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Vol. 138, No. 14 — April 3, 2004 Regulations Amending the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992Statutory Authority Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 Sponsoring Departments Department of the Environment and Department of Health REGULATORY IMPACT Description The Regulations Amending the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as the proposed Regulations), proposed pursuant to subsection 93(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), were developed to address the concerns identified by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. While the proposed Regulations are mostly of an administrative nature, they are required to improve the clarity of the current Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) as well as to achieve consistency between the English and French versions of the Regulations. The current Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992 limit the release of vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride into ambient air by plants in Canada. They also contain requirements regarding malfunctions/breakdowns, the testing of emissions and reporting procedures. In addition, to ensure consistency in record keeping procedures between these regulations and other existing regulations, section 12 of the Regulations is amended to require an operator to retain plans and reports for five years and make them available to enforcement officers upon request. The proposed amendments will not change the content or intent of the Regulations. The proposed regulatory amendments 1. Replace section 1 of the French version of the Regulations by: "1. Règlement de 1992 sur les rejets de chlorure de vinyle." 2. Repeal section 3 of the Regulations. 3. Eliminate redundancy in the regulatory text by replacing (a) paragraph 6(1)(d) of the Regulations by
b) paragraph (7)(1)(d) of the Regulations by
(ii) is a fugitive emission and the operator has implemented a plan referred to in section 9." 4. Improve consistency between sections 4 and 6 of provisions related to the use of alternatives to the appropriate test method by (a) replacing subsections 4(6) and (7) of the Regulations by the following:
(b) any other test method the result of which can be confirmed by the method referred to in paragraph (a)." (b) Adding the following subsection (7) after subsection (6) to section 6 of the Regulations:
5. Improve clarity of the regulatory text by replacing paragraph 9(2)(d) by "(d) the preventive maintenance program, including the schedule for refurbishing and replacing parts and the nature and frequency of inspections and of any other actions to be taken in respect of that program." 6. Replace the heading (a) "% 3-hr. periods below 10 ppm" of the first table in Schedule I of the Regulations with the following:
(b) "% d'ouvertures rejetant moins de 0,002 kg de chlorure de vinyle / 100 kg de chlorure de polyvinyle produit" of the first table in Schedule II of the French version of the Regulations to align the French version and the English version with the following:
(c) "% operating days on which releases do not exceed the concentration" of the first table in Schedule III of the Regulations with the following:
7. Ensure consistency between the Regulations and other existing regulations by requiring that records be kept for a period of five years instead of three years. Therefore, section 12 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
The proposed Regulations will come into force on the date of their registration. Alternatives Initially, repeal of subsection 4(7) was considered to address the lack of consistency between sections 4 and 6 with respect to provisions related to the alternatives to the appropriate test method. As there was a strong opposition by the affected stakeholders to the removal of subsection 4(7) and there is technical validity to the argument that the Standard Reference Method (SRM) or test method that can be confirmed by the SRM cannot always be used in determining the concentration or quantity of vinyl chloride released, subsection 4(7) was retained. Benefits and costs Benefits The benefits associated with the proposed amendments include greater clarity in the interpretation of the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992, and will not result in any incremental costs to industry, governments or to Canadians. Costs No additional costs to the industry, the Government or the public are expected to arise from these proposed amendments. They are intended for clarification and administrative purposes and will alter neither the intent nor the level of environmental protection that is currently achieved with these Regulations. Consultation Pre-consultations with stakeholders were held by Environment Canada between March 10 and March 28, 2003. A summary of proposed changes was sent to the CEPA National Advisory Committee for advice and comment, posted on the National Office of Pollution Prevention Web site at www.ec.gc.ca/NOPP, as well as sent by direct mail-out to other stakeholders including federal departments, provincial/territorial authorities, environmental groups and all affected industrial facilities. The only issue or objection raised during the pre-consultation