| Montreal, 7/06/2002 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) today requested a response from Canada to the SEM-02-003 (Pulp and Paper) submission filed with the CEC on 8 May 2002 by Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF) on behalf of several Canadian nongovernmental organizations. The submission alleges that Canada is failing to effectively enforce the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act and provisions of the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations, or PPER, against pulp and paper mills in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Section 36 of the Fisheries Act prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish, except as authorized by regulations such as the PPER. Failure to comply with these regulations is punishable by fines and jail time.
While noting that pollution from pulp mills has dropped since adoption of the PPER in 1992, the Submitters have documented over 2,400 violations of the PPER at mills in central and eastern Canada from 1995 to 2000 and claim very few were prosecuted. They claim that low numbers of prosecutions correlate with continuing high numbers of violations in Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces, and they cite ten mills of particular concern. In Ontario, the Submitters claim that there have been more prosecutions and fewer violations, but they list two mills where they claim Canada has failed to effectively enforce the PPER. The Submitters conclude that Canada is failing to meet its stated policy to seek to ensure compliance in the shortest possible time with no re-occurrence of violations, as well as its stated commitment to fair, predictable and consistent enforcement. They assert that for years, certain mills have been "free riders" at the expense of their competitors and the environment.
The CEC Secretariat has concluded that the submission meets the criteria set out in Article 14(1) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). Taking into account the factors listed in NAAEC Article 14(2), the Secretariat has determined that the assertion in the submission that Canada is failing to effectively enforce provisions of the PPER and the Fisheries Act merits requesting a response from Canada. On the basis of this determination, the Secretariat has requested a response from Canada. Under NAAEC Article 14(3), Canada has 30 days or,in exceptional circumstances, 60 days following receipt of the request, to provide the Secretariat with a response.
Under NAAEC Article 14, the Secretariat may consider a submission from any nongovernmental organization or person asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law.
Where the Secretariat determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are met, it takes further steps that can lead to the development of a factual record on the matter.
The CEC was established under NAAEC to address environmental issues in North America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the environment ministers (or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
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