Canada | Requesting Substance Assessments under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999: Process, Criteria, and Recent Examples

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), as of June 2023, any person can request the assessment of a substance to determine if it meets the criteria outlined in section 64 of CEPA. These criteria focus on whether the substance could have immediate or long-term harmful effects on the environment, pose a danger to the environment on which life depends, or pose a danger to human life or health in Canada. If a substance meets these criteria, risk management actions may be implemented.

The request process allows individuals to ask the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Health to consider assessing any substance defined in section 3 of CEPA, including discrete substances, classes or groups of substances, or mixtures/effluents. Requests are submitted through a form available in summer 2024, and the Minister of the Environment must respond within 90 days with a decision and reasoning.

Before submitting a request, it is advised to review several lists, such as the Domestic Substances List (DSL), Priority Substances Lists (PSL), and the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) to check if the substance is already prioritized or regulated. The outcome of past requests can be found in the Record of Requests for Assessment.

Examples of past requests include:

1. Chemtrails: The request was denied due to lack of scientific evidence and the determination that condensation trails are not a hazard.
2. 1,4-Benzenediamine, N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl- (6PPD) (CAS RN: 793-24-8): The request was accepted, and 6PPD was added to the proposed Plan of Priorities for assessment.
3. Oil sands process-affected water naphthenic acids (OSPW NAs): The request was accepted, and OSPW NAs were added to the proposed Plan of Priorities for assessment.

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