Minister's response to notice of objection: NOVA Chemicals Corporation

April 21, 2021


Luis Sierra
President and Chief Executive Officer
NOVA Chemicals Corporation
1000 7th Ave SW
Calgary AB  T2P 5L5


Dear Luis Sierra:

I am responding to the Notice of Objection and request to establish a Board of Review that you filed on behalf of the NOVA Chemicals Corporation regarding the proposed Order to add plastic manufactured items to the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). The proposed Order was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on October 10, 2020.

Subsection 332(2) of the CEPA states that any person may file a Notice of Objection requesting that a Board of Review be established. As set out in subsection 333(1) of CEPA, the mandate of a Board of Review in this instance would be to inquire into the nature and extent of the danger posed by plastic manufactured items.

I have fully and carefully considered the issues set out in your Notice of Objection. As the scientific information provided in your Notice did not raise sufficient uncertainty or doubt in the scientific considerations underlying the proposed Order to warrant the establishment of a Board of Review, I am denying your request to establish a Board of Review. The scientific considerations that underlay the proposed Order are related to the ability of macroplastics to have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological diversity as set out in section 64 CEPA.

In your Notice of Objection, you raised the issue that the Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution is based on a literature review only, without quantitative studies using current Canadian data. I can assure you that the Science Assessment recognizes the need for Canadian occurrence data. The Science Assessment presents a thorough summary of the science available in peer-reviewed literature at the time it was written. Canadian data is reported where possible, including litter studies and data from shoreline cleanups; however, in the absence of Canadian data, information from other countries is presented.

With regard to the non-scientific issues raised in your Notice of Objection, these are being considered alongside other comments received on the proposed Order and will be addressed in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement that is published with the final Order.

I appreciate your bringing the NOVA Chemicals Corporation’s concerns to my attention.

Please accept my best regards.

Sincerely,


The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P.

c.c.: Bruce Davies, NOVA Chemicals Corporation

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