ due by May 2, 2020. Mini mills had an average intensity of 60.4 g NOx/GJ in 2017, which decreased to 52.2 g NOx/GJ in 2018. Onwards the intensity decreased from 57.1 g NOx/GJ in 2019, 48.8 g NOx/GJ in 2020, 43.2 g NOx/GJ in 2021, 40.3 g NOx/GJ in 2022 and increased to 46.7 in 2023, which have been below the target since 2018.
Chart 2: Integrated mills SO2 Emission Intensity
Note: SO2 emissions in Chart 2 are for specific equipment targeted under the P2 Notice and may differ from total SO2 emission the facility reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) or to other jurisdictions.
Long description: Chart 2
The lines in Chart 2 show the SO2 emission intensities and target for integrated mills from 2017 to 2023. The SO2 emissions target for integrated mills is 1500 g SO2/tonne coke produced due by January 1, 2026. The integrated facilities’ average intensity in 2017 was 5,238 g SO2/tonne coke produced, which decreased to 4,985 g SO2/tonne coke produced in 2018. The emission intensity increased to 6,132 g SO2/tonne coke produced in 2019. Since then, it has decreased to 5,137 SO2/tonne coke produced in 2020, 4,861 SO2/tonne coke produced in 2021, 4,402 g SO2/ tonne coke in 2022 and increased to 4,724 g SO2/tonne coke produced in 2023.
Chart 3: Ilmenite facility SO2 Emission Intensity
Note: SO2 emissions in Chart 3 are for specific equipment targeted under the P2 Notice and may differ from total SO2 emission the facility reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) or other jurisdictions.
Long description: Chart 3
The lines in Chart 3 show the SO2 emission intensities and target for the ilmenite smelting facility from 2017 to 2023. The SO2 emissions target for ilmenite smelting is 2.66 kg SO2/tonne titanium slag produced due by May 2, 2019. The intensity was 2.59 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2017, which decreased to 2.26 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2018. The intensity then increased to 2.34 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2019, 2.35 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2020, 2.58 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2021, but then decreased to 2.48 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2022 and increased to 2.53 kg SO2/ tonne titanium slag produced in 2023.
To access facility detailed schedule 1 and schedule 4 reports, refer to the P2 Planning Reports.
Related information
- Erratum - Notice requiring the preparation and implementation of pollution prevention plans in respect of specified toxic substances released from the iron, steel and ilmenite sector
- Pollution prevention planning notices and your legal obligations
- Create and implement your pollution prevention plan
- Canada-wide Air Quality Management System
- Iron, steel and ilmenite sector: code of practice overview
- Integrated steel mills: code of practice overview
- Non-Integrated steel mills: code of practice overview
Past consultations
- Proposed notice requiring the preparation and implementation of pollution prevention plans for the iron, steel and ilmenite sector
- Response to comments on the proposed notice
Contact us
Technical inquiries regarding the content of this notice:
Mining and Processing Division
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 St-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3
Email: mmp-tmm@ec.gc.ca
Inquiries regarding reporting and pollution prevention practices:
Regulatory Innovation and Management Systems
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 St-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3
Email: planp2-p2plan@ec.gc.ca