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Ontario Program to Tackle OTRs

Ontario's Environment Minister has approved the Ontario Tire Stewardship's February plan for used tire collection and processing, six years after the filing of Regulation 84/03, designating "used tires" under the Ontario's Waste Diversion Act. The expected launch date for Ontario's tire program is September 1, 2009. The program adopts major concepts from product stewardship programs up and running in Western Canada (B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) since the early '90s.

Ontario's plan contemplates a review over the next 12 months to look at options for processing off-road tires (OTRs), enormous industrial tires used on large equipment in mining, construction and agricultural sectors. According to the plan, 1.2 million OTRs were sold and disposed of in Ontario in 2007, and there is currently no local processor of OTRs.

There is an Alberta company that processes OTRs and an Alberta pilot project has essentially eliminated stockpiles of these tires in Alberta. While Alberta's Recycling Authority continues to monitor the OTR issue, Ontario's program may be the first permanent, formal program to tackle OTRs. How these large, durable products are handled will be something to watch in the coming months.

Alberta Environment Reports a Reduction in Greenhouse Gases

Alberta Environment has announced that its climate change program has resulted in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 6.5 million tonnes. Credited with this change is Alberta's Climate Change and Emissions Management Act, which sets mandatory reduction targets for industrial emitters of greenhouse gases and requires payment of penalties if those targets are exceeded.

This announcement comes on the heels of a report in the Vancouver Sun stating that the UN has reported that Canada's emissions have increased more since 1990 than any other G8 nation.

Alberta has taken the steps to establish a regime where greenhouse gas emissions are regulated. Now, the goal indicated by Alberta's Minister of Environment, Rob Renner, will be to continue to improve the emissions regulation program. The most difficult step - starting the program - has been taken. Alberta was the first province to introduce legislation to reduce greenhouse gases, and it is continuing to lead by example.

A final detailed report is expected later in 2009 following industry submission audits. We will monitor the status of this report and will blog about it once it is released.

G8 Environment Ministers Meeting in Italy - the Agenda

The 2009 G8 Summit will be held on the island of La Maddalena, Italy from July 8 to 10. In the months leading up to the Summit, the host country has organized a series of ministerial meetings, including the G8 Environment Minister's meeting, which is being hosted by the City of Siracusa on the Sicilian coast, from April 22 - 24.

Climate change and the preservation of biodiversity are the two main issues on the agenda in Syracuse. The goal of the Environment Minister's meeting is to "send out an important political message on biodiversity and to facilitate dialogue on the issue of climate change ahead of the Copenhagen conference in December of this year, where the debate is going to focus on the world's "post-Kyoto" setup".

The agenda for the meeting indicates that discussions with respect to new technologies to foster economic recovery and promote clean energy will be paramount. According to the official website, "the discussion is going to focus on how to promote clean energy technology in order to address the dual challenge of climate change and energy security".

In addition to the Ministers from the G8 countries, representatives of Czech Republic, in its capacity as EU duty president, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Egypt and Denmark have also been invited to attend. Denmark is hosting the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

The meeting will facilitate discussions between Canada, the United States, which has pledged a commitment to international co-operation on climate change, and non-G8 counties, such as India, China and Mexico, all of whom our Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, has indicated must be actively engaged on climate change issues and challenges.

The first round of meetings begins tomorrow. We will be closely monitoring the results of these discussions and will keep you posted.

BC Releases Funding for Brownfield Program

British Columbia announced that it is making $1.8 million available through the Brownfield Renewal Funding Program to stimulate development of Brownfields in the Province.

Brownfields are lands on which commercial or industrial activities have historically taken place, rendering the lands contaminated. Brownfields are excellent sites for potential redevelopment, but because of the real or perceived risks associated with development, they often sit idle or abandoned. It is estimated that there may be 30,000 such sites in Canada with between 4000 and 6000 in BC alone.

The goal of BC's Brownfield Renewal Funding Program is to encourage initial investigative and related environmental work so that the sites can be developed to stimulate economic growth. Applications for the funding program are being accepted between April 9, 2009 and June 15, 2009. The Province will cover up to 85% of the costs for preliminary site investigations (up to $40,000) and between 50 and 70% of the costs of other types of work (to $125,000).

Environmental Initiatives in the 2009 Alberta Budget

We have blogged today about the how the Alberta Government has budgeted for Climate Change in its newly released 2009 Budget.

We thought that it might be useful to outline some of the other goals Alberta Environment will be pursuing as set forth in AENV's Business Plan.

