Canada - United States Air Quality Agreement Progress Report 2014: chapter 3
Section 3: New Actions on Acid Rain, Ozone, and Particulate Matter
Canada
Canada’s AQMS is expected to reduce the emissions from all sources of air pollution in order to improve air quality. The three key elements of the AQMS include CAAQS, air zone management / regional airsheds (see Air Quality Standards described in Section 2), and Base-Level Industrial Emissions Requirements.
Base-Level Industrial Emissions Requirements
Emission standards were developed to address emissions from 13 industrial sectors, three types of industrial equipment, and cross-cutting requirements to address VOC emissions from hydrocarbon sources. On June 7, 2014, Canada published, for public comment, proposed Multi-Sector Air Pollutant Regulations (MSAPR) to limit emissions from stationary engines, industrial boilers and heaters, and cement manufacturing facilities, immediately followed by publication of Codes of Practice to limit emissions from the aluminum and iron and steel sectors. Canada is implementing additional emission requirements for the following industrial sectors (iron and steel, aluminum, pulp and paper, upstream oil and gas, chemicals and fertilizers, natural gas combustion turbines, potash, iron ore pellets, cement, oil sands, petroleum refineries and electricity) using regulatory and non-regulatory instruments in phases over the next few years. When implemented, they will ensure that all significant industrial sources in Canada, regardless of the air quality where facilities are located, meet a base level of environmental performance.
Multi-Sector Air Pollutants Regulations
The proposed MSAPR would reduce emissions of NOx from new and existing industrial boilers and heaters and stationary spark-ignition engines, and NOx and SO2 emissions from the cement manufacturing sector. Implementation of the requirements would take place between 2015 and 2036. Across Canada, the MSAPR would lead to an estimated reduction of approximately two million tonnes of NOx and 100 000 tonnes of SO2 over the 20 year period. The proposed regulations would be amended in the future to include emission requirements for additional industrial sectors. Once fully implemented, industries will be required to reduce their emissions of particulate matter and/or NOx, SO2, VOCs, and ammonia which are precursor pollutants that contribute to PM and ozone.
Monitoring Downwind of Canada’s Oil Sands
The oil sands deposits in western Canada are a major natural resource whose development necessitates a more comprehensive understanding of their potential cumulative environmental impact. In response to concerns on the impacts of oil sands activities and to ensure the resource is being developed in an environmentally responsible manner, the Government of Canada and Government of Alberta developed a joint plan to implement a world-class monitoring program in the oil sands region, known as the Joint Implementation Plan. It focuses on: air quality; water quantity and quality; aquatic ecosystem health; terrestrial biodiversity and habitat disturbance; and wildlife contaminants and toxicology.
The Plan provides additional ambient-air monitoring of SO2 and NOx, provides further information on SO2 and NOx deposition in western Canada, and contributes to the refining of aquatic and terrestrial critical loads downwind of the major oil sands activities. Modelling under the plan will document instances of transboundary transport of PM and O3, including any long-range transport to the United States. The program is integrated across all components, and the data collected from the program add to Canada’s monitoring commitments under the AQA.
In the first year of the three-year Implementation Plan (fiscal year 2012-13), existing air quality monitoring activities in the oil sands region were enhanced by the following activities:
- Refining estimates of emissions from development activities
- Distinguishing between oil sands-specific sources of emissions and other sources such as natural and long-range transported emissions
- Quantifying transport over a large spatial range from upwind sites to sites outside of Alberta
- Establishing approaches that quantify atmospheric transformation mechanisms
- Adding precision to mapping deposition patterns
- Integrating data into a predictive model that provides air quality and deposition data to water quality, acid-sensitive lakes, aquatic biota and wildlife components
Monitoring data are available on the Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Monitoring Information Portal at http://jointoilsandsmonitoring.ca/default.asp?n=5F73C7C9- 1&lang=en. In addition, a summary of the key findings from the first year of implementation, the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring First Annual Report: 2012-13, is available at the Portal. Key findings from the annual report include the following:
- Atmospheric concentrations of NO2 and SO2 increase near the oil sands development areas, and are comparable to or less than concentrations typically found near coal-fired power plants, mining smelters, or metropolitan areas (e.g. Edmonton).
- Satellite observations from the period 2005-2010 show an enhancement of NO2 over an area of intensive surface mining. Further analysis will be carried out to assess potential impact and relevance.
New Tier 3 Standards for On-Road Vehicles and Fuel
On June 8, 2013, Environment Canada published a notice in the Canada Gazette, Part I, to inform interested parties that the Government of Canada intends to further limit emissions of smog-forming air pollutants from new cars and light-duty trucks and to reduce the sulphur content of gasoline, in alignment with U.S. EPA’s Tier 3 standards. Following preliminary consultations with interested parties, on September 27, 2014 Environment Canada published proposed amendments to the On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emissions Regulations (ORVEER) and to the Sulphur in Gasoline Regulations (SiGR) for a formal 75-day public comment period. The proposed amendments to the ORVEER would introduce more stringent air pollutant emission standards for new passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and certain heavy-duty vehicles such as delivery trucks, beginning with the 2017 model year. The proposed amendments to the SiGR would introduce lower limits for the sulphur content of gasoline beginning in 2017, to ensure the effective operation of advanced emission control technologies on 2017 and later model year vehicles. Lower levels of sulphur in gasoline would also reduce air pollutant emissions from the fleet of in-use vehicles. The proposed amendments to the two regulations align with the U.S. EPA’s Tier 3 standards and would work in concert to reduce air pollutant emissions that result from the operation of vehicles.
United States
Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards
Power plants are the largest individual sources of carbon pollution in the United States, and currently there are no uniform national limits on the amount of carbon pollution that future power plants will be allowed to emit. Consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, in 2009 the EPA determined that GHG emissions lead to long-lasting changes in the climate that can have a range of negative effects on human health and the environment. Reducing power-sector CO2 would result in reductions of SO2 and NOx emissions, which in turn would lower overall ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and O3.
Standards for New Power Plants
On September 20, 2013, the EPA issued a new proposal for carbon pollution from new power plants. After considering more than 2.5 million comments from the public about the original 2012 proposal and considering recent trends in the power sector, the EPA changed certain aspects of its approach, and now has proposed to set separate standards for certain natural gas-fired stationary combustion turbines and for fossil fuel-fired utility boilers and integrated gasification combined cycle units.
Standards for Existing Power Plants
On June 2, 2014, the EPA proposed the Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants. The Plan will be implemented through a state-federal partnership, under which states identify a path forward using pollution control policies for existing power plants in order to meet the Plan’s goals. The proposal provides guidelines for states to develop plans to meet state-specific goals to reduce carbon pollution, and provides them with the flexibility to design a program that makes the most sense for their unique situation. States can choose the right mix of generation using diverse fuels, energy efficiency and demand-side management in order to meet the Plan’s goals and their own needs. It allows them to work alone to develop individual plans or work together with other states to develop multi-state plans. The Clean Power Plan puts the United States on track to cut carbon pollution from the power sector by 30 percent as of 2030.
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