ENVI Committee Report

INTRODUCTION

On April 15, 2005, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development tabled its fifth report entitled: “Subject matter of Bill C-43, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 23, 2005. The Government of Canada has benefited from the Standing Committee's work in this area, and thanks the standing committee for its efforts.

RECOMMENDATION 1

The Committee recommends that the government remove Part 15 of Bill C-43 and that it expedite the publication of Large Final Emitter (LFE) regulations for parliamentary and public scrutiny.

THE RESPONSE

The Government has committed to timely and transparent development of regulations for Large Final Emitters in “Moving Forward on Climate Change—A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment”. The Government has stated its preference for using the legislative authorities under Parts 5 and 11 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) for developing these regulations.

Adding a substance to Schedule 1 of CEPA 1999 is an important first step in the regulatory process. Schedule 1 is currently entitled “The List of Toxic Substances”. The Climate Change action plan acknowledges the concerns of some industries and provinces over the term “toxic substances” in CEPA 1999. Proposed amendments to CEPA 1999 contained in Part 15 of Bill C-43 would remove the word “toxic” from certain sections as it relates to determination of the substances that may be added to Schedule 1 of CEPA 1999.

These changes were proposed to bring additional focus on the criteria that are actually used in CEPA 1999 to determine which substances may be added to Schedule 1 of the Act and thereby be potentially regulated. This would properly focus discussions on whether substances, including the Kyoto greenhouse gases, meet the criteria rather than on debating on the applicability of the short-form expression, “toxic”.

The proposed amendments would not alter the manner in which CEPA 1999 is currently administered. While not legally necessary in order to implement the LFE system under the Act, it is the Government's view that these amendments would ensure decisions on greenhouse gases and the LFE regulations are properly focused.

It is therefore the Government's opinion that the proposed amendments are valid, particularly in light of the Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment and that they should be pursued in a timely manner.

With respect to expediting publication of the Large Final Emitter regulations for parliamentary and public scrutiny, the Government is planning extensive consultation with provinces, territories, industry and other stakeholders in several phases of the regulatory development process. One aspect of these consultations will be the formal comment periods provided for in the regulatory process under the CEPA 1999.

In addition, Environment Canada will share draft regulations with the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.