No. H 081/07
For release May 8, 2007

Canada's New Government Announces New Regulations to Protect Marine Environment

OTTAWA — New and enhanced marine regulations will better protect Canadian waters from pollution, today announced the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment.

"These new requirements and improvements to existing regulations demonstrate the Government of Canada's commitment to ensuring a cleaner and healthier marine environment," said Minister Cannon. "They align Canadian practices with international standards, making Canada a leader in the prevention of marine pollution."

Canada now has consolidated zero tolerance national Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals. These regulations apply to all boats in all waters in Canada and will help eliminate the deliberate, negligent, or accidental discharge of pollutants from ships into the marine environment. The regulations are a compilation of existing requirements under the Canada Shipping Act, and international marine standards. They also introduce various new requirements that are necessary for Canada to conclude its adoption of all the optional provisions of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and to adopt the Anti-Fouling Systems Convention.

"This is a major step forward in our efforts to ensure Canadians have clean water and that our oceans and lakes are protected for the continued sustainability of our fish resources and habitats," said Minister Baird. "These new regulations complement the Government's existing stringent controls on disposal at sea under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, and bring together tough pollution prevention measures for the marine industry covering both water and air and applying to all Canadian waterways."

Key features of these regulations include:

• Requiring new oily water filtering equipment and bilge alarms to meet stricter approval standards;
• Requiring any vessel fitted with a toilet to have a holding tank or an approved marine sanitation device for the treatment of sewage;
• Adding cargo sweepings and residues from non-toxic bulk cargoes to the definition of "garbage" and specifying the requirements for record-keeping for garbage-related operations on commercial carriers;
• Requiring ships to be inspected and certified for compliance with provisions for air emissions, limiting emissions of nitrogen oxide from new diesel engines, banning the release of ozone-depleting substances, banning the burning of specified substances in ships' incinerators, and specifying the quality of fuel that can be burned by ships; and
• Banning the use of organotins in anti-fouling systems on ships, and requiring ships' anti-fouling systems to be inspected and certified.

These measures are consistent with the announcement of a new National Water Strategy in Budget 2007. The strategy includes initiatives to advance the health of the oceans and support greater water pollution prevention, surveillance and enforcement along Canada's coasts.

The first notice of these regulations was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on June 17, 2006. A 90-day consultation period followed, during which Transport Canada and Environment Canada conducted extensive deliberations across Canada and received numerous comments from stakeholders, all of which were taken into account in the finalization of these regulations. The final notice is being published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on May 16, 2007.

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For more information about Environment Canada's marine regulations, please visit the web site at www.ec.gc.ca.

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