Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

The act was originally enacted in 1988 and was designed to provide a systematic approach to assess and manage chemical substances in the environment that were not addressed under existing programs. In 1990 with SOR/90-583: Ozone-depleting Substances Regulations No. 2 (certain bromofluorocarbons) were added to the LOTS. In 1997 the Supreme Court of Canada adjudicated the case of R. v. Hydro-Québec, by which an attempt was made to enforce the CEPA in the matter of poly-chlorinated biphenyls as a large quantity of said substances had been dumped into a stream by the respondent. Justices Gérard La Forest, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Charles Gonthier, Peter Cory and Beverley McLachlin held that "the environment is not, as such, a subject matter of legislation under the Constitution Act, 1867. Rather, it is a diffuse subject that cuts across many different areas of constitutional responsibility, some federal, some provincial. If a provision relating to the environment in pith and substance falls within the parameters of any power assigned to the body that enacted the legislation, then it is constitutionally valid." The fines were upheld and the CEPA was deemed valid legislation under the criminal law power. After being reviewed in the 1990s, it was replaced by the current legislation that provides new powers for health and environmental protection. It was introduced by the 26th Canadian Ministry as Bill C-32 on March 12, 1998, subsequently receiving royal assent on September 14, 1999. The act came into force on March 31, 2000. As a Canadian statute, the act is unique for including a declaration of "primary purpose" in addition to a preamble. On April 23, 2021, the LOTS was amended by regulation to include plastic manufactured items, in advance of the June 20, 2022, regulation for the Canadian ban on single-use plastics (SUP), which was introduced by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault. The act received ENVI committee attention in 2021 because of Volkswagen Dieselgate. As of July 2022, the act had received 13 amendments over its quarter-century existence. == New and existing substances ==

Toxic substances Toxic substances have characteristics outlined in Section 64 of the CEPA. The end of the public input process occurred on March 10, 2016; they were added to the LOTS on June 29; on November 5 proposed regulations on their uses were put forth for public comment; on June 14, 2017, final regulations were published; and on July 1, 2018, the manufacture and import of all toiletries that contain plastic microbeads were prohibited. which administers regulations relating to the notification of new substances into the environment. Existing substances Existing substances include all 23,000 substances that were in use in Canada prior to the establishment of the New Substances Notification Program, and they are all listed on the Domestic Substances List (DSL). The act required systematic screening of these substances, a process that was completed in September 2006, which led to the development of the Chemicals Management Plan. Biotechnology The 23,000 existing substances on the DSL included 67 microbial strains and 2 complex microbial cultures. These substances were subject to a separate prioritization assessment and accordingly evaluated. Health Canada and Environment Canada share responsibility for conducting risk assessments of new biotechnology products (including micro-organisms) that are not subject to a pre-manufacture toxicity assessment under other federal legislation. Under the act, both naturally occurring and genetically modified organisms are evaluated under the New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms). Risk assessment decisions are summarized and posted publicly. == Amendments ==

Bill S-5 On May 30, 2023, the House of Commons passed Bill S-5, the first major update to CEPA since 1999. Viewed by the David Suzuki Foundation as "long overdue important progress", Bill S-5 addresses some, but not all, of the 87 recommendations to strengthen CEPA made by a 2017 parliamentary review. For the first time in Canadian history, the bill recognizes the right to a healthy environment. The bill additionally highlights fracking and tailings ponds as particular areas of concern, granting the government more authority to request information on substances released from these processes. Moreover, Bill S-5 requires the offices of the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Health to compile a 'watch list' of substances which have either not been assessed yet, or are not in widespread use, but have the potential to be deemed 'toxic' and consequently subjected to potential regulation. Bill S-5 received royal assent on June 13, 2023. == Enforcement, penalties and prosecution ==

Enforcement activities related to the act can include: • warnings regarding the existence of a violation so that the alleged offender can act and return to compliance; • directions to deal with or to prevent illegal releases of regulated substances; • tickets for offences (e.g. failure to submit written reports); • various orders (e.g. prohibition orders, orders to recall illegal substances or products from the marketplace, environmental protection compliance orders to put an immediate stop to illegal activity) to prevent a violation from occurring or require action to be taken; • injunctions; • prosecution under the authority of a Crown prosecutor; and • environmental protection alternative measures. REHANT Environmental Enforcement Act Fines under the Environmental Enforcement Act (EEA) range from $5,000 to $6,000,000. The EEA applies to offences under CEPA 1999. The EEA also allows the enforcement officers to arrest a person without warrant, to seize or detain items related to a CEPA 1999 offence or related evidence, and to detain or redirect ships suspected of an offence. Convictions or indictments under the EEA can also result in imprisonment up to three years. Prosecutions under CEPA 1999 are listed on Environment Canada's website. Selected regulations • Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations • Prohibition of Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos Regulations • Canadian Toys Regulation • Health Canada Medical Device Licensing • Canadian Phthalates Regulations (SOR/2016-188) • Products Containing Mercury Regulations == References ==