There are six strategic priorities and five core goals set forth in the Business Plan. Goal. The strategic priorities are as follows:

1. Cumulative Effects Management - The Ministry will lead Alberta's transition to an outcomes focused environmental cumulative eff ects management system that is implemented within Alberta's Land-use Framework and addresses the impacts of development on land, air, water and biodiversity, at a regional level.

2. Oil Sands - The Ministry of Environment will work with other Government of Alberta ministries to ensure all Alberta's energy resources, including the oil sands, are developed in an environmentally sustainable way. The Ministry will lead regional environmental planning in the oil sands including working with stakeholders to set desired and required environmental outcomes

3. Climate Change - The Ministry of Environment will implement the provincial Climate Change Strategy, including regulatory, conservation, and adaptation initiatives

4. Engagement and Awareness - The Ministry of Environment will provide Albertans, stakeholders and industry with the information needed to understand what government is doing to ensure environmental excellence and sustainable development, and the tools they need to reduce their environmental footprint

5. Water for Life - The Ministry of Environment will implement the renewed Water for Life strategy. $16 million has been budgeted for the Water for Life strategy.

6. Organization - The Ministry of Environment will embed organizational learning into our behaviours and practices and support our employees in being engaged, enabled and empowered in service of the Ministry's Vision, Mission and Valued Behaviours

There are five goals outlined in the Business Plan, each of which includes a number of strategies designed to achieve success. Below is a list of the goals together with some of the strategies.

Goal 1 - The cumulative effects of development on land, air, water, and climate are managed to achieve Government of Alberta desired environmental outcomes. Strategies include: Work with Treasury Board's Oil Sands Sustainable Development secretariat to implement the Responsible Actions - a plan for Alberta's Oil Sands; Continue to implement the Climate Change Strategy; Continue to implement and resource a renewed Water for Life: Alberta's Strategy for Sustainability; Complete work with the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) to update Alberta's Clean Air Strategy

Goal 2 - The Ministry has effective risk management, preparation and responses to emerging and complex environmental issues. Strategies include: Identify, understand and improve awareness of existing and emerging issues that could lead to significant environmental issues; Review and assess Alberta's wastewater facilities to identify and respond to present and future demands

Goal 3 - People are aware of and understand existing and emerging environmental threats and opportunities. Strategies include: Enhance Albertans' awareness and understanding of environmental stewardship through public outreach and programs to enable Albertans to take action; Develop and implement an integrated monitoring and reporting strategy for environmental conditions, trends and performance across the province;

Goal 4 - Albertans, communities, governments and industry are good stewards of the environment. Strategies include: Strengthen stewardship through community and stewardship organization development in areas such as watershed management, airshed management, cumulative eff ects management, monitoring and reporting and resource conservation and recovery; Enhance the One Simple Act program and the Alberta Conservation Team; Support Alberta's environmental priorities on a national and international level through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment

Goal 5 - Environmental infrastructure is developed and sustained to meet the Government of Alberta desired outcomes. Strategies include: Update the regulatory and non-regulatory tools such as operational policies and procedures for air, land and water management; Implement the air and water management framework for the Industrial Heartland; Develop and maintain air, land and water monitoring, knowledge and environmental performance systems to support Government of Alberta; Work with the Ministries of Sustainable Resource Development and Energy and the Energy Resources Conservation Board to address upstream oil and gas sector policy gaps, overlaps, and inconsistencies, and to complete detailed design and undertake implementation of an integrated regulatory delivery system for the upstream oil and gas sector.

For a full description of the goals and strategies, see the Budget 2009 website..

Alberta Budgets for Climate Change

The Alberta Government announced its 2009 Budget yesterday. Reading through the many pages of the document, it is clear that climate change is a priority for both the Department of Energy and for Alberta Environment. It is no surprise that climate change initiatives are addressed in more than one Ministry - climate change isn't the responsibility of just one area of government - it touches matters for which many are accountable.

Energy

Of the eleven goals outlined in the Energy Business Plan, six of them are related directly to climate change initiatives in the areas of renewable and alternative sources of energy, conservation of energy and carbon capture and storage. In some cases, strategies for meeting these goals are a combination of the above initiatives.

Renewable and Alternative Sources of Energy

A strategy for meeting Goal 4, to encourage value added development in Alberta, includes facilitating the development and utilization of alternative energy resources such as biofuels and waste to energy opportunities.