was the removal of subsection 4(7) as originally proposed, which has resulted in the current proposed changes to address the lack of consistency between sections 4 and 6. Compliance and enforcement The proposed Regulations will not alter the manner in which the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992 are enforced. Contacts Mr. Art Stelzig, Senior Technical Advisor, Sustainable Consumption Division, Department of the Environment, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0H3, (819) 953-1131 (telephone), art.stelzig@ec.gc.ca (electronic mail); and Ms. Céline Labossière, Policy Manager, Regulatory and Economic Analysis Branch, Department of the Environment, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0H3, (819) 997-2377 (telephone), celine.labossiere@ec.gc.ca (electronic mail). PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 332(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (see footnote a), that the Governor in Council proposes, pursuant to subsection 93(1) of that Act, to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992. Interested persons may, within sixty days after the publication of this notice, file with the Minister of the Environment comments with respect to the proposed Regulations or a notice of objection requesting that a board of review be established under section 333 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (see footnote b) and stating the reasons for the objection. All comments and notices must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to James Riordan, Executive Director, National Office of Pollution Prevention, Environmental Protection Service, Department of the Environment, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3. A person who provides information to the Minister may submit with the information a request for confidentiality under section 313 of that Act. Ottawa, March 30, 2004
EILEEN BOYD
REGULATIONS AMENDING THE VINYL CHLORIDE RELEASE REGULATIONS, 1992 AMENDMENTS 1. Section 1 of the French version of the Vinyl Chloride Release Regulations, 1992 (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following: 1. Règlement de 1992 sur les rejets de chlorure de vinyle. 2. Section 3 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed. 3. Subsections 4(6) and (7) of the Regulations are replaced by the following: (6) For the purposes of this section, the concentration or quantity of vinyl chloride released shall be measured by (a) the appropriate test method described in the Standard Reference Method; or (b) any other test method the result of which can be confirmed by the method referred to in paragraph (a). (7) When the appropriate test methods referred to in paragraphs 6(a) and (b) cannot be used, the concentration or quantity of vinyl chloride released shall be determined by estimations and calculations obtained from the information available to the operator. 4. (1) Paragraph 6(1)(d) of the Regulations is replaced by the following: (d) Schedule IV, in respect of any release of vinyl chloride from any source other than one referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c). (2) Section 6 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (6): (7) When the appropriate test methods referred to in paragraphs 6(a) and (b) cannot be used, the concentration or quantity of vinyl chloride released shall be determined by estimations and calculations obtained from the information available to the operator. 5. Paragraph 7(1)(d) of the Regulations is replaced by the following: (d) from any source other than one referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c),
(ii) is a fugitive emission and the operator has implemented a plan referred to in section 9. 6. Paragraph 9(2)(d) of the Regulations is replaced by the following: (d) the preventive maintenance program, including the schedule for refurbishing and replacing parts and the nature and frequency of inspections and of any other actions to be taken in respect of that program. 7. Section 12 of the Regulations is replaced by the following: 12. The operator shall retain at the plant, for a period of five years, all information in respect of any plan or report that is submitted pursuant to these Regulations and shall make it available to an enforcement officer on request within the time established for the request. 8. The heading "% 3-hr. periods below 10 ppm" in the first table of Schedule I to the Regulations is replaced by the following: % 3-hr. periods of venting not exceeding 10 ppm 9. The heading "% d'ouvertures rejetant moins de 0,002 kg de chlorure de vinyle / 100 kg de chlorure de polyvinyle produit" in the first table of Schedule II to the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following: % d'ouvertures où les rejets ne dépassent pas 0,002 kg de chlorure de vinyle/100 kg de chlorure de polyvinyle produit 10. The heading "% Operating days on which releases do not exceed the concentration" in the first table of Schedule III to the Regulations is replaced by the following: % Operating days on which releases do not exceed the maximum concentration COMING INTO FORCE 11. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered. [14-1-o] S.C. 1999, c. 33 S.C. 1999, c. 33 SOR/92-631 |
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