Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

19 Regulations 1303
19.7.1 CANADA 59
In Canada, Environment Canada, which was created in 1971, is the organization responsible
for environmental regulation and protection. Environment Canada is divided into five
Regional Offices: Ontario, Atlantic, Prairie and Northern Region, Quebec, and Pacific and
Yukon. Its environmental services are administered through the Canadian Environment
Protection Act (CEPA) which includes the Air Quality Act, the Canadian Water Act, the
Ocean Dumping Act, the Environment Contaminant Act, and the Department of the Environment
Act. CEPA was recently amended (September 1999), placing more emphasis on
pollution prevention and toxic substances. It also provides an increased enforcement authority
and resources to carry out necessary research and development activities.
In 1978, Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with the U.S.
which identified specific objectives for minimum levels of water quality for more than 35
substances and compounds. 60 Although this is an international agreement, it has certainly
impacted and, to some extent, shaped Canada’s domestic environmental laws.
As a result of these statutes, the federal government establishes objectives, guidelines,
and emission standards for five national air quality pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen
oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and suspended particulate matter). In the case of stationary
sources, the regulatory responsibility usually falls under the jurisdiction of 10 provinces.
The jurisdiction of water quality management is divided between the provinces and the federal
government. The provinces’ primary responsibility is to regulate fresh water resources,
while the federal government’s jurisdiction is over seacoast and inland fisheries, navigation
and fisheries, and trade and commerce. The 10 provinces are also primarily responsible for
regulating the management of household, non-hazardous, and hazardous solid waste.
19.7.2 EUROPEAN UNION
In Europe, the European Community (EC) was formed by the union of three organizations:
the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established in 1951; the European Economic
Community (EEC), established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957; and the European
Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), established in 1957. 60,61 In 1967, with the
Merger Treaty, these organizations merged to form the EC. After the Maastricht Treaty in
1992, the EC became the European Union (EU) which consists of the European Commission,
the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. 61
Environmental policy was structured as part of the formation of the integrated European
states. This effort was extended and refined later with the Maastricht Treaty of 1992.
Over the years, however, EC has taken steps to provide a better environment and health for
its member states and citizens. Some of these steps have been through the implementation
of comprehensive Environmental Action Programmes (EAPs) and specific legislative measures
or directives. 62,63 The fifth EAP started in 1993 with an emphasis on sustainable environmental
development and a variety of environmental issues such as climate change,
acidification and air pollution, depletion of natural resources and biodiversity, depletion
and pollution of water resources, deterioration of the urban environment and coastal zones,
and waste. 60 Also in 1993, the European Environment Agency (EEA) was established to
collect, organize, and disseminate technical, scientific, and economic information pertaining
to the quality of the environment in Europe.
Air legislation is targeting emissions from industrial operations, greenhouse gases,
lead, motor vehicle emissions, nitrogen oxides, ODS, sulfur dioxide, and suspended particulate
matter. Water legislation in the EU is divided into effect- and source-oriented direc-