Goal 5, to make Albertan's aware of and understand existing and emerging trends relating to energy development and use in Alberta relates to renewable and alternative sources of energy, contains strategies to proactively identify, communicate and address emerging issues that face energy and mineral development in Alberta and to enhance provincial, national and international understanding of Alberta's energy resources and work being done to develop these in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Goal 8 is to ensure effective innovation policies and programs to achieve technology and processing improvements in the development of energy and mineral resources. Realizing Alberta's energy vision will include the development of new technologies or the enhanced deployment of already proven technologies, including renewable energy sources. One of the strategies under this goal is to work with other ministries (Environment?), research organizations and industry to develop an integrated, coordinated approach to research that supports environmentally sustainable energy development.

Carbon Capture and Storage

The Department of Energy identifies Carbon Capture and Storage as a significant opportunity for Alberta in two ways:

Value Added - Alberta has a unique opportunity to develop leading industrial and petrochemical upgrading and refining clusters based on transforming raw feedstocks into synthetic gas and gas liquids for petrochemical development. At the same time we can capture and store carbon emissions and produce electricity for the provincial grid.

CCS - CCS in its ultimate role, is an enabler of clean gasification processes and is a key technology component to realizing the commercial viability of clean fossil fuels. The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is also one of the world's most attractive sites for storing carbon emissions. Ultimately, Alberta's expertise in the science of solutions will be valued and an exportable resource unto itself.

A number of the goals outlined in the Energy Business Plan specifically relate to CCS.

Goal 3 is to ensure energy and mineral resource development occurs in a responsible, environmentally sustainable manner and achieves the Government of Alberta's outcomes. To do so, the Department of Energy will work with other ministries and stakeholders to implement the provincial action plan on climate change and the recommendations from the Carbon Capture and Storage Development Council, in particular the implementation of carbon capture and storage research and demonstration projects.

Goal 7, that Energy infrastructure is built and sustained to support the Government of Alberta's objectives, includes the need to build infrastructure to support CCS.

Goal 8, ensuring effective innovation policies and programs to achieve technology and processing improvements in the development of energy and mineral resources, specifically mentions the need to develop technologies to realize large scale capture and use of carbon.

Conserving Energy

Goal 6 in Energy's Business Plan is to ensure that industry, citizens, and communities conserve and use energy wisely. Do to so, Energy intends to promote smart metering, smart grids and better consumption measurement; facilitate the reduction of energy intensity through gains in energy effi ciency and demonstrated government leadership; and support the development of an energy effi ciency policy framework and provincial legislation.

Expenditures

The Department of Energy intends to spend wisely in the areas of renewables, conservation and carbon capture and storage. $100 million for CCS alone has been budgeted for 2009/2010. Next year's forcast is triple that number.

Environment

One of the opening statements in Alberta Environment's Business Plan confirms its commitment to addressing climate change:

Leadership is provided to transition Alberta to an outcomes focused environmental cumulative effects management system, implement the provincial Climate Change Strategy, implement the renewed Water for Life strategy, develop all Alberta's energy resources, including the oil sands, in an environmentally sustainable way, and to provide Albertans, stakeholders and industry with information on government's role in ensuring environmental excellence and sustainable development while providing tools to reduce their environmental footprint.

Climate change is specifically identified as a significant opportunity and challenge for Alberta. The Alberta Environment Business Plan summarizes this opportunity and challenge as follows:

Climate change has been described as "the most complex collective action problem in human history". In the United States, President Obama sees climate change as putting "the planet in peril". Global action on this issue continues to build not only from an environmental perspective but in the areas of economics and politics. Albertans and the Ministry are in a unique position of providing global leadership on this issue. The Alberta government's recent announcement of resources towards climate change initiatives including carbon capture and storage is the single largest global expenditure to date. The challenges of managing our global energy resources in an environmentally responsible and economically sound and efficient manner, is creating opportunities for this province to reduce carbon while supporting global energy security.

The budget shows that there is $132 million in the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund and is projecting another $95 million will be collected next year. March 31 was the date for compliance under the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation and final figures indicating contributions to the Fund should be available from Alberta Environment shortly.

Goal 1, that the cumulative effects of development on land, air, water and climate be managed to achieve Government of Alberta desired environmental outcomes, is the main goal in Alberta Environment's Business Plan which focuses on climate change.

This goal will be addressed using a variety of strategies, including:

• assist in ensuring Alberta's energy resources are developed in an environmentally sustainable way by supporting the Ministry of Energy in the implementation of carbon capture and storage research and demonstration projects
• Continue to implement the Climate Change Strategy through policy, program and infrastructure initiatives and assure appropriate governance of the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund. This strategy will include programs that promote wise energy use across the province, emissions management, vulnerability assessment and climate change adaptation strategies to reduce Alberta's exposure to climate change risks, development of legislation to drive energy effi ciency and conservation, and support for energy innovation and carbon management initiatives designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions over the long term.
• Complete work with the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) to update Alberta's Clean Air Strategy and begin implementation of the strategy by applying the revised management framework and renewing the major elements of the provincial air system.

