| Montreal, 8/05/2002 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America today received a submission from Canadian environmental groups alleging 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.
The submission (SEM-02-003/Pulp and Paper) was filed by the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF) on behalf of Friends of the Earth, Union Saint-Laurent, Grands Lacs, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Ecology Action Centre and Environment North. While noting that pollution from pulp mills has dropped since adoption of the PPER in 1992, the Submitters have documented over 2,400 alleged 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.
Under Article 14 of NAAEC, 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. In accordance with Article 15(2) of NAAEC, the Secretariat shall prepare a factual record if the Council, by a two-thirds vote, instructs it to do so.
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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