Montreal, 6/07/2000 – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has posted on its web site the comments received on a proposed North American Regional Action Plan (NARAP) on Lindane.
Lindane, one of North America's most pervasive environmental contaminants, was recommended by the Substance Selection Task Force of the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) initiative for the development of a NARAP to reduce human and environmental exposure to the substance.
The proposal and its underlying rationale (the Decision Document on Lindane) were made available for public review and comment for a 45-day period ending on 22 June 2000. Comments received from ten contributors are being posted today in the languages in which they were submitted.
The SMOC working group will re-evaluate the Decision Document in light of the comments received. A recommended course of action will then be forwarded to the Council of the CEC, the organization's governing body composed of the environment ministers (or equivalent) of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Information on the Sound Management of Chemicals initiative and the Decision Document on Lindane can be found on the SMOC substance selection page.
List of comment contributors:
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The CEC was established to build cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States in addressing environmental issues from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those that arise in the context of liberalized trade. Under the CEC's Sound Management of Chemicals initiative, the three countries have developed North American Regional Action Plans for DDT, chlordane, PCBs and mercury. Two other NARAPs, the first on dioxins and furans and hexachlorobenzene, and the second on environmental monitoring and assessment are also under development. |