Environmental Emergency (E2) Regulations

Act: Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999)
Regulation: Environmental Emergency Regulations

To Whom Does This Apply?

The Environmental Emergency (E2) Regulations apply to any person who owns or has the charge, management or control of a listed substance or who has a container with a capacity for that substance equal to or in excess of the quantity specified in the Regulations.

Eligible Activities

Using or storing any of the 174 listed dangerous substances (equal to or in excess of the specified quantities), or causing or contributing to an environmental emergency involving any of these substances.

Summary

CEPA 1999's Environmental Emergency Regulations are aimed at helping commercial and industrial facilities better prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from environmental emergencies.

Under the E2 Regulations, anyone using or storing a listed substance in a quantity equal to or above the specified threshold, or who has a container with a capacity for that substance equal to or in excess of the specified quantity, will have to notify Environment Canada of the place where the substance is held, along with the maximum expected quantity and the size of the largest container for that substance. If both criteria are met, the regulatee is required to prepare and implement an environmental emergency plan and notify Environment Canada accordingly. An E2 plan documents ways to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from environmental emergencies caused by toxic or other hazardous substances.

Prevention

Prevention is the most important element of the E2 plan and is intended to prevent an environmental emergency from happening. Applying the principles of process safety management is an important aspect for the prevention component of any E2 plan.

Key elements of process safety management include:

• Risk assessment
• Facility design and construction to specific standards
• Preventive maintenance checks and programs
• Maintaining effective operating procedures and facility documentation
• Operator competence assurance
• Management of change in design, service or staff to minimize impacts on operations
• Incident investigation and analysis to minimize recurrence
• Assessment of compliance to standards

Preparedness

Effective preparedness is built on trust and cooperation between all levels of government, industry and community. Through working together, they must accomplish five things:

 

• Identify potential risks
• Document worst probable case and alternative scenarios identifying potential consequences
• Develop E2 plans to deal with the risks
• Train personnel to apply the E2 plans
• Regularly review and practice these strategies

Response

Response is intended to include all aspects of managing an emergency situation, until the emergency phase of the event is considered over. Effective emergency response includes, but is not limited to:

• Quick activation of the emergency plan
• Proper notification of the emergency to first responders and affected parties
• Rapid assessment of the probable path and impacts of an emergency
• Adequate resource mobilization and reporting activities
• Effective emergency response calls for cooperation between industries, communities, local organizations and government through partnerships formed before emergencies occur.

Recovery

Recovery refers to the restoration of any part of the environment damaged by or during the emergency. The issue of recovery is best managed through discussion between all involved parties to assess the damage and agree on a restoration plan. The general objective of the recovery portion of an environmental emergency plan should be to provide sufficient direction to reduce impacts to the environment and to minimize the recovery time from a particular incident.

Four suggested steps to damage assessment in a recovery situation are as follows:

• Determine the extent of the damage and appropriate communication to all relevant parties, including the public.
• Develop a system to bring in the proper resources, including people, at the right time.
• Work with outside resources to support recovery.
• Organize community resources necessary for people recovering from an emergency situation.

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Manitoba Contact(s):
Mr. David Noseworthy
Regional Environmental Emergency Coordinator
Environment Canada
Telephone: 780-951-8753
Web site: http://www.ec.gc.ca/envhome.html
 

 

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National Contact(s):
Mr. Asit Hazra
Chief
Emergencies Prevention Section
Environmental Emergencies Division
Environmental Protection Operations Directorate
Environment Canada
15th Floor
Place Vincent Massey
351 Saint-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau, Quebec  K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-953-1140
Fax: 819-997-5029
Web site: http://www.ec.gc.ca/envhome.html