Highlights of New Canadian legislation
for PCB Removal
On September 5, 2008
Canada enacted new PCB legislation
(Statutory Instruments 2008
Textes réglementaires 2008 SOR/2008-247
to 290 and SI/2008-93 to 107) to
accelerate removal and safe disposal of
polychlorinated biphenyl compounds.
These PCB Regulations replace the
Chlorobiphenyls Regulations. Effective
December 31, 2009 owners of in service
PCB transformers and Power Factor
Correction Capacitors must have them
removed from service. Owners of
transformers containing mineral oil
having PCB concentrations with greater
than 500 ppm or transformers having
greater than 50 ppm PCB at “sensitive
sites” must have them either removed
from service or reclassified as non PCB
status. By definition sensitive sites
include hospitals, senior citizen care
facilities, drinking water treatment
plants, food processing plants and
schools. Schools include preschools,
primary schools and secondary schools.
There are new provisions for
the tracking and disposal of PCB
contaminated equipment currently in
service, and
additional restrictions are placed on
the use of equipment containing PCBs.
Highlights of
this legislation include:
-
accelerate the
phase out of PCB equipment in
sensitive locations to one year
as of December, 2009. (schools,
hospitals, drinking water, treatment
plant, food and feed processing
sites)
-
set a maximum
content of 2 ppm of PCBs in
manufactured and imported
products
-
prohibit the
release of PCB material (50 ppm or
more) into the environment
-
mandate labeling
and reporting of PCB equipment
The proposed PCB
Regulations will implement the goals of
the NAFTA North
American Regional Action Plan (NARAP)
for PCBs, including the elimination of
non-dispersive uses of PCBs, e.g.
transformers, capacitors, by 2008.
The Storage of PCB
Material Regulations was amended at the
same
time to implement another goal of the
NARAP: the setting of a time limit on
storage
before destruction. The legislation:
-
prohibits the
storage of PCB material already in
storage after December 31,
2009 (giving 2 years after the phase
out of use of equipment for the
destruction
of all PCB material )
-
prohibit the
storage of PCB material for more
than a year after its
decommissioning
-
prohibit the
storage of PCB material in sensitive
locations
These amendments
implements the Canadian commitment under
the UN ECE
LRTAP Convention Protocol on POPs to
make determined efforts to eliminate the
use of PCBs in equipment by December 31,
2010 and to destroy them by
December 31, 2015.
Canadian Regulation
News
Canadian legislation
to be enforced as of December 31, 2009
will “raise the bar” for the
implementation of new guidelines
regulating the disposal and removal of
PCBs. Such legislation shall be enforced
across the board in all industries. The
legislation and the impact of such
mandates are provided for you to review.
See information below:
New Canadian PCB Regulations -
Canada Gazette
PDF 1
PDF 2
PCB Regulations -
Environment Canada - 9/18/2008
Act: Canadian
Environmental Protection Act, 1999,
R.S.C. 1999, c. 33
Regulation: PCB Regulations, SOR/2008-273
Related Reading
*
Canadian Environmental Protection Act
*
PCB Regulations
To Whom Does This
Apply?
Eligible
Activities
Storage and use of
Chlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and products
containing PCBs including equipment.
Summary
The PCB Regulations
consolidate and replace the
Chlorobiphenyls Regulations, SOR/91-152
and the Storage of PCB Material
Regulations, SOR/92-507.
The PCB Regulations
set specific deadlines for ending the
use of PCBs in concentrations at or
above 50 mg/kg, eliminating all PCBs and
equipment containing PCBs currently in
storage and limiting the period of time
PCBs can be stored before being
destroyed.
These requirements,
together with the more stringent release
limits, will further reduce releases of
PCBs into the environment. The labeling
and reporting requirements for PCBs
provide the necessary information to
monitor progress towards end-of-use
targets. The Regulations also establish
sound practices for the better
management of the remaining PCBs in use
(i.e. those with content of less than 50
mg/kg), until their eventual
elimination, to prevent contamination of
dielectric fluids and dispersion of PCBs
in small quantities into other liquids.
It is expected that
the deadlines for ending the use and
storage of PCBs will result in the
removal of 90% of the PCBs still in use
and 100% of the PCBs currently in
storage by the end of 2009. The
remaining PCBs, comprising equipment in
use containing low level concentrations
of PCBs (i.e. less than 500 mg/kg) will
be eliminated by 2025.
Environment Canada Home Page
New Federal Canadian PCB Regulations -
Terra West
Environmental
Understanding the new federal
(Canadian) requirements for PCB
destruction HazMat Management -
Winter 2009
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