STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS ON MODIFICATIONS TO THE NATIONAL POLLUTANT RELEASE INVENTORY

The NPRI Multi-stakeholder Work Group on Substances
(2005-2006)

TERMS OF REFERENCE

A. Introduction

A permanent process for modifying the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) was developed through consultations with Canadian stakeholders and with the assistance of members of the 1998 multi-stakeholder Ad Hoc Work Group on Substances.¹

The permanent process provides for the establishment of a NPRI Multi-stakeholder Work Group to address complex or multiple requests for future modifications to the NPRI.

The Work Group will operate as a part of the broader NPRI consultation process. Draft Work Group reports will be posted on the NPRI web site, and individuals can also request to receive the reports by regular or electronic mail. Thus, all interested Canadian stakeholders will have an opportunity to comment on the draft recommendations of the Work Group. Written comments can be submitted to the Work Group via the web site, or by email, fax or post. Work Group members will fully consider input received from other stakeholders before finalizing their recommendations.

Stakeholders may also, during the Work Group process, submit information that they feel should be considered in relation to the issues to be addressed by the Work Group.

B. Objectives of Multi-stakeholder Work Group on Substances

Important Note : The issues identified below may be modified by Environment Canada at any time during the consultation period, either as a result of the consultation process or because of emerging priorities.

The objectives of the NPRI Multi-stakeholder Work Group (WG 2005-2006) are to develop recommendations to Environment Canada on the following issues:

1. Review of the mining exemption (2005)
2. Harmonization of NPRI with the Ministry of the Environment of Ontario Regulation 127, specifically the following substances/issues will be considered.
   • Calcium oxide (2005)
   • Total Reduced Sulphur (2005)
   • Ethyl acetate (2005)
   • Furfuryl alcohol (2005)
   • Tetrahydrofuran (2005)
   • 7 glycol ethers and 7 mineral spirits (2005)
   • 3 additional PAHs (2005)
   • Road dust (2006)
   • Acetone (2006)
3. Modifications for dioxins, furans and hexachlorobenzene (2006)
4. NPRI review to help streamline the NPRI, enhance data quality, and address priority emissions of concern. A subgroup will be established to identify key issues and developing preliminary recommendations for consideration by the main Work Group in 2006.
5. Harmonization of the "facility definition" between Ministry of the Environment of Ontario Regulation 127, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting and NPRI.
   • General facility definition (2006)
   • Portable facilities (2005)
6. Identification of gaps in the data collected for criteria air contaminants (2006)
7. Reporting of biosolids to the NPRI. This will include a review of existing criteria for deciding on products versus wastes and recyclables and the guidance on how to report individual substances in a matrix (2005)
8. Preliminary review and prioritization of remaining list of substances and issues (2005)

C. Elements of the Work Group Process

In accordance with the requirements of the permanent process for modifying the NPRI, the Work Group process will include the following elements:

1. The Work Group on substances with membership drawn from industry, federal and provincial government, aboriginal governments and organizations, and non-government organizations (health, environment, labour). Members sought are those who are familiar with the NPRI, have a scientific background, represent a broad constituency, and have experience in participating, on behalf of their constituency, in multi-stakeholder discussions. Work Group will participate in a series of facilitated meetings and conference calls, and undertake other tasks as necessary between meetings.
2. The Workplan, which identifies the issues to be addressed, together with key milestones. This plan will be developed by the work group facilitator, in cooperation with Environment Canada, for review and consideration by the Work Group members.
3. Opportunities for other stakeholders to be made aware of the progress of the Work Group through regular information updates by mail or electronic media. The draft recommendations from the Work Group's June meetings will be circulated by these means, and comments from all stakeholders will be provided to the Work Group members. The NPRI office will also accept unsolicited briefs from stakeholders and forward them to the Work Group for consideration.
4. The background technical work will be the responsibility of Environment Canada and, if applicable, specific Technical Sub-Groups.
5. Technical Sub-Groups may be established to address specific issues. These technical sub-groups may include representation from industry/government/NGO organizations that are not Work Group members
6. The final recommendations of the Work Group for each objective will be submitted to Environment Canada through a Work Group Report. Should the Work Group fail to reach agreement on recommendations, differing positions will be captured in the report as unresolved issues. Work Group reports will be public documents.

