Toronto’s ChemTRAC and the
Environmental Reporting and
Disclosure Bylaw
Presentation to the
CEC’s NAPRTR Meeting
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
October 30, 2012
Marco A. Belmont, PhD
Toronto Public Health
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Welcome to Toronto!
• Toronto is Canada’s largest city
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Some facts about Toronto
• 5th largest city in North America
• Home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people.
Source: www.cec.org
“Toronno”
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Some facts about Toronto
Source: www.cec.org
Important
Industrial Activity
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Some facts about Toronto
• Toronto is the economic engine of Canada, and
• one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America.
For the first time ever in Canada….
• A municipality collects information about toxic chemicals from small and medium-size businesses through a bylaw
• Environmental Reporting and Disclosure bylaw
Because …
• There are many small and medium-size businesses that use and release toxic chemicals in Toronto but do not report this information to anybody
• Many small contribution of pollutants may be as important as few large contributions
and …
• It is well known that these pollutants are harmful to human health
We needed to know …
• We need to know the health impacts of these pollutants
• The public demanded the ‘Right to Know’
… to help drive change.
• Disclose information• Change in industrial
practices• Promote Pollution
Prevention
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Voila! … Toronto’s ChemTRAC
and the
Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw
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Goal:
•To protect health through reduced exposure to toxic substances, particularly in the air
Objectives:
•Increase awareness by facilities of their use & release of priority substances of health concern
•Collect information about hazardous substances used and released in the community and provide
public access to it
•Stimulate pollution prevention, such as through chemical substitution and improved processes
•Support “greening” and growth of local businesses
ChemTRAC Goal and Objectives
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Key Program Components
• Mandatory reporting– Bylaw that requires annual reporting of 25 priority substances– Guidance documents, calculation tools, technical support– Convenient web-based reporting system
https://secure.toronto.ca/ChemTRAC/welcome.do
• Public disclosure of data– Website access to facility-specific data
http://app.toronto.ca/ctpd/findFacility.html
• Pollution prevention program– Sector-specific guides, technical assistance, workshops
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•Requires reporting on 25 substances (or group of substances) of priority
concern to health
•Requires facilities that use or release one or more of the priority
substances to report:
•on-site releases to air, water & land
•‘use’ as manufactured, processed or otherwise used
Environmental Reporting & Disclosure Bylaw – Municipal Code 423
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Acetaldehyde Formaldehyde
Acrolein Lead
Benzene Particulate Matter < 2.5 um (PM2.5)
1,3-butadiene Manganese
Cadmium Mercury
Carbon tetrachloride Nickel
Chloroform Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Chromium (hexavalent) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Chromium (non-hexavalent) Tetrachloroethylene
1,4-dichlorobenzene Trichloroethylene
1,2-dichloroethane Vinyl Chloride
Dichloromethane Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Ethylene dibromide
25 Priority Substances
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•Reporting threshold set at about 1% of current NPRI threshold to capture
data from small & medium sized facilities which do not report
•Some reporting exemptions, similar to NPRI
Environmental Reporting & Disclosure Bylaw – Municipal Code 423
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Mass Reporting and de minimis Concentration ThresholdsChemical Name CAS No.
Mass Reporting Threshold
de minimis concentration
kg/yr % w/w GROUP A
Acetaldehyde 75-07-0 100 1.0 Acrolein 107-02-8 100 1.0 Benzene 71-43-2 100 1.0
1,3-Butadiene 106-99-0 100 1.0 Carbon tetrachloride 56-23-5 100 1.0 Chloroform (Trichloromethane) 67-66-3 100 1.0
Chromium, Non-hexavalent1 - 100 1.0
1,2-Dibromo ethane (Ethylene dibromide) 106-93-4 100 1.0
1,4-Dichlorobenzene 106-46-7 100 1.0 1,2-Dichloroethane (Ethylene dichloride) 107-06-2 100 1.0 Dichloromethane (Methylene chloride) 75-09-2 100 1.0 Formaldehyde 50-00-0 100 1.0 Manganese1 7439-96-5 10 1.0
Nickel1 7440-02-0 100 1.0
Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethylene) 127-18-4 100 1.0
Trichloroethylene 079-01-6 100 1.0
Vinyl chloride 75-01-4 100 1.0
Cadmium1 7440-43-9 1.0 0.1
Chromium, Hexavalent1 7440-47-3 10 0.1
Lead1 7439-92-1 10 0.1 Mercury1 7439-97-6 1.0 0.0
GROUP B Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) - 103 n/a4
GROUP C NOx
2 - 200 n/a PM2.5 - 30 n/a VOCs total - 100 n/a
At first, businesses didn’t like the idea
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•Consultation with industries on program
implementation
•Resources for training and education
•Estimating usage and releases
•Reporting
•Pollution Prevention
•Opportunities for economic incentives
•Grants
•Awards
Minimizing Burden on Industry
Now, ChemTRAC is collecting new data on toxic substances!
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Filling information Gaps in Toronto
Point source releases:
• Most small- and medium-size facilities are not required to report
• Majority of releases are to air for all industrial sectors except water/waste management, which discharges to water
• About 85% of Toronto releases to air not reported to NPRI
• Chronic exposure to mixture of toxic substances from many sources is of health concern
New information collected …
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• Of the 538 facilities that reported to ChemTRAC in 2011, only 82 facilities (15%) also reported to the
federal government NPRI
15%
85%
NPRI Non-NPRI
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Public Disclosure of Data
• Provide web-based public access to facility-specific data
• Create annual reports
Disclosure of Data
Disclosure of Data
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Reporting and Disclosure:
•Requires facilities to take the first step toward pollution prevention – tracking what is used and
emitted.
•Promotes community engagement – facilities and residents have better information about
hazardous chemicals.
Success of similar programs:
•Increase review of processes for environmental, health and safety impacts
•Reduce reported emissions
Stimulating Pollution Prevention
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Supports for facilities: Pollution Prevention
• Pollution Prevention guidance– Sector-specific guides
to pollution prevention– Technical assistance
and outreach
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Benefits of Access to Environmental Information
• Reporting environmental data and making information accessible benefits the public, workers, businesses and the City by:– Stimulating innovation and pollution
prevention– Reducing exposure to toxic substances– Improving understanding of health and
environmental risks
Know more about ChemTRAC
www.toronto.ca/chemtrac
Contact Information
Acknowledgements
The ChemTRAC Team:• Carol Mee, Healthy Public Policy• Dylan Dampier, Healthy Public Policy• Julie Sommerfreund, Healthy Public Policy• Rich Whate, Healthy Public Policy• Yusuf Alam, Healthy Public Policy• Marianne Kingsley, Healthy Public Policy• Ronald Macfarlane, Healthy Public Policy• Zia Islam, Healthy Public Policy• Deanna Mendolia
• TPH’s Legal, Web Services, Communications, and IT• Toronto Env Office, Toronto Water, Economic Developmnt & Culture
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Questions?
Thank You!
Marco A. Belmont, PhD. Environmental Health
RC
Healthy Public Policy
Toronto Public Health
277 Victoria St. 7th
Floor.
Toronto M5B 1W2
416.338.6267
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