Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm here today on behalf of Environment Canada and my colleagues to describe to you some of the roles and responsibilities that we have as they relate to oil sands and to describe some of our priority work in this area.
As you well know, the management of the environment is a shared jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments. At the federal level, Environment Canada's role relates to the management of transboundary issues, including those related to water, migratory birds, species at risk, and toxic substances.
Environment Canada has responsibilities under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Species at Risk Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and the Fisheries Act. We are also involved with activities that are enabled under the Canada Water Act, such as cooperation with jurisdictions on research and monitoring. Through this work we provide our knowledge and technical expertise to inform the decision-makers at all levels of government in Canada.
Slide 3 shows that there are three ways in which Environment Canada interacts with the oil sands. The first is through the fulfilment of our statutory and regulatory obligations. The second is through the provision of expert advice to regulatory authorities in the environmental assessment process. The third is through research and monitoring, including collaboration in multi-stakeholder environmental management initiatives. We'll describe a bit of each of these.
Next is slide 4. I'll speak briefly to our statutory and regulatory obligations under the Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and the Species at Risk Act.
We'll go on to slide 5. Environment Canada administers subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act, which prohibits the deposit of any deleterious substance in water frequented by fish.
The Province of Alberta issues permits for the oil sands tailing ponds. One of the requirements of those permits is that there not be a discharge of water into the environment. The general prohibitions of the Fisheries Act, however, would still apply and could be used in the event of a spill or an unusual discharge. The department does monitor the oil sands activities. It has conducted 18 inspections over the past few years and has not yet found any violations of the Fisheries Act.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act is a keystone piece of legislation to reduce the release of harmful chemicals in the environment. Under Canada's chemicals management plan, 98 high-priority substances have been identified as potentially substances in the oil sands sector. These substances are currently being assessed. The act has other relevant provisions, including reporting requirements under the National Pollutant Release Inventory, and emergency provisions that include the requirement for emergency plans for a number of substances associated with the oil sands.
Next is slide 6. The Migratory Birds Convention Act and its regulations ensure the conservation of migratory birds. Specifically, the act prohibits the damage or destruction of migratory birds, nests, and eggs. It prohibits the deposit of substances harmful to migratory birds in any waters frequented by migratory birds. It is under this act that Environment Canada laid charges against Syncrude for allegedly depositing, or permitting the deposit of, a substance harmful to migratory birds.
The Species at Risk Act, as you well know, was created to protect wildlife species from becoming extinct by providing for recovery of species due to human activity and by ensuring the sound management of species of special concern so that they don't become endangered or threatened. The act includes prohibitions against the killing, harming, harassing, capturing, or taking of species at risk and against destroying their critical habitat.
Slide 7 relates to how Environment Canada provides expert advice in support of federal environmental assessments. This advice includes technical advice related to water quality, quantity, and prediction modelling; ambient air quality and mine fleet emissions technology; cumulative effects of oil sands development and the need for integrated monitoring; and migratory birds, species at risk, and their habitat. Environment Canada has been involved in about 12 environmental assessments for oil sands projects, including five joint panel reviews.
We will go to slide 8. Environment Canada has extensive expertise, and we undertake to share that information broadly. We carry out ecosystem science in this region of the Mackenzie Basin, and we collaborate with the provinces, territories, university, industry, and other stakeholders. For instance, we are engaged in the Cumulative Environmental Management Association.
We also chair the Mackenzie River Basin Board and conduct research in support of the board's primary goals. We are engaged in research related to ecosystem impacts, including downstream effects on such things as water availability, ecosystem flow needs, and contaminants.
Environment Canada also led earlier research conducted in the oil sands region as part of the northern river basins study, the northern rivers ecosystem initiative, and the Peace-Athabasca delta technical studies. This work has influenced a number of industry regulations and operating standards that apply to the oil sands. We've also undertaken targeted research on oil sands-related contaminants.
Slide 9 shows a number of key Environment Canada priorities that, going forward, will help support decisions related to the oil sands activities. For instance, some of our current research includes continuing the assessment of toxicity and potential effects of tailings pond waters, assessment of acidifying emissions from oil sands and their impact on lake ecosystems, and assessment of the impacts of changes in flow and water levels in the Peace-Athabasca delta.
As I previously mentioned, we also have extensive work under the chemicals management plan, which has organized work related to the oil sands sector and identified 98 potential substances whose risk we are currently assessing. Some of these substances are related to the mining and extraction activities, such as purchased drilling fluids, and others relate to upgrading activities. As risks are identified, we will manage those risks, and of course we continue to carry out our enforcement responsibilities.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.