D. Timeline

The Draft 2005 report of the Work Group will be submitted by July 15, 2005 and the Final Report by October 31, 2005 . The 2006 report will be submitted by October 31, 2006.

E. Membership

Membership of the Work Group will be divided amongst the following groups:

• Industry
• Non-government organizations (health, environment, labour) and aboriginal governments and organizations.
• Federal and provincial governments

Each of these groups will be allocated seats on the Work Group. Nominations for membership will be sought from:

• Associations for industry representatives (max: 12 members);
• The Canadian Environmental Network for NGO representatives (max: 6 members);
• Health and labour organizations for NGO representatives (max. 2 members);
• Aboriginal governments and organizations for aboriginal representatives (max. 2 members);
• Provincial governments and federal government departments for government representatives (max. 7 members).

Nominations from other sources will also be considered, as long as the nominated individual fits the profile described in Section C.

The Chief of the NPRI, as well as staff from the NPRI office, will also attend Work Group meetings; and other Environment Canada staff may attend as “expert advisors”. A key role of these advisors will be to ensure that Work Group members are fully apprised of the conditions necessary to support the needs of Environment Canada in formulating their recommendations.

Interested stakeholders who are not members may attend Work Group meetings as observers. The number of observers will be limited by space availability, so requests for attendance must be made in advance, with priority given to stakeholders with broadly relevant views or interests that may not be fully represented by Work Group members.

F. Mandate of the Work Group on Substances

The Work Group is responsible for preparing recommendations to Environment Canada. In doing so, it will consider the opinions and concerns expressed by all stakeholders through briefs and letters.

More specifically the mandate of the Work Group is to:

1. Discuss the issues related to the objectives of the consultation, including the proposals made by Environment Canada, with a view to:
   • identifying the areas of agreement
   • resolving disagreements, and
   • identifying the differing views on any remaining areas of disagreement
   • identify potential implementation issues that may arise from proposed modifications and propose ways to mitigate the impact
2. Advise on further technical work and analysis that Environment Canada should undertake to support informed discussion and recommendations.
3. Advise and assist the consultation facilitator in ensuring that the consultation process and its outputs (the Work Group reports) meet the needs and expectations of the stakeholders and that the process is run in a cost-effective manner.
4. Provide a communications link between the consultation process and their constituency.
5. Make recommendations relating to each of the issues. This will be done through Work Group reports, which will contain the recommendations on matters where consensus has been achieved, explanations of any disagreements among stakeholders, and the description of any additional issues, which need to be resolved.

Members of the Work Group will be expected to make every effort to ensure that the views which they express reflect those of their constituency of interest and not only their personal views or those of their organization. It is also expected that they will communicate the fact of their participation and the positions they will be taking on various issues to interested members of their respective constituencies. In recognition of the time necessary for participants to get feedback from their constituencies, Environment Canada and the consultation facilitator will endeavor to provide discussion materials 3 weeks prior to the meetings.

It is recognized that, due to financial and/or organizational constraints, not all participants have the means to communicate regularly with all members of their constituency. Environment Canada will assist participants facing such constraints to develop appropriate means of communication to their constituency.

G. The Role of The Facilitator

The Work Group will be facilitated by an independent facilitator to be chosen by Environment Canada. He/she will be responsible for matters related to the organization and facilitation of the work of the Work Group including preparing the agendas, running the meetings, and preparing the draft and final reports of the Work Group for approval by the Work Group. The facilitator will have an assistant, who will be responsible for the preparation of minutes of the meetings.

The facilitator will also serve as a point of contact for any persons or organizations, participant or non-participant, who have concerns or questions about the consultation process.

H. Expenses

Funds will be made available by Environment Canada, as per Treasury Board guidelines to cover travel, accommodation and other reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for those participants from the voluntary sector who require financial assistance to participate in the work group.

I. Contact for Additional Information

Environment Canada (819) 953-1656
nprimodif@ec.gc.ca or npri@ec.gc.ca

1 http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/documents/html/2000_Modify-Final_e.cfm