IN THIS ISSUE

• Stakeholder Consultations
• TMB Web Site Gets a New Look
• Basel update
• Canada-U.S. Workshop on the Transboundary Movement of HWRM
• Transboundary Movement of Scrap Electronics
• Changes to the Clear Language TDGR
• Implications of the New Clear Language TDGR
• Upcoming International Meetings
• Recent International Meetings
• Fast Facts
• Definitions for Tables
• Notice Information Tables

RESILOG June 2003, volume 16, number 2 is also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To access this file, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Stakeholder Consultations

During January and February 2003, Environment Canada (EC) hosted a national series of multi-stakeholder consultations on proposed amendments to the Export and Import of Hazardous Wastes Regulations

(EIHWR). These consultations and proposed regulatory amendments build on extensive consultations conducted by EC over the last two years.

EC is developing the amendments to the EIHWR in parallel with the new Interprovincial Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations (Interprovincial Regulations). EC plans to ensure as much harmonization as possible between these two regulations and to incorporate many of the provisions related to classification, documentation and permits of equivalent level of environmental safety (PELES) that are under development for the Interprovincial Regulations into the proposed amendments to the EIHWR.

These consultations were designed to both solicit input from, and to provide information to, provincial representatives, industry, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and local community groups on proposed revisions to the current EIHWR. Main topics included

• definition issues and scope of application;
• operational issues and notification and tracking requirements;
• environmentally sound management (ESM);
• controls on recyclable materials, including electronic scrap;
• permits of equivalent level of environmental safety; and
• access to information.

EC will consider comments receivedwhen it develops the proposed draftregulations.

A copy of the report on theconsultations is posted on the CEPA Environmental Registry at URL: www.ec.gc.ca/CEPARegistry/participation

For more information: Nabila.Elsaadi@ec.gc.ca

TMB Web Site Gets a New Look

In April 2003, the Transboundary Movement Branch (TMB) posted a revised TMB and Resilog Web site with a new look and new navigational features. The site’s content was updated. Other key changes include the following:

• a new URL for this newsletter www.ec.gc.ca/tmb/resilog/eng/resinews.htm;
• new links to PCB Web site www.ec.gc.ca/pcb from TMB Web pages;
• new layout and organization, which make it easier to view information; and
• added tables to User Guides www.ec.gc.ca/tmb/eng/guides_e.html

For more information: tmb@ec.gc.ca

Basel Update

Parties to the Basel Convention

As of June 15, 2003, 156 countries and the European Community were Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The most recent ratifications were Jamaica, which acceded on January 23, 2003; Marshall Islands, which acceded on January 27, 2003 and Equatorial Guinea, which acceded on February 07, 2003. For complete details, visit the Basel Convention Web site at http://www.basel.int/

Three signatories of the Basel Convention have yet to ratify. They are Afghanistan, Haiti and the United States of America.

Basel Ban Amendment

As of June 15, 2003, 37 countries and the European Union had ratified the Basel Ban Amendment. In accordance with article 17 of the Convention, three-fourths of the Parties present at the time of adoption of the amendment (62) must ratify the amendment before it can enter into force.

Canada–U.S. Workshop on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Recyclable Material

The Transboundary Movement Branch of Environment Canada and the Office of Compliance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) held a two-day workshop in Chicago on March 5 and 6, 2003 for stakeholders involved in the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and related issues of border security. Approximately 70 participants from Canadian and U.S. companies attended. The two-day workshop covered many issues regarding the applicable legislative authorities, regulatory amendments and new developments in the statutory framework on both sides of the border. Common compliance issues were also addressed.

Guest speakers from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau of the Department of Homeland Security, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Transport Canada, Environment Canada’s Enforcement Branch and Environment Canada’s Hazardous Material Sampling Team provided comprehensive coverage of the various components involved in the movement of hazardous waste and recyclables.

A transcript of the workshop will be made available for reference and posted on the Internet by the U.S. EPA.

For more information: Joe.Wittwer@ec.gc.ca

Transboundary Movement of Scrap Electronics

Information technology (IT) waste, or scrap electronics, typically includes end-of-life home and office computers, monitors, laptops, servers, scanners, printers and other peripherals, as well as telephones, facsimile machines and mobile phones.

The amount of computer and telecom equipment waste in Canada has reached significant levels and is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years. Between 1992 and 2000, Canadians disposed of an estimated 119,177 tonnes of personal computers and monitors. In 1999, an estimated 36,933 tonnes (42%) of scrap electronics were sent for disposal, 26,760 tonnes were sent for reuse (30%), 17,848 tonnes were recycled (20%), and 6,610 tonnes were placed in storage (8%). Intact forms of IT and telecom equipment are generally not considered to be hazardous waste in Canada. However, if improperly managed, IT and telecom equipment may release hazardous substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium.

