commission for environmental cooperation toxics release inventory conference february 12-13, 2008...

Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Toxics Release Inventory ConferenceFebruary 12-13, 2008

Orlando Cabrera Rivera,Program Manager - Air Quality/PRTR

North American Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR)

Commission for Environmental Cooperation(CEC)

• International organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).

• Its mandate is to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and promote the effective enforcement of environmental laws.

CEC’s North American PRTR Project:Objectives

• To improve our understanding of the sources and management of chemicals of common concern in North America

• To increase the utility of PRTR data in trilateral efforts to protect shared ecosystems, improve chemicals management and reduce pollution

• To promote public access to information

CEC’s North American PRTR Project:Activities

• Provide information (Taking Stock report and website)

• Promote comparability and quality of PRTR data in North America, and provide support for Mexico’s RETC (regular meetings with Officials of the three countries)

• Ask for stakeholder input via the annual meeting of the North American PRTR Consultative Group (general public, NGOs, industry, governments, media)

• Promote international linkages (e.g., OECD)

Action Plan to Enhance the Comparability of PRTRs in North America

• Adopted by Council in 2002 and updated in 2005

• Developed through collaboration among the national programs:

Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)

U.S. Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)

Mexico’s Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes (RETC)

• Available on our website: www.cec.org

CEC’s Taking Stock Report & Website

• Releases & transfers across North America (common elements from TRI, NPRI, and RETC)

• Analyses by chemical, industry, jurisdiction

• Trends over time, Special Feature Chapter

• Raise awareness of key health & environmental issues

• Enable increased dialogue and collaboration across borders & with industry

Reported amounts for 2004 (matched Canada-US data): approximately 3 million tonnes

North American PRTRs2004 Reporting Year

Facilities Tonnes

Canada NPRI 8,600+ ~1,800,000

US TRI 23,700+ ~3,700,000

Mexico RETC 1,700+ ~19,000

North American Total 34,000+ ~ 5,500,000

Note: Canada and Mexico also have substantial facility-based reporting of greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants (amounts not included here)

What does this tool allow and why is it important?

• Find PRTR facilities in places of interest, with special relevance to border regions

• Seamless access to industrial pollutant data in separate national databases

• Expands the utility of existing services

• Opportunity for improving data quality

Future PRTR Project Priorities

1. Ongoing capacity-building to support the full implementation of the RETC in Mexico

2. Promoting increasing comparability of PRTR data across North America (focus on data quality)

3. Promoting mentoring partnerships between U.S., Canadian and Mexican industries

4. Publication of the Taking Stock report and enhancement of TS Online

5. Ongoing engagement of the North American PRTR Consultative Group

CEC’s North American PRTR Project

Contact:

Orlando Cabrera RiveraProgram ManagerAir Quality/PRTR

Telephone: (514) 350-4300Fax: (514) 350-4314Email: ocabrera@cec.orgwww.cec.org/takingstock