Green Ontario: Ontario's Pollution Strategy

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Ontario's Pollution Strategy

There is no published strategy for Ontario that describes how the government and its partners will achieve the goal of pollution prevention and the virtual elimination of priority substances. Part of the problem with toxic substances is that there are several strategies, programs, and legislation that overlap in scope and jurisdiction.

At the same time, there are numerous provincial and national programs which contribute to the management and reduction of hazardous materials in the province. To give an idea of what Ontario and Canada's current strategy is, we've organized thecurrent activities according to the key elements for a toxic and hazardous substances strategy:

Leadership and Consultation: identify the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders
Clear Goals and Targets: establish clear targets and performance measures
Pollution Prevention: eliminate the production and use of toxic and hazardous materials.
Elimination: achieve the virtual elimination of priority substances
Standards: establish limits for major contaminants
Stewardship: ensure that hazardous materials do not escape into the environment in their production, use, transfer and eventual disposal
Rehabilitation: restore degraded areas
Reporting: monitor and report the emissions of major pollutants

INDEX

The Current Strategy

formal strategies and plans

Major Activities

The Environmental Protection Act
The Canada Ontario Agreement
The Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention

What Else Could be Done?

other initiatives that could be taken
barriers and negative trends

Individual Action

What you can do to help.

Key Players

Who's working on the issue.
Other sources of information.

The Current Strategy

Ontario's Strategy for Managing
Toxic and Hazardous Substances

Leadership and Consultation

No process currently exists at the provincial level for ongoing consultation on toxic and hazardous substances.

Provincial leadership is provided through the Waste Management Policy Branch of the Ministry of the Environment.

Environment Canada's Ontario Region office plays a key role in coordinating the federal government's involvement in Great Lakes pollution programs

Goals and Targets

The Canada-Ontario Agreement sets out three goals:

Restore Degraded Areas

Prevent and Control Pollution

Conserve and Protect Human and Ecosystem Health

A
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Pollution Prevention

The Pollution Prevention program of the Ministry of the Environment has been replaced with the Environmental Partnerships Branch. The last report from the ministry, "Ontario's Progress in Pollution Prevention" was produced in 1997 and documented voluntary initiatives by major inductry sectors.

Voluntary Agreements: In the early 1990's, the Ministry and Environment Canada signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the following industry sectors:

Automotive Parts Manufacturing
Canadian Chemical Producers' Association
Metal Finishing Industry
Automotive Manufacturing
Printing and Graphics
Municipalities

Details for several of the MOUs can be found on the Environment Canada Ontario Region website.

The Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention (C2P2) -- The Centre is an excellent resource for businesses, municipalities and others. The C2P2 disseminates information so that others include pollution prevention in their decision-making and helps businesses, governments and the public find solutions that result in pollution prevention action.

Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA)
OCETA is a private sector, not-for-profit corporation that helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) commercialize new technologies and develop environmental business opportunities.

Ontario Waste Materials Exchange: The Ontario Waste Materials Exchange (OWME) is a service designed to facilitate the reuse and recycling of industrial by-product materials.

Elimination

Canada Ontario Agreement respecting the Great Lakes Basin -- a joint agreement between the Province and the federal government. COA has designated 41 priority substances for action. COA expired on March 31, 2000 and has yet to be renewed.

See below for details.

Standards

	the Environmental Protection Act controls the discharge of pollutants to the natural environment.
Certificates of Approval (C of A) set the pollution limits for individual operations
	the Municipal Industrial Standards for Abatement (MISA) sets standards for industrial sectors, including
organic chemical inorganic chemicals iron and steel electric power generation metal castings pulp and paper metal mining industrial minerals

Stewardship

Responsible Care is the chemical industry's program for the stewardship of it products. Developed by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, the CEO or most senior executive of every member of CCPA must commit to implement the guiding principles and codes of practice of Responsible Care within three years of joining the association and to be publicly verified as having done so.

