OTTAWA, Ont. -- March
14, 2011 -- Environment Minister Peter Kent
and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson marked
the 20th anniversary of the Canada-U.S.
Air Quality Agreement today, an agreement
that has significantly reduced acid rain
and smog.
"When Canada and
the United States signed the Air Quality
Agreement in 1991, transboundary movement
of air pollution from industrial activities
on both sides of the border resulted in
acid rain causing serious damage to our
environment and in smog posing a serious
threat in the air we breathe. After twenty
years of cooperation, emissions causing
acid rain have been cut in half and emissions
causing smog have been cut by one-third
in the region covered under this agreement,"
said Minister Kent.
"Protecting public
health and safeguarding the environment
are EPA's top priorities. Thanks to the
cooperation between our nations over the
last 20 years, Canada and the United States
have made great strides in the ongoing effort
to reduce harmful air pollution and prevent
serious health challenges for our people,"
said Lisa P. Jackson. "Our joint efforts
to clean up the air we breathe have saved
lives and protected American and Canadian
families from asthma and other respiratory
illness, removed acid from rain and smog
from air, and set the foundation for continued
work together on our shared challenges."
In Canada, emissions
of the key pollutants that contribute to
smog, acid rain and poor air quality have
seen significant declines since 11000. Emissions
of sulphur oxides (SOx) declined by about
54%, mainly due to reductions from base
metal smelters which were down 72% and fossil
fuel-fired electricity generating utilities
which decreased by 45%.
Since the addition of
the Ozone Annex to the agreement in 2000,
Canada has been able to reduce nitrogen
oxides emissions by a third in the southern
and central Ontario and southern Quebec
transboundary region defined under the agreement.
The combination of these
initiatives has also resulted in particulate
matter emission reductions of 34%. Particulate
matter is a major contributor to human health
affects and has been linked to respiratory
illnesses such as chronic bronchitis and
asthma, to cardiac illness, and to premature
death.
In the United States,
since the signing of the Air Quality Agreement,
national and regional programs have dramatically
reduced emissions of pollutants that contribute
to the formation of acid rain, smog, and
fine particle pollution. As of 2010, the
U.S. national Acid Rain Program has reduced
emissions of sulfur dioxide by 67% from
11000 levels. Power plant emissions of nitrogen
oxides have decreased by over two-thirds
from 11000 to 2010 under the U.S. Acid Rain
Program and other regional programs.
These reductions have
contributed to significant improvements
in air quality on both sides of the border.
Reductions in fine particle levels resulting
from the U.S. Acid Rain Program are estimated
to yield significant human health benefits
including 20,000-50,000 lives saved each
year.
The Canada-U.S. Air
Quality Agreement provides an example of
successful bilateralcooperation that has
achieved tangible progress in improving
the environment. Canada is looking forward
to continuing its bilateral cooperation
with the U.S., and to resolving the environmental
challenges that face our countries.
+ More
Government of Canada
Investing in Community Action to Preserve
Local Habitat and Species at Risk in New
Brunswick
FREDERICTON, N.B. --
March 18, 2011 -- The Honourable Keith Ashfield,
Minister of National Revenue, Minister of
the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency,
and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, on
behalf of the Honourable Peter Kent,Minister
of Environment, today announced funding
from the Habitat Stewardship Program for
Species at Risk. In total, $1000,683 in
federal funding will support environmental
action focusing on conservation and protection
of species at risk and their habitats, helping
to preserve Canada's biodiversity.
"Habitat Stewardship
Program project funding in New Brunswick
will generate awareness of an array of important
and at-risk or protected species across
the province, such as the Harlequin Duck
and the Piping Plover," said Minister
Ashfield. "This funding will also promote
land conservation and foster community and
citizen engagement in activities that protect
land and marine species and their habitats."
"These projects
will help to protect Canada's rich biodiversity
for generations to come, said Minister Kent.
"The Government of Canada is proud
to support a Nature Trust of New Brunswick
project through the Habitat Stewardship
Program for Species at Risk. Your actions,
large or small, will help to protect the
abundance and variety of life that is part
of our natural heritage."
Under the 2010 Habitat
Stewardship Program, the Nature Trust of
New Brunswick has received funding for its
project, "Cobblestone Tiger Beetle
Conservation and Permanent Protection".
