9. Access to Information
Section 187 of CEPA 1999 requires the publication of certain information provided on notices received for proposed imports, exports and transits of hazardous wastes. This information includes the name/specifications of the waste or recyclable material and:
- In the case of a proposed import, the name of the importer, the country/jurisdiction of origin and;
- In the case of a proposed export, the name of the exporter, the country/jurisdiction of destination; and
- In the case of a proposed transit, the name of the conveyor, and the jurisdictions of origin and destination.
Environment Canada publishes a compilation of the notice information twice a year in the Resilog newsletter. It also publishes annual statistics relating to the import and export of hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials. In addition, Environment Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) provides a publicly accessible database and an annual report with data on "off-site transfers" which covers some shipments of hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable materials.
The types of information made available by provinces with respect to hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials varies from province to province. For example, Alberta provides summaries of transfers into and out of the province, focusing on the receiver of the waste, hazard class and quantity. By contrast, British Columbia provides all the manifest information in a dataset for a fee.
Environment Canada proposes to increase public access to information derived from documents received under the EIHWR by making additional information pertaining to Canadian importers and exporters (EIHWR permit holders) publicly available. This information would include:
- Name and address of the Canadian importer/exporter (or notifier for transits);
- Waste information (TDGR PIN # and IWIC codes);
- Final destination(s);
- Received quantity for movement documents; and
- Border crossings.
The Department may make this information publicly available through an on-line search tool, similar to that used by the NPRI. This tool could retrieve information by querying on company information (name or province), waste stream (TDGR PIN #, or IWIC) or a given time frame. This information could be updated quarterly, as movement document information is received and verified by TMB.