The Codes of Practice cover:

Community Awareness & Emergency Response (CAER)
Research and Development
Manufacturing
Transportation
TransCAER
Distribution
Hazardous Waste Management
Responsible Care Guidelines

Rehabilitation

Remedial Action Plans: The Great Lakes Remedial Action Plan (RAP) program originated from a 1985 recommendation from the International Joint Commission's Great Lakes Water Quality Board. Remedial Action Plans are being developed and implemented at 42 "Areas of Concern" (AOCs). The mechanisms responsible for the loss of ecological integrity in these areas are identified in the first step of the RAP process. Plans of action are then designed to systematically rejuvenate these areas to a level which meets both government and public expectations. These restorative measures use an "ecosystem approach" which considers not only land, air and water degradation, but also the loss or restriction of human uses in the Great Lakes Basin).

The Great Lakes Renewal Foundation: The foundation was established to provide funds for Ontario-based cleanup projects around the Great Lakes.

Reporting

Information is collected under the National Pollutants Release Inventory (NPRI)

Major Activities

The best detail about Ontario's commitments to pollution prevention can be found in the Canada Ontario Agreement respecting the Great Lakes Basin (COA). COA is an agreement signed between the federal and provincial governments. It details the targets for pollution prevention and ecosystem health and provides the framework for analysing Ontario's progress.

The Canada Ontario Agreement (COA)
Published Strategy	The Canada Ontario Agreement respecting the Great Lakes Basin (COA) was signed in 1994 by the federal and Ontario governments. COA details the commitment of both the Province and the federal government to pollution prevention and restoration in the Great Lakes basin. The agreement expired in March 2000 and is being renegotiated..
Goal	The Canada Ontario Agreement sets out three objectives and program targets for the Great Lakes Region. 3.1 Restore Degraded Areas Canada and Ontario, in cooperation with other members of the Great Lakes community, will continue restoration activities which embody a systematic and comprehensive approach to restoring and protecting ecosystem health and beneficial uses in degraded areas. 3.2 Prevent and Control Pollution Canada and Ontario will work with the producers and sources of pollutants in the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem to establish schedules and to achieve significant interim reductions (90% by 2000) in the releases of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances by adopting the philosophy of zero discharge. In addition industries and others will be challenged to reduce the use, release or generation of other toxic substances which will contribute to the goal of virtual elimination. 3.3 Conserve and Protect Human and Ecosystem Health Canada and Ontario, in cooperation with other members of the Great Lakes community, will act to conserve and protect sustainable ecosystems, with their aquatic and terrestrial communities, including people. The governments will determine the impacts of contaminants on basin populations and use the information to provide advice and prompt action, in cooperation with basin stakeholders, on significant ecosystem health issues. Other Goals "An environmentally responsible society that anticipates and prevents pollution" (CCME strategy) that "the discharge of toxic substances in toxic amounts be prohibited and the discharge of any or all persistent toxic substances be virtually eliminated." (Binational Toxics Strategy)
Targets	COA Agreement COA Target 2.1.1: For Tier I substances, Canada and Ontario agree to seek a 90 per cent reduction in the use, generation or release of the remaining seven substances (benzo(a)pyrene, hexachlorobenzene, alkyl-lead, mercury, octachlorostyrene, PCDD (dioxins) and PCDF (furans)) by the year 2000. COA Target 2.1.2: For Tier II substances and other pollutants, Canada and Ontario agree to collaborate with, and provide support for, voluntary programs by industry and others to reduce the use, release or generation of Tier II substances (cadmium, hexachlorocyclohexane, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine, 4,4'-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline), pentachlorophenol, tributyl tin, and a group of PAHs including anthracene and dinitropyrene), and establish specific timelines and targets for achieving their virtual elimination.
Major Activities	SUmmaries of the major activities under COA can be found in the three Progress Reports: The First Progress Report, 1995. The Second Progress Report, 1977. The Third Progress Report, 1999
State of the Environment Reporting	While there is no SOE report associated with COA, Environment Canada has a State of the Lakes page. A biennial State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference is co-sponsored by Environment Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Public Review	There are currently regular opportunities for public review of the COA.
The Canada Ontario Agreement is expired in March 2000. Renewing the agreement will be an important indication of Ontario's commitment to achieving the goals of pollution prevention.