Lessons Learned

This Budget confirms a number of things we have been blogging about:

1. Alberta is a global leader in climate change initatives such as CCS - our government's $2 billion commitment to CCS is the world's largest

2. Cooperation is required - to address climate change domestically, government departments will work together. Both Environment and Energy Business Plans indicate that they will be working with other ministries to address climate change initiatives

3. Addressing climate change is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for governments

Given the commitments outlined in this budget, Alberta will have much to be proud of at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December.

We outline other Alberta Environment strategies in the Budget in a separate blog.

How Good is the Air You Breathe?

The Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, issued a statement on March 31, 2009 regarding the release of the audit by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development on the Air Quality Health Index. Mr. Prentice said "[he was] pleased to see this independent verification that the Government of Canada has made satisfactory progress to develop the index."

The Government of Canada's commitment to take action on clean air issues, and the collaboration by Environment Canada and Health Canada, has resulted in a successful launch of the Air Quality Health Index in many communities across Canada. The Index provides current real time information on the air we breathe, enabling Canadians to not only make better choices about their health but also become proactive in taking steps to protect their families. More pilot projects for the Air Quality Health Index are planned for the upcoming months.

The successful launch of the Air Quality Health Index is just one step in the government's plan to address this critical issue. "Canada's Economic Action Plan includes new measures totaling almost $2.4 billion to support a cleaner, more sustainable environment." With this ability to monitor the quality of air we breathe, we need to follow through on the steps to improve that quality.

For further information, or a forecast on air quality in a city near you, log onto www.airhealth.ca.

Ontario's Program for Recycling Unwanted Electronics

On March 31, 2009, Ontario Electronic Stewardship announced details of announced details of a program to divert an additional 160,000 tonnes of waste electronics from landfills.

The industry-developed and operated Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) program is setting up a network of collection sites where consumers and businesses can drop off unwanted electronics with assurance that they will be recycled according to established North American environmental standards. Currently about 25,000 tonnes of WEEE are collected annually in Ontario through public and private sector programs.

Products captured under the program include desktop and laptop computers and peripherals such as mice, keyboards and disk drives; monitors; desktop printers; fax machines and televisions. Other electronics such as cell phones and cameras will be added in later phases of the program.

The network of certified WEEE collection sites includes municipalities, retail stores and community service organizations. Certain Salvation Army Thrift Stores will, as of April 1, will enhance their existing electronics collection program by expanding the types of materials they accept to include all of the designated products. Sears Canada will host an OES electronics "take-back" day on April 25, 2009 in the parking lots of 14 of their stores in Eastern Ontario, and is planning to host similar collection events at stores throughout the province. 17 Staples locations in Southwestern Ontario will be drop off points for electronic devices commencing May 1, 2009. This pilot program will run for 90 days to allow Staples to properly develop the internal tools necessary to meet the needs of their customers and to assess the possibility of program expansion.

As of April 1, Ontario will charge recycling levies on the purchase of desktop computers, laptops, computer peripherals, monitors, televisions and printers.
In so doing, Ontario is taking a cue from Alberta; Alberta was a pioneer in electronics stewardship, starting Canada's first electronics recycling program of its kind in 2004. It seems as though Ontario is taking steps to increase the availability of collection sites for consumer electronics; it will be interesting to see whether this increase in availability results in more Ontarians taking the initiative to provide their waste electronics to collection sites.

New Vehicle Emissions Standards?

Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, announced today that the government will introduce new regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the automotive sector. The new regulations, which will be introduced under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 are in keeping with the government's commitment to tougher standards for vehicles in the 2011 model year and beyond.

Given the Minister's remarks that Canada and the United States must co-operate to address climate change, the move to tougher emissions standards comes as no surprise. The American President directed his Department of Transportation to issue new fuel efficiency standards in January of this year and last week unveiled the new standard of 27.3mpg for the 2011 model year.

Final Canadian regulations are expected to come into force in 2010.

CO2 emissions regulation is part of the Canadian Government's effort to address climate change and its commitment to total GHG reductions of 20% from 2006 levels by 2020. Together with the Clean Energy Dialogue Canada has with the United States and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, of which Canada is a participant, addressing greenhouse gas emissions is high on the Environment Minister's priority list. As the writer blogged back at the start of the year all roads lead to Copenhagen in December.