Tackling Air Pollutions from all Sources

Canada's Clean Air Act takes a comprehensive approach to the problem of worsening air quality and greenhouse gases. It will take a strict but fair approach to improve the air we breathe and protect our environment. It will set clear targets and timelines for key economic sectors, from the energy we consume, to the products we use, to the cars we drive.

Carbon dioxide gets released into the atmosphere from the manufacture of every dishwasher, from the production of the electricity that runs it, and out of the exhaust of the truck that delivered it. In the future, all will be subject to regulated standards. The same is true for all kinds of every day products, liable to have a role in the emissions of a wide range of climate or health-affecting chemicals.

The Government will establish targets and timelines which measurably reduce the impact of air pollutants on the health of Canadians, particularly the most vulnerable (children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases). Current health evidence indicates that in all parts of the country, improvements in air quality would result in health benefits. The targets and timelines will also measurably reduce the impact of air emissions on the environment. For air pollutants the Government intends to adopt a target-setting approach based on fixed caps for short-, medium- and long-term. For GHGs, in the short-term, the Government intends to adopt a target-setting approach based on emissions intensity, one that show real progress on the environment here in Canada. In the medium-term, it will build upon the emissions intensity approach with intensity targets that are ambitious enough to lead to absolute reductions in emissions and thus support the establishment of a fixed cap on emissions during this period. And in the long-term, the Government is committed to achieving an absolute reduction in GHG emissions between 45 and 65% from 2003 levels by 2050.

Taking action on energy efficiency

A substantial part of the reductions Canada can achieve in air pollution and greenhouse gases can and should come from the energy we do not waste in the first place.

Canada's Clean Air Act will amend the Energy Efficiency Act and give the Government of Canada expanded authority to regulate products that affect or control energy consumption, such as thermostats, and to help Canadians purchase the most energy efficient products. Taking action on energy efficiency will help forestall asthma episodes, climate change and electricity bill shocks all at the same time.

Taking action in the transportation sector

The Clean Air Regulatory Agenda will lead the way to reductions in the emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases from the transportation sector as well.

Consistent with this goal, the Government of Canada will propose the following regulations in the next twelve months:

• Final regulations to further reduce air pollutant emissions from on-road motorcycles;
• Amendments to existing regulations further reducing air pollutant emissions from off-road diesel engines and equipment (e.g., those used in construction, mining, forestry, agriculture);
• New regulations to reduce air pollutant emissions from marine spark-ignition engines and off-road recreational vehicles (e.g., outboards, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, ATVs);
• New regulations requiring on-board diagnostics systems for on-road heavy duty engines (e.g., heavy trucks, buses); and
• New regulations to reduce air pollutant emissions from off-road large spark-ignition engines (e.g., forklifts).

In the medium term, there is a need for regulatory action on greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. Emissions from cars and trucks account for about 75% of Canada's total transportation greenhouse gas emissions, and passenger travel accounts for about half of that. Under Canada's Clean Air Act, the Government will issue regulations in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Canada's Clean Air Act will amend the Motor Vehicle Fuel Consumption Standards Act to modernize the Government's authority to regulate new motor vehicle fuel consumption.

Setting mandatory fuel consumption standards will help ensure reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicles that we buy. The Government intends to regulate the fuel consumption of road motor vehicles after the expiry of the Memorandum of Understanding between the auto industry and the Government of Canada. The Government will develop regulations that will build on the voluntary commitment the auto industry made collectively in 2005 that calls for a reduction of 5.3MT of GHGs by 2010, through ongoing improvements in fuel consumption performance. The new regulations will come into effect as 2011 models appear in Canada's showrooms.

Under the Railway Safety Act, the Ministers of Transport and Environment will support a Memorandum of Understanding that has been negotiated with the Railway Association of Canada that ensures that the rail industry continues to improve its GHG emissions performance between 2006 and 2010. The Minister of Transport will develop and implement new regulations under the Railway Safety Act to take effect in 2011.

The Ministers of Transport, with the Minister of the Environment, will support the development of new international standards established by the International Maritime Organization for controlling air pollution from ships, and will ensure their application domestically under the Canada Shipping Act. This will include support for a process to designate North American coasts as areas where ships must reduce sulphur emissions.

Negotiations at the International Maritime Organization are on-going, and for this reason it is difficult to project the extent of reductions that will be achieved through the adoption of the international regulations. However, in the first round of negotiations, reductions in standards for nitrogen oxide emissions (smog forming emissions) by up to 85% below existing standards have been discussed. These standards would apply to new engines installed in new vessels.