COA's Priority
Substances

COA identified 41 substances for special attention. The fourteen Tier I substances are targeted for virtual elimination and the twenty-seven Tier II substances are

Tier I substances

The Tier I listing includes the 11 critical pollutants identified by the International Joint Commission, plus critical pollutants identified in the Niagara River and Lake Ontario Toxic Management Plans and the Lake Superior Binational Program.

Tier 1 pollutants are targeted for virtual elimination by adopting the philosophy of zero discharge for local or direct sources, and by encouraging similar actions binationally and globally in order to eliminate distant sources or long-range transport as inputs to the Great Lakes Basin.

Aldrin/dieldrin
Benzo(a)pyrene
Chlordane
DDT
Hexachlorobenzene
Alkyl-lead
Mercury
Mirex
Octachlorostyrene
PCBs
PCDD (dioxins)
PCDF (furans)
Toxaphene

Tier II substances

Tier II compounds include substances identified by science-based screening methodologies or Lakewide Management Plans. These substances have the potential for causing widespread impacts, or have already caused local adverse impacts on the Great Lakes environment.

Anthracene
Cadmium
1,4-dichlorobenzene
3,3'-dichlorobenzidine
Dinitropyrene
Hexachlorocyclohexane
4,4'-methylenebis(2-chloraniline)
Pentachlorophenol
Tributyl tin

Plus 17 PAH's as a group, including but not limited to:
Benz(a)anthracene
Benzo(b)fluoranthene
Benzo(g,h,i)perylene
Perylene
Phenanthrene

Tier II will be updated periodically, on the basis of sound science, to ensure emerging contaminant issues are addressed as information becomes available. Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances may be elevated from the Tier II listing to the Tier I listing through a weight-of- evidence approach, and through a process of stakeholder consultation.

For information on these chemicals, check Scorecard, the U.S Environmental Defense Fund's listing of over 6,800 chemicals.

What Else Could Be Done?

Prompt action is needed to address public concerns over the health and environmental impacts of genetically-modified organisms. These are some of the recommendations that have been put forward:

Renew the Canada Ontario Agreement

The Canada Ontario Agreement details the respective commitments and roles of the federal and provincial governments. It sends an important message to industry, municipalities, and the public about the current priorities for pollution prevention and management in Ontario.

Develop a clear Ontario Pollution Strategy

Ontario would benefit from the development of a clear multi-sector strategy that would address the key requirements for pollution prevention and management:

pollution prevention -- promote less polluting alternatives across all sectors of the ecoonmy and society

virtual elimination -- establish clear timetables for the elimination of priority substances

ecosystem standards -- establish clear national standards for all major contaminants that will ensure contiued environmental and human health

stewardship -- cradle to grave management of major contaminants

rehabilitation -- restore contaminated areas that have been contaminated through human activity (such as mining and industrial development)

reporting -- produce annual emissions and "state of the environment" reports

constant improvement -- review and strengthen the targets and programs on a regular basis.

Individual Action

Each of us contributes to the pollution of our environment through the products we buy, cars we drive, and even the food we eat. It's a big step to "change your life", but each of us can contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing our own polluting activities. You'll feel healthier, and at the same time, you'll be telling companies that there is a market for pollution-free goods and services.

We're writing several factsheets on household hazards, organic agriculture, green energy, and transportation that will give you more tips and links to support groups. Stay tuned!

De-tox
youself!

In the Home	clean without harsh chemicals eat natural and organic foods buy green energy
In the Yard	go pesticide free
Getting Around	use green transportation

Key Players

See the Toxics Overview factsheet for links to the key players.


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