As of Aug. 24, 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) revised Environmental Emergency (E2) regulations. Any information that was previously submitted to Environment and Climate Change Canada will not be transferred to the new reporting system—all companies will need to resubmit 90 days after Aug. 24, 2019 (Nov. 22, 2019). Within the new reporting system, there are new requirements that will need to be met by all companies who are submitting E2 plans.
E2 plans are required to be submitted to Environment and Climate Change Canada for all companies that have hazardous materials that are produced or stored on site that exceed the ECCC volume thresholds. For higher-risk sites, an environmental plan that is prepared must be put into effect and exercised through emergency response training. E2 Plans help companies to better prepare for, prevent and respond to environmental emergencies. It also helps train employees on what to do in the event of an emergency.
“The plan used, in part, to develop response procedures that deal with unexpected releases of the regulated substances, establish specific training requirements and cycles for those involved and formulate exercises to test the plan to make sure the environment and human life and health are protected” (Environmental Emergency Regulations, 2019, p. 1).
Hazardous Substances
Schedule 1 of the new regulations includes over 200 substances that pose a hazard to the environment or human health if a release occurred. Within this schedule, there are six different categories, they are as follows:
The new regulations are intended to “reinforce sound environmental emergency management and timely public notifications. They introduce new definitions and periodic reporting requirements for facilities, substances and emergency plans” (Environmental Emergency Regulations, 2019, p. 1).
Major Requirements:
If a facility has regulated substances that meet the concentrations, total quantity and/or container capacity, they may have to (Environmental Emergency Regulations, 2019, p. 1):
In addition, companies must provide ECCC with a written report describing any environmental emergency.
Black Gold Emergency Planners Inc. can provide your company with an E2 Plan. Our employees are well-versed in this subject matter and are happy to answer questions.
For more information, call us today! Or visit: Canada.ca/environmental-emergency-regulations
References
Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Integrated Services Branch, & Government Information Services, Publishing and Depository Services. (2013, April 3). Environmental emergency regulations, 2019 : overview.: En4-376/1-2019E-PDF. Retrieved from http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.874724/publication.html