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ARCHIVED - What's Happening With the CEPA Review?

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An Update from the CEPA Office

August 22,1994

1. Committee Summer Work

The CEPA Office has been advised that one of the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Stan Dromisky, has been assigned Part VI of CEPA for his summer research project. Mr. Dromisky (Liberal MP from Thunder Bay- Atikokan, Ontario) has already contacted members of our Department for potential meetings and discussions about Part VI of the Act. It is likely then, that other members of the Committee will be making similar requests on other parts of the Act. As a department, we should offer every assistance to the Parliamentary Committee as they gather information for their CEPA review process. If necessary, the CEPA Office would be pleased to provide information, assistance or documentation should you require it in order to respond to a Committee request. We would also appreciate being informed of any visits by or discussions with Parliamentary Committee members and the outcome of these activities.

2. Issue Elaboration Papers

The following Issue Elaboration Papers are now complete and will be distributed on August 26;

• Sustainable Development
• Environmental Protection on Indian Lands
• Strategic Options
• Federal Intergovernmental Co-operation on Environmental Management: A Comparison of Developments in Australia and Canada

The paper on Protection of Human Health and the Environment has been withdrawn. In view of the current work being conducted on the development of a Toxics Policy, it was decided that any further expansion on these issues, beyond the Issues Overview Paper, was not required at this time.

3. Submissions to the Parliamentary Committee

In the fall, the Standing Committee will be calling witnesses and examining submissions from those interested Canadians who have indicated they want to make their views known to the Committee. At this point and in an attempt to be proactive, we are asking regions to canvas people in their areas to determine if there are any groups or individuals who are interested in making submissions to the Committee. This canvassing could be through formal advertising or regular networking through professional contacts, newsletters or "word-of-mouth". Interested individuals should call Norm Radford, the Clerk to the Committee, at 613-996- 1483.

4. Federal-Provincial Harmonization

This CCME initiative is proceeding rapidly and the CEPA office is maintaining close contact with the Federal-Provincial Relations Branch to keep current on ongoing events. Significant progress is expected by November of this year on the provisions of the general Environmental Management Framework Agreement (EMF) and four key functional areas:

1. decision making, including environmental impact assessment, licensing and approvals
2. monitoring
3. enforcement
4. international agreements

"Lead representatives" are being assigned from each CCME jurisdiction to represent individual departments and negotiate departmental positions. Janet Bax, Director of the Federal Provincial Relations Branch is the lead representative for Canada. These lead representatives will be having their first meeting in Winnipeg on August 30 and 31. At that time, they will be discussing draft provisions for the EMF Agreement and initial positions on two of the four functional areas: decision making and monitoring.

In preparation for that meeting, Janet Bax has called a meeting of the DOE Harmonization Working Group. This Working Group has representation from all regions and services and will provide the required input on the harmonization issues of concern and importance to the department. Further updates will be provided as this process continues.