| Montreal, 9/11/2004 – On 3 November 2004, the Quebec Association Against Air Pollution (Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique—AQLPA) filed with the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America a citizen submission asserting that Canada, and more specifically the province of Quebec, is failing to effectively enforce articles 96.1 and 96.2 of Quebec's "Regulation respecting the Quality of the Atmosphere" (Règlement sur la qualitè de l'atmosphère—RQA) and articles 19.1, 20 and 51 of the Quebec Environment Quality Act (Loi sur la qualité de l'environnement—LQE) in connection with emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from post-1985 light vehicle models.
In submission SEM-04-007/Quebec Automobiles, the AQLPA estimates that at least 600,000, or 16 percent, of the approximately 4 million light vehicles in Quebec from model years later than 1985 do not comply with articles 96.1 and 96.2 of the RQA and article 51 of the LQE. The Submitter asserts that in the nineteen years since these provisions came into force, the government of Quebec has initiated fewer than ten prosecutions in regard to these alleged violations. The Submitter also claims that Quebec has not assigned responsibility for the enforcement of these provisions to any government department; has not made budget allocations for their enforcement; and has not provided police officers with equipment and training required for compliance monitoring.
The Submitter contends that it is widely known (as reflected in international accords that Canada has entered into, and as recommended by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment) that the only way to ensure effective enforcement of this legislation is through the establishment of a mandatory automobile inspection and maintenance program that would apply to the whole fleet of automobiles in Quebec, on a sufficiently frequent basis (for example, an inspection every year or two). The Submitter asserts that "today, more than 19 years after articles 96.1 and 96.2 of the RQA took effect, and after more than 15 years of studies, reports, consultations and promises, the Quebec government and its Environment Ministry are still failing to effectively enforce these laws and are still failing to act on their promise to put in place a mandatory biannual inspection and maintenance program for light vehicles three years old or older." The AQLPA asserts that this alleged failure has considerable negative impacts on the environment and public health, and that carbon monoxide emissions from cars that do not comply with the RQA have poisoned people and caused at least one death in Quebec.
The CEC Secretariat is analyzing the submission to determine whether it meets the requirements of Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
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 NAAEC, any person or nongovernmental organization may submit to the Secretariat a claim alleging that a NAFTA partner is failing 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.
For more information, please visit the Citizen Submission on Enforcement Matters page.
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