Meeting record June 2-3, 2015 - Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Attendees

Committee Members

  • Sylvain Bintein
  • Peter Campbell
  • Elaine Cohen Hubal
  • Miriam Diamond
  • Geoff Granville
  • Barbara Hales
  • Jonathan Martin
  • Don Wilke

Ad Hoc Members

  • Greg Paoli (Co-founder of Risk Sciences International)
  • Louise Stedman (Senior Regulatory Scientist, National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme, Australian Department of Health)

Government of Canada Officials

  • David Morin (Director General, Science and Risk Assessment, Environment Canada)
  • Amanda Jane Preece (Director General, Safe Environments Directorate, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 2)
  • Karen Dodds (Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada) (Day 2)
  • Christine Norman (Director, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
  • Robert Chénier (Director, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada)
  • Angelika Zidek (A/Senior Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
  • Tara Barton-Maclaren (Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
  • Heather Patterson (A/Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
  • Kristin Macey (A/Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
  • Matthew Gagné (Senior Evaluator, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada) (Day 1)
  • Don Gutzman (Manager, Priority Assessments Section, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada)
  • Mark Bonnell (Senior Science Advisor, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada)
  • Alexander (Sasha) Okonski (évaluateur principal, Division de l'évaluation écologique, Direction générale des sciences et de la technologie, Environnement Canada) (jour 1)
  • Sarah Vanden Hoven (Physical Sciences Specialist, Strategic Assessment Section, Ecological Assessment Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada)

Secretariat

  • Julie Chouinard (Manager, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)
  • Alain Marchand (Policy Analyst, Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada)

Overview

The Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Science Committee (the Committee) met on June 2 and 3, 2015 for a face-to-face meeting. This meeting focused on addressing the charge question: Health Canada (HC) and Environment Canada (EC) are seeking input on a planned level-of-complexity risk assessment framework for addressing the remaining priorities under the CMP. It included presentations to inform Committee deliberations, as well as a full day discussion to develop a preliminary response to the charge question and next steps for formulating the Committee Report. Outlined below is a brief summary of the meeting.

Day 1

Agenda item #1 (Introduction)

After brief introductory remarks by Christine Norman, the agenda was reviewed and logistical items were addressed.

One Committee member, James Maguire, stepped down prior to the meeting. Committee member Nicola Cherry conveyed her regrets for being unable to attend the June 2015 meeting.

Agenda item #2 (Opening remarks)

EC Director General David Morin thanked the Committee members for their contributions and provided a brief update on consultations to date on the CMP Forward Agenda.

Agenda item #3 (Introductions and declarations)

Members gave a more detailed description of their expertise and backgrounds. There was an update to three members' affiliations and interests declaration with regard to upcoming work.

Agenda item #4 (Update on how Committee Report #2 is being used)

A presentation on how the input from Committee Report #2 is being used was given by government officials. The presentation outlined where the departments have shared the report, how it has influenced departmental work, and the planned path forward.

Follow-up item
  • Secretariat: Circulate the "Update" presentation to the two ad hoc members from the previous meeting, Grace Patlewicz and Terry Schultz.

Agenda item #5 (Introduction of topic and charge question)

Charge question introduced: HC and EC are seeking input on a planned level-of-complexity risk assessment framework for addressing the remaining priorities under the next phase of the CMP. The departments are also seeking input on known challenges with respect to the approach and considerations on how to best address them.

Agenda item #6 (Presentation from Government of Canada officials on risk assessment)

Government of Canada officials, Robert Chénier and Christine Norman and their respective staff, delivered a presentation on the charge question. The presentation was intended to inform the Committee on the proposed path forward for next phase of the CMP, including the planned use of a level of complexity Assessment Framework which includes five levels of assessment.

The presentation was well received and followed by discussion.

Agenda item #7 (Perspectives from Committee members/Ad hoc members on risk assessment)

The two ad hoc members, Greg Paoli and Louise Stedman, provided feedback on the charge question. Louise Stedman presented her perspective and lessons learned from the Australian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme. Greg Paoli provided initial feedback and suggestions for addressing uncertainty with the different levels of the framework.

Agenda item #8 (Discussion of charge question)

Committee members began preliminary discussions on the charge question. A round table gave each member the opportunity to discuss their perspective on the proposed level of complexity assessment framework.

Day 2

Agenda item #9 (Housekeeping items/recap of Day 1)

Christine Norman thanked the Committee members for a lively group discussion and informed them that Karen Dodds, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Science and Technology Branch of EC would be joining the Committee members at lunch.

Recap of day one.

Agenda items #10-12 (Discussion amongst Committee members on charge question)

Committee members engaged in a full day of discussions and constructive dialogue, including break-out sessions, as they developed their preliminary draft input to the charge question.

Agenda items #13 (Preliminary response to charge question and next steps for formulation of written report)

The reporting back to plenary, by break-out groups, constituted the preliminary response to the charge question.

It was agreed that the co-chairs would provide members with a draft report for input and comment approximately two weeks from the end of the meeting.

Agenda item #14 (Future topics for Committee)

Christine Norman and Robert Chénier suggested potential topics for future meetings. These include the interpretation of monitoring data in risk assessment, the application of emerging science, occupational exposures and alternatives assess/informed substitution.

Agenda item #15 (Closing remarks)

A discussion took place concerning the next meeting date and potential meeting topics. The meeting was adjourned.

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