Wastewater treatment plants given notice on emissions
August 17, 2009
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) has informed its members that under the federal governmen...
The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) has informed its members that under the federal government’s rules for reporting greenhouse gas emissions, sewage facilities and solid waste facilities will have to report their greenhouse gas emissions if they exceed a certain threshold.
Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, subsection 46(1), facilities that emit more than 50 kilotonnes of CO2 eq in 2009 will have to report them by June 1, 2010.
The Ministry of Environment’s Notice in the Canada Gazette Part 1 of July 11 has a list of greenhouse gases subject to the ruling. They include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and Perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
CWWA’s Communique of August 11 explains: “If the facility (waste management and wastewater) is contiguous and owned or operated by the same person and that function as a single integrated site, then they would have to report as a single facility; otherwise, they are to be reported as separate facilities.”
The notice in the Gazette gave an equation to determine whether a facility exceeds the emissions threshold. The calculation is not related to population size.
