Environment Minister Jim Prentice on Thursday in New Brunswick announced new regulations governing the management of municipal wastewater. The new performance standards, timelines, and monitoring and reporting requirements are scheduled for publication in the December 2009 issue of the Canadian Gazette.
The proposed new rules will implement the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Municipal Wastewater Strategy. It will apply on over 4,000 wastewater treatment facilities across Canada.
Prentice said the new rules’ strong, comprehensive approach ensures Canada’s water resources are used economically and ecologically.
The minister said in a statement, “The proposed regulation will ensure that, across the country, the release of wastewater effluents does not pose unacceptable risks to human and environmental health and fishery resources.”
Under the Action Plan for Clean Water, Ottawa will commit $96 million to revive Lake Winnipeg, Lake Simcoe and other areas under Canada’s territories in the Great Lakes.
It will also give the First Nation’s infrastructure a big push, particularly schools and water resources through $515 million under the federal Economic Action Plan, invest in infrastructure by tapping into the $33-billion Building Canada Fund which will assist municipalities and aborigine communities upgrade their wastewater facilities, regulate the metal mines and pulp and paper industries to help them cut the toxicity of their discharges and invest $2.5 million in the next five years to support the United Nations Environmental Program’s Global Environment Monitoring System.
Prentice stressed, “As stewards of the third largest supply of freshwater in the world, it is essential that we preserve and protect our major watersheds for future generations.”