One factor which would contribute to the better management of IT waste is industry integration of “design for environment products” that contain fewer hazardous components and that can be more easily upgraded or recycled. In the interim, Environment Canada is participating in the development of a national, industry-funded product take-back and recycling program for end-of-life electronics and is proposing amendments to the Export and Import of Hazardous Wastes Regulations to better address the transboundary movement of scrap electronics.

There is growing recognition in Canada and internationally of the need to better manage the increasing volume of obsolete electronic equipment due to possible impacts on the environment and human health resulting from their mismanagement.

For more information: mailto:Carl.Chenier@ec.gc.ca

Changes to the Clear Language TDGR

As many readers may be aware, the new clear language Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) came into force last year on August 15, 2002. The clear language TDGR are based on the United Nations (UN) Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods model regulations. Consequently, there are a number of changes to the hazard-class criteria and the lists of dangerous goods (new Schedule 1). These changes affect the classification of some high volume hazardous wastes, such as corrosive and poisonous wastes, with respect to the “shipping names.” They also affect the Product Identification Numbers (PINs) that industry has been using in past years.

Consequences of these changes are given in the next article “Implications of the New Clear Language TDGR.”

Criteria changes

Class 9 is no longer broken into divisions. Class 9.1 (miscellaneous dangerous goods), class 9.2 (substances that are hazardous to the environment) and class 9.3 (dangerous waste) have been replaced by a general class 9.

Changes to PINs

(In the following list, “shipping names” are provided after each PIN. The letters N.O.S. mean “not otherwise specified” and are part of the legal shipping name where they appear. )

In the corrosive hazard class:

UN1759 – Corrosive solid, N.O.S. –formerly applied to acids and bases, both organic and inorganic, in solid form. However, this PIN now applies only to solid corrosive materials not specifically covered under the new entries.

UN3260 – Corrosive solid, acidic, inorganic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1759 for acidic inorganic substances.

UN3261 – Corrosive solid, acidic, organic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1759 for acidic organic substances.

UN3262 – Corrosive solid, basic, inorganic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1759 for basic inorganic substances.

UN3263 – Corrosive solid, basic, organic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1759 for basic organic substances.

UN1760 – Corrosive liquid, N.O.S. – in the past applied to acids and bases, both organic and inorganic, in liquid form. It now only applies to those substances not covered by new entries for generic corrosive dangerous goods and wastes. Note: UN1760 is to be used for mixtures of organic and inorganic corrosive liquids.

UN3264 – Corrosive liquid, acidic, inorganic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1760 for inorganic acidic liquids, such as spent mineral acid solutions.

UN3265 – Corrosive liquid, acidic, organic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1760 for organic acidic liquids.

UN3266 – Corrosive liquid, basic, inorganic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1760 for inorganic basic or caustic liquids.

UN3267 – Corrosive liquid, basic, organic, N.O.S. – replaces UN1760 for organic basic liquids.

The poisonous hazard class will now be known as toxic:

UN2810 – Poisonous liquid, N.O.S. –formerly applied to liquids, both organic and inorganic, that have LC₅₀ or LD₅₀ values meeting the class 6.1 criteria. It has been replaced by UN2810 – Toxic liquid, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN now applies only to organic liquids.

UN3287 – Toxic liquid, inorganic, N.O.S. – is a new entry, separate from the previous UN2810, and applies only to inorganic liquids.

UN2811 – Poisonous, solid, N.O.S. –which formerly applied to solids, both organic and inorganic, meeting class 6.1 criteria is now replaced by UN2811 – Toxic solid, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN now applies only to organic solids.

UN3288 – Toxic solid, inorganic, N.O.S. – applies only to inorganic solids, which are no longer included under UN2811.

UN2927 – Poisonous liquid, corrosive, N.O.S. – once generally applied to organic and inorganic liquids that meet the hazard criteria for both classes 6.1 and 8 is replaced by UN2927 – Toxic liquid, corrosive, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN now applies only to organic liquids. It is a change from the previous general coverage.

UN3289 – Toxic liquid, corrosive, inorganic, N.O.S. – is a new entry, separate from UN2927, and applies only to inorganic liquids.

UN2928 – Poisonous solid, corrosive, N.O.S. – which was a general entry covering both organic and inorganic substances is replaced by UN2928 – Toxic solid, corrosive, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN now applies only to organic solids. It is a change from the previous general coverage.

