This will hopefully be a less controversial amendment to move. This came up in the testimony of a number of witnesses. We would like to amend proposed subsection 53.1(3) to read:
Information provided to the Minister under paragraph (2)(a) shall be published in the national inventory of releases of pollutants under sections 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53.
For those of you who don't have CEPA at your fingertips or ready to go at all times in your minds, this closes a loophole that witnesses identified. When the national pollution inventory is done, there are occasions when companies will claim confidentiality over some pieces of it that are completely unrelated; therefore, the government is unable to understand how much pollution is actually being released into the air.
We think these changes tighten up the reporting. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. This has been an ongoing problem with CEPA and our ability to manage certain industries.
This amendment is a friendly one, so I'll open it to debate for other committee members.