This project will conserve habitat and promote
land stewardship practices which contribute
to the conservation and recovery of the
Cobblestone Tiger Beetle and its habitat.
The Nature Trust of New Brunswick will continue
negotiations with previously contacted landowners
to permanently protect Cobblestone Tiger
Beetle habitat, cultivate new relationships
with Cobblestone Tiger Beetle habitat landowners
and promote formalizing commitments to conservation.
"The Habitat Stewardship
Program is one, if not the only, program
that enables non-governmental conservation
groups to secure and acquire habitat for
species at risk," said Don Dennison,
President of the the Nature Trust of New
Brunswick. "Habitat Stewardship Program
funding is instrumental in enabling land
trusts in Atlantic Canada to do the conservation
work that is so necessary, and without this
funding, important habitat would be lost
through gradual attrition."
The goal of the Habitat
Stewardship Program for Species at Riskis
to contribute to the recovery and protection
of species listed as endangered, threatened
or of special concern under the Species
at Risk Act.
Projects across Canada
that will receive funding this year include
stewardship actions to conserve habitat
for plant species at risk, negotiations
with landowners to develop voluntary Land
Care Agreements, targeted educational outreach
to reduce species at risk entanglement in
fishing gear, and enhancement of water quality
and aquatic habitat on private lands to
benefit aquatic species at risk. They will
be undertaken with many partners such as
agricultural producers, private landowners,
and commercial fishers. These projects will
benefit many species at risk, including
the North Atlantic Right Whale, the Steller
Sea Lion, the Swift Fox, and the Small White
Leek.
The Habitat Stewardship
Program for Species at Risk is administered
by Environment Canada and managed cooperatively
with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the
Parks Canada Agency. More information on
the Species at Risk Act and the Habitat
Stewardship Program for Species at Risk
can be found on the Internet at: http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/
or http://www.ec.gc.ca/hsp-pih/default.asp?lang=En&n=59BF488F-1.
+ More
Record seizure of more
than $1 million of a toxic substance imported
illegally
MONTRÉAL, Que.
-- March 7, 2011 -- Following an investigation
conducted by Environment Canada officers,
the company Gestion Alexis Dionne Inc. and
its president, Mr. Alexis Dionne, have accepted
responsibility for the illegal importation
of approximately 120,000 kg of chlorodifluoromethane
(HFCF-22), a gas used in the refrigeration
industry.
The company and its
president have been charged with four counts
of illegal importation of HFCF-22 between
September 2008 and June 2009, in contravention
of the Ozone-depleting Substances Regulations,
1998.
With the agreement of
the Attorney General of Canada, they have
signed on March 2, 2011, an Environmental
Protection Alternative Measures Agreement
(EPAM) as provided under the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act, 1999.
The charges against
company Gestion Alexis Dionne Inc. and its
president, Mr. Alexis Dionne, follow an
investigation conducted by Environment Canada
officers in 2009 at a warehouse located
in Saint-Jérôme, Québec,
where 5,315 cylinders, or approximately
72,285 kg, of HCFC-22 were discovered and
seized. This is a record seizure.
Among other things,
the alternative measures imposed in the
agreement signed by Gestion Alexis Dionne
Inc. and its president, Mr. Dionne, provide
consent to forfeit to Her Majesty in right
of Canada the 5,315 cylinders of HCFC-22
seized (of which the market value is estimated
at more than $1 million), the production
and publication of an article in a specialized
magazine and on the Gestion Alexis Dionne
Inc. Internet site, as well as immediate
voluntary payment of an amount of $4,500
to the Environmental Damages Fund.
This agreement will
be in effect for a period of 36 months.
If these conditions are not respected in
their entirety during this period, the case
will be brought before the court. This resolution
is the result of an investigation by Environment
Canada's Enforcement Branch.
The Ozone-depleting
Substances Regulations, 1998, represent
Canada's commitment to meeting its international
obligations under the Montréal Protocol
on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Among other things, these Regulations control
the import, export, manufacturing, use,
sale and offering for sale of certain substances,
including HCFC-22. These reductions are
intended to prevent damages resulting from
gradual destruction of the ozone layer and
thus contribute to protecting the environment,
health and human life.
