WSER 2016 Annual Report - Introduction

The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER), developed under the Fisheries Act, came into force in 2012. The regulations deliver on a federal commitment in the 2009 Canadian Council of Ministers for the Environment (CCME) Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent (CCME Strategy) to establish national baseline effluent quality standards. In Canada, the management of wastewater involves all levels of government, which has led to inconsistent regulatory regimes across the country. As a result, treatment levels range from very good in many areas to poor or no treatment, mostly on the coasts.The CCME Strategy represents a collective agreement to ensure that wastewater effluent is managed under a harmonized framework that is protective of the environment and human health, with each jurisdiction using its authority.

The WSER apply to wastewater systems that deposit effluent to surface water^{Footnote 2}, and that collect an average daily volume of 100 m³ or more of influent during a calendar year. Systems that are subject to the WSER typically serve populations of at least 250 individuals. Due to the extreme climatic conditions and remoteness of Canada’s Far North, the WSER do not apply to wastewater systems located in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, or north of the 54th parallel in Quebec or Newfoundland and Labrador. The WSER also do not apply in Yukon or to certain wastewater systems in Quebec, as equivalency agreements with Yukon and Quebec for the WSER came into effect in November 2014 and October 2018 respectively. Under equivalency, the Governor in Council orders that the WSER do not apply for wastewater systems that are subject to a provincial or territorial regulatory regime that is equivalent in effect to the WSER^{Footnote 3}.

The WSER set minimum limits for deleterious substances that are indicative of overall effluent quality that came into effect in 2015^{Footnote 4}. These limits are achievable through a secondary level of wastewater treatment, or equivalent. Secondary treatment removes over 95% of the total mass of conventional pollutants in wastewater. Significant amounts of non-conventional pollutants and bacteria that may be present are also removed through such treatment. Provinces or other jurisdictions may set requirements that are more stringent. In addition to effluent quality standards, the WSER also have requirements for effluent monitoring, record keeping and reporting.

There are three types of authorizations under the WSER for the temporary exceedance of all or some of the WSER effluent quality standards: transitional authorization, temporary bypass authorization and temporary authorization to deposit un-ionized ammonia. In order to receive an authorization specific requirements under the WSER must be met.

• A transitional authorization provides time for a wastewater system not meeting the effluent quality standards to upgrade. Systems had until June 30, 2014 to apply. Qualifying systems were provided until 2020, 2030 or 2040 to upgrade based on risk-based criteria set out in the regulations.
• A temporary bypass authorization allows for the bypass of a treatment process in order to conduct planned construction or maintenance work or in response to an anticipated event that is beyond the control of the owner or operator of the system and, as a result, exceed the effluent quality standards.
• A temporary authorization to deposit un-ionized ammonia allows for a wastewater system that is at secondary level of treatment to discharge effluent that is acutely lethal due to the concentration un-ionized ammonia if the receiving environment has the capacity to assimilate it.  

This report provides a summary of the information provided by owners or operators of wastewater systems in identification reports up to the end of 2016, and in effluent monitoring reports and combined sewer overflow reports, for those with combined sewers, for 2016. Information shared under the Yukon equivalency agreement is also included. The Quebec equivalency agreement was not in place in 2016 and information for Quebec was reported directly to ECCC for that reporting year. This document also provides information on authorizations issued under the WSER in 2016.

The WSER are enforced by Environment and Climate Change Canada in accordance with provisions of the Compliance and Enforcement Policy for the Habitat Protection and Pollution Prevention Provisions of the Fisheries Act (Environment Canada 2001). Enforcement personnel enforce the provisions of the Fisheries Act and accompanying regulations with an emphasis on preventing harm to fish, fish habitat or human use by fish caused by physical alteration or pollution of waters frequented by fish. The policy sets out a range of possible responses to offences that can be used by enforcement inspectors, including warnings, inspector’s directions, ministerial orders, injunctions, prosecution and civil suits by the Crown for the recovery of costs. If an inspector confirms that an infraction has been committed, the inspector will select the appropriate response based on the following criteria: nature of offence, effectiveness in achieving the desired result with the offender, and consistency.