Federal Contaminated Sites Accelerated Action Plan

The Federal Contaminated Sites Accelerated Action Plan was created to accelerate the remediation of contaminated sites for which the federal government is responsible, especially those that pose the greatest risk to human health and the environment. The Action Plan was created to deliver on the Budget 2003 commitment of $75 million for 2003/2004 and $100 million for 2004/2005, in addition to a $100 million per year already spent by departments. In making ongoing resources available, the Government of Canada is demonstrating that human health and environmental protection are priorities and that it is taking action for the common good and the quality of life of all Canadians.

The Action Plan provides mechanisms to compare and rank federal priority sites. Health Canada, Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provide expert advice to custodial departments in their preliminary assessment. The final ranking is done primarily through a science-based scoring system and endorsed by an interdepartmental steering committee.

For the last and the current fiscal years, $150,950,226 has been committed to remediation, risk management and care and maintenance of 57 high-risk sites identified under the Action Plan. A further $24,049,774 is set aside for technical assessments of these sites to determine next steps, science support from Environment Canada, Health Canada and Fisheries and Oceans, and the establishment of a Secretariat to manage the overall national program.

Budget 2004 provides a long-term commitment of $3.5 billion to remediate federal sites using existing and new remediation technologies. This will ensure a lasting legacy of sustainable land use so as to leave a cleaner, healthier environment for future generations.

The following is the list of the 57 priority sites funded under the Federal Contaminated Sites Accelerated Action Plan in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.

In total, the departments and Agency listed below will receive the following share of the Federal Contaminated Sites Accelerated Action Plan for remediation of their sites: