| Montreal, 17/12/2004 – On 16 December 2004, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) issued a determination that submission SEM-04-005 (Coal-fired Power Plants), contained sufficient information for some, but not all, of its assertions and gave the Submitters 30 days to re-file a submission with sufficient information regarding the submission as a whole.
The submission was filed on 20 September 2004, by Friends of the Earth Canada, Friends of the Earth-US, Earthroots, Centre for Environmentally Sustainable Development, Great Lakes United, Pollution Probe, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Sierra Club (United States and Canada). The submission asserts that the United States is failing to effectively enforce the federal Clean Water Act with respect to coal-fired power plants whose mercury discharges to air and water are allegedly degrading thousands of rivers, lakes and other water bodies across the United States.
The Secretariat found that the submission as a whole does not provide sufficient information to allow the Secretariat to review it, and therefore fails to satisfy Article 14(1)(c) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). Although the submission and its appendices provide sufficient information with respect to some of the Submitters' assertions, information necessary for the Secretariat's review is lacking for others. The Submitters now have 30 days to file a submission that meets the requirements of Article 14(1) of the 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 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.
For further information, including the determination on this submission, please visit the Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page.
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