| Montreal, 22/01/2004 – On 15 January 2004, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) provided to the Parties of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) the overall work plan for gathering the relevant facts for the factual record on the Pulp and Paper submission (SEM-02-003). In accordance with Council Resolution 03-16, execution of the overall plan will begin no sooner than 1 February 2004.
According to Article 15(4) of the NAAEC, in preparing a factual record "the Secretariat shall consider any information furnished by a Party and may consider any relevant technical, scientific or other information (a) that is publicly available; (b) submitted by interested nongovernmental organizations or persons; (c) submitted by the Joint Public Advisory Committee; or (d) developed by the Secretariat or by independent experts."
The Pulp and Paper submission was presented to the CEC on 8 May 2002, by Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF) on behalf of several Canadian nongovernmental organizations. The Submitters allege that Canada is failing to effectively enforce Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act and provisions of the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER) in regard to pulp and paper mills in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. The Submitters listed twelve mills of particular concern. On 11 December 2003, the Council instructed the Secretariat to prepare a factual record on the submission, with a focus on ten mills listed in the submission.
According to the workplan, the Secretariat will gather and develop information relevant to:
the facts concerning Canada's actions regarding alleged failures to effectively enforce section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act with respect to the mills and time periods identified in the Council's instructions;
the facts concerning Canada's action regarding alleged effluent test failures and failures to conduct follow-up tests as required under the PPER with respect to the mills and time periods identified in the Council's instructions;
- the facts concerning Canada's consideration of actions taken by the provinces to enforce their legislation, regulations and permit conditions related to pulp and paper mills, as specified in the Council's instructions;
- other facts directly related to Canada's enforcement of section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act and of sections 5 and 6 and Schedules I and II of the PPER, with respect to the mills listed in the Council's instructions; and
- whether Canada is failing to effectively enforce section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act and sections 5 and 6 and Schedules I and II of the PPER in the context of the mills and time periods listed in the Council's instructions.
The citizen submissions mechanism of the CEC enables the public to play a whistle-blower role on matters of environmental law enforcement. Under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), any person or nongovernmental organization may submit a claim alleging that a NAFTA partner has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law. Following a review of the submission, the CEC may investigate the matter and pursue a factual record of its findings.
Please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page for more information. |
