Canadian Environmental Protection Act

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
An Act respecting pollution prevention and the protection of the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development
Citation	S.C. 1999, c. 33
Enacted by	Parliament of Canada
Date assented to	September 14, 1999
Date commenced	March 31, 2000
Legislative history
Bill citation	Bill C-32
Introduced by	Christine Stewart, Minister of the Environment
First reading	March 12, 1998
Second reading	April 28, 1998
Third reading	June 1, 1999
First reading	June 2, 1999
Second reading	June 8, 1999
Third reading	September 13, 1999
Repealing legislation
Canadian Environmental Protection Act (c. 16, R.S.C. 1985 (4th Supp.))
Summary
Legislative summary

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, whose goal is to contribute to sustainable development through pollution prevention and to protect the environment, human life and health from the risks associated with toxic substances. It covers a diversity of activities that can affect human health and the environment, and acts to address any pollution issues not covered by other federal laws. As such, CEPA 1999 is a "catch all" piece of legislation that ensures potentially toxic substances are not inadvertently exempt from federal oversight as a result of unforeseen legislative loopholes.

CEPA 1999 also recognises the contribution of pollution prevention and the management and control of toxic substances and hazardous waste to reducing threats to Canada's ecosystems and biological diversity.

It acknowledges, for the first time, the need to virtually eliminate the most persistent toxic substances that remain in the environment for extended periods of time before breaking down and bioaccumulative toxic substances that accumulate within living organisms.

Health Canada works in partnership with Environment Canada to assess potentially toxic substances and to develop regulations to control toxic substances.

Section 93 of CEPA provides the authority to the federal government to make regulations to restrict and manage pollution in Canada.

Originally enacted in 1988, CEPA provided a systematic approach to assess and manage chemical substances in the environment that were not addressed under existing programs. After being reviewed in the 1990s, it was replaced by the current legislation that provides new powers for health and environmental protection. It was introduced as Bill C-32 on March 12, 1998, subsequently receiving Royal Assent on September 14, 1999. The new Act came into force on March 31, 2000.

As a Canadian statute, CEPA is unique for including a declaration of "primary purpose" in addition to a preamble.

All new substances must be evaluated for human health and environmental risks before they can be manufactured or imported into Canada. Responsibility for these evaluations is shared between Environment Canada and Health Canada and is administered by the New substances Program, which administers regulations relating to the notification of new substances into the environment.

Existing substances include all 23,000 substances that were in use in Canada prior to the establishment of the New Substances Notification Program, and they are all listed on the Domestic Substances List. CEPA 1999 required systematic screening of these substances, a process that was completed in September 2006, which led to the development of the Chemicals Management Plan.

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