Consultation on regulatory approach to prohibit asbestos

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Background
   • 2.1 Asbestos
   • 2.2 Asbestos mining
   • 2.3 Historical and current uses
   • 2.4 Domestic risk management
     • 2.4.1 Federal risk management
     • 2.4.2 Provincial and territorial risk management
   • 2.5 International risk management
     • 2.5.1 Risk management in the United States
     • 2.5.2 Risk management in the European Union
     • 2.5.3 Risk management in Australia
     • 2.5.4 Rotterdam Convention
3. Proposed regulatory approach
   • 3.1 Proposed regulations
     • 3.1.1 Substance scope
     • 3.1.2 Application
     • 3.1.3 General exemptions
     • 3.1.4 Specific exemptions
     • 3.1.5 Testing
     • 3.1.6 Reporting
     • 3.1.7 Record keeping
   • 3.2 Export of asbestos and products containing asbestos
   • 3.3 Changes to other regulations
4. Alternatives to asbestos
5. Next steps
   • 5.1 Information gathering
   • 5.2 Previous consultation
   • 5.3 Comment period
   • 5.4 Planned timelines
6. References

1 Introduction

Breathing in asbestos fibres can cause life threatening diseases, such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. All types of asbestos have been reviewed by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and declared carcinogenic to humans. More information on the health risks of asbestos is available on-line.

On December 15, 2016, the Government of Canada announced a government-wide strategy to manage asbestos in Canada (Canada, 2016a). A number of risk management measures are already in place for asbestos; however, additional controls are required to implement a comprehensive ban on asbestos. A key element of the strategy is to develop new regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) to prohibit asbestos and products containing asbestos.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) to develop regulations respecting asbestos was published in Canada Gazette, Part I on December 17, 2016 (Canada, 2016b), as the initial step in the consultation process for the regulatory development.

The objective of this Consultation Document, prepared by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC), is to inform and solicit comments from stakeholders on the proposed regulatory approach to manage asbestos. Comments on this document must be submitted within 45 days of its publication to the address or email provided in section 5.3. In addition, ECCC and HC are seeking specific information, described in section 5.1.

Comments and information received in response to the Consultation Document will be considered in the development of the proposed regulations, expected to be published in Canada Gazette, Part I, by December 2017. The final regulations are expected to be published in Canada Gazette, Part II in the fall of 2018.