UN3290 – Toxic solid, corrosive, inorganic, N.O.S. – is a new entry, separate from the previous UN2928, and applies only to inorganic solids.

UN2929 – Poisonous liquid, flammable, N.O.S. – generally applied to organic and inorganic liquids which meet the hazard criteria for both classes 3 and 6.1 is replaced by UN2929 – Toxic liquid, flammable, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN applies only to organic liquids. This is a change from the previous general coverage.

UN2930 – Poisonous solid, flammable, N.O.S. – which was a general coverage for both organic and inorganic substances meeting the criteria for hazard classes 3 and 6.1 is replaced by UN2930 – Toxic solid, flammable, organic, N.O.S. “Poisonous” has been changed to “toxic,” and this PIN now applies only to organic solids, which is a change from the previous general coverage.

UN3282 – Organometallic compound, toxic, N.O.S. – which was formerly covered by UN2811, or possibly UN2810, would now be more precisely classified under this entry based on the new listing.

An easy-to-use search feature for Schedule 1 of the TGDR is available at the following URL: http://www.tc.gc.ca/tdg/clear/schedule1form.asp

For more information: mailto:Joe.Wittwer@ec.gc.ca

Implications of the New Clear Language TDGR

Some changes in the new Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) have impacted on the classification and documentation of movements of hazardous waste in Canada, including those under the Export and Import of Hazardous Wastes Regulations (EIHWR). The new TDGR no longer list the North American (N.A.) Product Identification Numbers (PINs). These have been replaced by an appropriate UN PIN for dangerous goods that are hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material. This has had consequences on manifesting for biomedical waste and environmentally hazardous waste (formerly class 9.2).

Biomedical waste

The United Nations Recommendations have listed PIN UN3291 defined as “Clinical Waste,” “Biomedical Waste” or “Regulated Medical Waste” belonging to hazard class 6.2. However, the new TDGR have not included such waste as a dangerous good in Schedule 1, because all medical waste is not necessarily infectious (class 6.2). As a result, transporting infectious biomedical waste under this PIN is an infraction under the Canadian TDGR. This problem has been recognized, and it is recommended that companies do not use PIN UN3291 on the manifest for shipping purposes.

If the waste is infectious to humans, it must be classified under UN2814. The EIHWR have always included biomedical waste in Part I of Schedule III and set out special provisions for the manifesting of this waste within the text of the regulations. Since last August, these special provisions are set out in a new Part V—“Manifest Requirements.” The Export Manifest, section 23, subsection 3, and the Import Manifest, section 29, subsection 3, both describe how to label non-infectious biomedical waste. Therefore, the CEPA identification number CD0003 should be used on the manifest instead of the TGDR UN PIN.

Environmentally hazardous waste

The new TDGR also have an impact on the former class 9.2 (substances that are hazardous to the environment). As a result of the admendment to Class 9, what was formerly classified as environmentally hazardous waste (Class 9.2 and 9.3) under the old TDGR has changed. The Class 9 of the new TDGR only applies if the waste is being sent for disposal. As a result, UN3077 and UN3082 should only be used on manifests where waste is destined for disposal. For leachate toxic waste, or environmentally hazardous waste destined for recycling operations, the PIN should be “N/A” (meaning not applicable) and the shipping name should be “hazardous recyclable material,” with a footnote indicating “Controlled under CEPA Regulations and not TDG Regulations.”

For transportation purposes, the application of the leachate test and environmentally hazardous substances class 9 criteria is limited to substances destined for disposal only. The class 9 criteria are applied to characterize the hazard of both wastes and recyclable materials.

For more information: mailto:Joe.Wittwer@ec.gc.ca

Upcoming International Meetings

Basel Convention

2nd Open-ended Working Group (OEWG-2)
October 20–24, 2003, Geneva

OECD

Workshop on Waste Economics
October 14–15, 2003, Paris

5th Working Group for Waste Prevention and Recycling
October 16–17, 2003, Paris

Recent International Meetings

Basel Convention

1st Open-ended Working Group (OEWG-1)
April 28–May 2, 2003, Geneva

OECD

4th Working Group for Waste Prevention and Recycling (WGWPR)
March 25–27, 2003, Paris

North American Working Group on the Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC)

North American Working Group on SMOC, 15th regular meeting
May 12–13, 2003, Windsor, Ontario

Binational Toxics Strategy

Stakeholder forum
May 14, 2003, Windsor, Ontario

NAFTA

10th Regular Meeting of Council for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
June 24–25, 2003, Washington, D.C.