Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing September/October Issue - 31

PAINT AND COATINGS MANUFACTURING: TABLED AMENDMENTS TO CANADA'S ENVIRO ACT
New Regulations Not Always
Better Regulations
GARY LEROUX
PRESIDENT AND CEO, CANADIAN PAINT AND COATINGS ASSOCIATION
W
e
are
getting
very
close
to
the Federal
Government 'modernising' the Canadian
Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) under
the recently tabled Bill S-5 in the Senate. The
coatings industry and all chemical industries cannot ignore it.
New regulations under this Act are expected to be completed
by the House of Commons in December 2022. CEPA is the main
legislation imposing significant compliance requirements on
chemicals sold in Canada. It is very clear there is a strong desire
to increase bans and place new use restrictions on chemicals in
Canada, often without scientific data to do so. Moreover, many
of the additional amendments proposed by the Senate go well
beyond the intended scope of the 'modernisation' effort. Worse
than that, it seeks to do so without concern for what the science
dictates with respect to managing the risks of chemicals in
commerce.
If science does not prevail in chemical assessment, as it
must and has for many years in Canada, what we have left is
the politicization of Canada's chemical assessment approach.
The kudos Canada's chemical assessment approach received
over many years by other countries, with some even adopting
the approach, will cease. It all sounds so familiar with respect
to federal decisions of late, but one would never have expected
it to be applied to Government decision-making that is normally
based on comprehensive peer-reviewed scientific data. Instead,
much of the recently proposed amendments in the Senate go well
beyond what the Government intended and are based only on
one or two scientific views to support such an agenda.
In
the
federal
Government's
consideration
of
the
modernization of CEPA thus far there has been little
consideration of what the chemical industry has achieved over the
past 20 years in terms of product stewardship and sustainability.
It seems as if time has stood still. The advocacy groups with a
very specific agenda promote the idea that chemicals are bad,
getting worse and the current regulations are not working.
They are wrong. Everyone knows chemicals used by consumers
'must' be regulated and handled with care, subjected to countless
regulations to ensure that they are handled with vigour. In fact, a
recent report done by a widely respected research organization
(PWC) and acknowledged by the federal Government, noted that
there were more than 50,000 chemical regulations in Canada.
Those who work in the chemical industry know first-hand that
these regulations cover many facets of chemical management
related to worker safety, transportation and storage of chemicals,
product stewardship, product labelling, air quality, and the list
is long! Thus, the chemicals in commerce in Canada today are
safe to use. And the federal Government continues to assess
thousands of chemicals, in close collaboration with industry, to
ensure that they continue to be safe.
One chemical sector, the coatings/adhesives/sealants/
elastomers, besides being fully compliant, has advanced greatly
improved product stewardship and sustainability over the past
20 years. Yet, there is no acknowledgment of the great strides
made in chemical assessment by those now seeking to arbitrarily
ban or restrict chemicals. One need only look at the sustainability
reports of coatings companies around the world to see what they
have achieved and the future environmental goals they have
committed to at the highest levels of their organizations. Many
of those plans relate to the UN's SDG goals and the commitment
of their company's plan to move toward to achieve net zero in
the coming years. These include initiatives to become carbon
neutral, use more renewable energies, increase use of bio-based
materials, and increase recycling initiatives across the board.
There are too many initiatives to mention in this short space.
For example, architectural coatings in Canada have reduced
VOC emissions over 90 per cent and the Federal Government's
own study confirmed a reduction of 42,000 tonnes of emissions
over the past 15 years, the equivalent of 325,000 cars taken off the
road. Since 1990, coatings manufacturing emissions have fallen
by over 90 per cent according to Canada's National Pollutant
Release Inventory (NPRI). Antifouling marine coatings reduce
fossil fuel consumption and prevent invasive species from
entering critical freshwater ecosystems. Manufacturers pay
100 per cent of the costs of recycling; an average of 20 million
kilograms of paint in Canada annually, enough to paint over
500,000 homes a year. There are innovative coatings to cool
buildings and increase energy efficiency with anti-reflective
coatings, roof and wall coatings.
It's unclear what the 'modernisation' of CEPA means in terms
of adding more regulations to the 50,000 already in place. If more
are to be added they must be essential and based on scientific
data. It must not be done just to harm the coatings and larger
chemical manufacturing sector in Canada, which contributes
more than $20 billion in economic impact annually, with good
jobs for Canadians. There are often unintended consequences
caused by regulation, especially when done in the absence of
clearly established, evidenced-backed outcomes. The standard
for any new regulation as set by the Government of Canada's
own regulatory principles must be heeded, that is: " Regulatory
decision-making is evidence-based: Proposals and decisions are
based on evidence, robust analysis of costs and benefits, and the
assessment of risk while being open to public scrutiny. " Let's
hope the consideration of the proposed amendments to CEPA
finally embrace this key principle.
September/October 2022
31
Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing September/October Issue

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