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New Focus on Air Quality in Ontario
In case you missed it, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) recently proposed three “Air Zones” for the province. According to the June 22, 2015, announcement, the Zones will be the following: Air Zone 1 – Areas with limited pollution from either point or non-point sources or transboundary influence; where air quality management activities are focused on maintaining good air quality. Air Zone 2 – Areas under pressure from multiple sources including some or all of the following: non-point sources, smaller point sources,...
read moreRecent Environmental Fines
While not quite to the level of the attention-getting $7.5 million fine that Cliffs Natural Resources had to pay last December for environmental violations, there have been a few environmental fines that are at least worth noting. Also, notice that these violations were not the result of any spectacular release of some exotic chemical; they are all fairly relatable types of substances. Recent Environmental Enforcement Action On June 5, 2015, an electronic company in British Columbia was ordered to pay $40,000 for environmental offences...
read moreCanadian Government Changes Position on Asbestos
Asbestos, because of its superior insulating properties, has been widely used in hundreds (maybe thousands) of products, including: pipes, floor tiles, brake pads, and countless types of insulation. The properties of asbestos (heat and fire resistance) have been called life saving. However, it’s now common knowledge that breathing in asbestos fibers may cause serious illnesses (i.e., lung cancer, mesothelioma) that could be fatal. Surprisingly, until recently, Canada’s definition of what constitutes a “potentially harmful asbestos” was...
read moreReal Solutions and Practical Application of Environmental Forensics
On Wednesday, August 5th, Dr. Michael Sklash, P. Eng. will be among a group of scientists, engineers, and lawyers speaking at the International Network on Environmental Forensics, which is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The conference will be held at Victoria College in Toronto. The title of Mike’s presentation is, “How would Albert Einstein do as a forensics expert? The Art of Effectively Communicating Complex Information.” Mike will be co-presenting with Natalie Mullins, a lawyer at Gowlings. If you are in the Greater Toronto...
read moreShould Canadians be Concerned about Trends in US Environmental Regulations?
As a Canadian with 25 years of experience in the environmental business working both in Canada and United States, I “get” that our countries have very close ties. After all, we share a nearly 9,000-km border; the Windsor-Detroit border is the busiest, commercial-land, border crossing in North America. Thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement, we share the largest, free-trade region in the world. With all that Canada shares with the US, it’s not surprising that we share some environmental concerns as well. In fact, in recognition...
read moreOntario Pesticide Regulation Begins July 1st
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) recently announced new regulations relating to neonicotinoids (or neonics) that will take effect July 1, 2015. According to the MOECC, “Ontario will be the first jurisdiction in North America to protect bees and other pollinators through new rules to reduce the number of acres planted with neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seeds by 80 per cent by 2017.” The MOECC states that the new requirements will be put in place for “the sale and use of neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed...
read moreDid You Miss Your NPRI Reporting Deadline?
By the time we are posting this blog, your National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) reporting should have been completed and submitted for the year. These inventories are required (by federal law) to be reported each year on June 1st. Because there are still facilities that may be unaware of their reporting requirements, Environment Canada has made an effort to find those non-reporting facilities to help get them get into compliance. Do You Need to Submit a NPRI Report? Evaluating your reporting obligations will require your close review...
read moreCollection of Meaningful Environmental Data
If you have read any of our previous blog posts, attended any of our seminars or webinars, or read about how we have solved soil and groundwater problems, you know we place a lot of emphasis on getting each step right. And getting each step right begins with the collection of environmental data in the field. In fact, last year, one of my colleagues, Clifford Lawton, wrote what amounted to a treatise on the importance of proper sample collection (see Soil and Groundwater Sampling – What Can Go Wrong?). Because we believe sample collection is...
read moreRegulating Nanoscale Materials
Chemical substances in Canada are regulated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. Substances are in one of two groups – existing or new. There are about 23,000 existing or current substances on the Domestic Substance List (DSL). In 2006, the 23,000 substances of the Domestic Substances List were “categorized” according to the potential risk they posed to human health and the environment. This set the priority by which substances were to be assessed under the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP), beginning with the chemicals that...
read moreOntario Companies Prepare for the Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Program
Will Ontario’s Cap and Trade system for greenhouse gases impact industry? Yes. How will it impact industry? We don’t know yet. Ontario’s GHG Cap and Trade Program By now you know that Ontario has joined Quebec, California, and others in the Western Climate Initiative by establishing a cap and trade system for Greenhouse Gases (GHG) (Ontario actually joined the Western Climate Initiative in 2008). With the mandatory cap and trade system in place, it will build on the previous requirements O. Reg. 452/09: Greenhouse Gas Emissions...
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