Removing acetone reporting requirements

Description

We are proposing to end reporting on acetone for the 2019 reporting year and onwards by:

• eliminating Ontario Regulation 127/01 - Airborne Contaminant Discharge Monitoring and Reporting made under the Environmental Protection Act, 1990
• amending Ontario Regulation 455/09 made under the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009

Proposed changes to acetone reporting

Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada that requires facilities to report acetone emissions. We are proposing changes to two regulations to end acetone reporting in the province and defer to the federal government’s Chemicals Management Plan program under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

1. Ontario Regulation 127/01 currently requires annual reporting for all contaminants listed in Table 2B of the “Step by step guideline for emission calculation, record keeping and reporting for airborne contaminant discharge”Acetone is the only remaining contaminant in Table 2B.

By eliminating this regulation, facilities will no longer be required to report on acetone emissions. This will:

• align with other Canadian provinces and territories and the federal government
• reduce the administrative burden for businesses yet not impact protection of human health and the environment, as acetone emissions to the air are still regulated under Ontario Regulation 419/05: Air Pollution - Local Air Quality

2. Currently facilities that have toxics reduction plans for acetone prepared under the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009, and that are required to report on acetone releases under Ontario Regulation 127/01, are also required to:

• prepare annual reports on amounts of acetone used, created and contained in product, and on their progress, if any, in reducing acetone

In this proposal, we are also intending to amend Ontario Regulation 455/09 to clarify that facilities would no longer be required to prepare annual reports for acetone for the 2019 reporting year onwards.

Final reports for acetone under Ontario Regulation 127/01 and the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009 would be submitted in June 2019, for the 2018 reporting year.

Support for eliminating acetone reporting

The following factors support our proposal to eliminate acetone reporting:

• the federal government’s Chemicals Management Plan program under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) follows a rigorous science-based approach to assess and manage toxic chemicals in Canada
• in 2014, after carrying out a science-based screening assessment, the federal government determined that acetone was not entering the environment in a quantity or concentration that may constitute a danger to human life or health
• the federal government stopped requiring acetone reporting under the National Pollutant Release Inventory after 1998, as ambient levels were below the levels considered harmful to human health and not likely to adversely impact the environment
• acetone needs to be present in high concentrations to have an impact on human health - Ontario Regulation 419/05: Air Pollution – Local Air Quality has an air standard in place for acetone to ensure that facilities do not release concentrations of acetone into the air that are harmful to human health

Purpose of regulation

Acetone is commonly used as a solvent in industrial painting and cleaning operations. The purpose of these proposed changes is to eliminate requirements for acetone reporting which would align Ontario with other Canadian provinces and territories and the federal government and remove administrative burden and costs associated with reporting for regulated facilities.

Other information

If Ontario Regulation 127/01 is revoked, administrative amendments to other regulations to remove references to Ontario Regulation 127/01 would be needed.

Analysis of regulatory impact

All facilities that must report their acetone emissions under the current regulation will benefit equally by this proposal. It is estimated that the proposal will generate an overall net savings for all facilities that are required to report their acetone emissions. Facilities will need to understand the implications to their business of the proposed revocation and what it means to their reporting requirements for 2019 and beyond.