Pulp and paper technical guidance: questions and answers to assist mills, chapter 5

What are the effects designated as highest risk at the current time?

In 2005 the Smart Regulation Initiative prioritized two types of responses that need to be addressed:

1. eutrophication
2. decreases in fish gonad size

At the current time, large eutrophication responses and large decreases in fish gonad size are designated as high risk. (For an explanation of what is considered "large," see the next question.) For the purpose of the 2010 Pulp and Paper Technical Guidance, a eutrophication response is characterized by large changes in the benthic invertebrate community parameters* of:

• density (increase or decrease)
• taxon richness (decrease)
• similarity index (Bray-Curtis Index)

In addition to the responses prioritized by the Smart Regulation Initiative, site-specific knowledge and conditions could lead to the identification of other high-risk responses for individual facilities.

*A eutrophication response can also be determined through large changes in fish parameters, such as increases in liver size or condition on a site-specific basis.