In May of this year, Ontario announced the implementation of the greenhouse gas Cap and Trade Program. This regulation has many companies considering whether they will be regulated beginning in January 2017 and if they need to register for cap and trade by November of this year.
You may recall that it was about a year ago when Ontario’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change proposed (and later established) the Air Quality Management Zones under the nationwide Air Quality Management System (AQMS). The AQMS is part of a nationwide effort by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment to make “continuous improvements to overall air quality.”
Then in a June 27, 2016, News Release, the next step in the AQMS was announced: “The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, announced the Multi-Sector Air Pollutants Regulations to establish Canada’s first ever mandatory national air pollutant emissions standards for major industrial facilities” (emphasis added).
The new requirements under the Multi-Sector Pollution Regulations are part of the “…federal government’s contribution to the implementation of the Air Quality Management System (AQMS) under the auspices of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME).”
The specific requirements, as spelled out in the amendments, will take affect anytime between January 2018 and January 2036. The regulations will apply to “thousands of sources across Canada.”
The environmental-regulatory trend continues to focus on air quality throughout Canada.
According to the announcement in the Canada Gazette, the requirements of the regulation apply to the following air pollutants:
- NOx from boilers and heaters in certain regulated facilities in various industrial sectors,
- NOx from stationary spark-ignition engines that combust gaseous fuels in certain regulated facilities in various industrial sectors, and
- NOx and SO2 from cement-manufacturing facilities.
In regard to the “regulated facilities,” they included the following:
- oil and gas facilities
- oil sands facilities
- chemicals facilities
- nitrogen-based fertilizer facilities
- pulp and paper facilities
- base metals facilities
- potash facilities
- alumina facilities and aluminum facilities
- power plants
- iron, steel, and ilmenite facilities
- iron ore pelletizing facilities
- cement manufacturing facilities
For those facilities that this applies to, an annual compliance report will be due on June 1st of each year. There are many more details in the 150-plus pages of regulation.
As the environmental regulatory requirements continue to grow, and grow more complex (both from the federal and provincial regulators), you may want to consider an environmental compliance assessment (not to be confused with an ISO 14001 audit). You can audit your own operations, or you can hire a third party (i.e., environmental advisors) to conduct the audit. An environmental compliance audit can be an effective tool to review your overall environmental compliance status.
If you have questions about air-quality permitting, emissions inventories, or any other environmental compliance issue, contact either Khaled Chekiri, Ph.D., P. Eng. (kchekiri@dragun.com) or Andrew Tymec, P. Eng. (atymec@dragun.com) at 519-979-7300.