Environment committee  Yes. I would add that it is true, in Ontario, coal-fired plants have closed, but many exist elsewhere in Canada. We have regulations that require them to close by 2030 or by the end of their normal life cycle. That is why my colleague said that there were measures in place, but that the closures have not yet occurred.

Environment committee  Yes, thank you very much for that question. We did publish the draft strategic assessment of climate change and have received a number of public comments. It went out in 2019. Now the importance is to reflect on those comments to figure out how we then finalize the guidance and also how it interacts with the new Impact Assessment Act, because those two things need to come together.

Environment committee  The government will consider the comments that have been brought forward to them, and then in light of the implementation of the new Impact Assessment Act, we'll consider whether or not more substantive changes are required. I'm not in a position to comment further with respect to what may be decided in that regard.

Environment committee  One of the things that I would say with respect to this area is that we collaborate very closely with our provincial and territorial counterparts under the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. We have a waste working group, and one product that was recently developed is around food waste and the practices that can be put in place to help reduce and manage food waste.

Environment committee  Thank you very much for that question. In the context of the earlier issue, when the waste was brought to the Philippines, we subsequently made an amendment to our regulations to put in place a requirement that where a jurisdiction defines a waste as hazardous, even if it's not captured under our regulations as being hazardous, we will consider it hazardous and then subject to the same requirements and provisions that hazardous wastes are.

Environment committee  We are a party to the Basel Convention. The elements that I'm speaking to are with respect to a change that was made to the control and export of hazardous waste and hazardous recycled materials. Recycled material and domestic waste are not included in the definition of hazardous waste or hazardous recycled products.

Environment committee  In the context of putting legislation in place, the department has a broad responsibility to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the potential implications, not just in terms of regional disparity, but also in terms of issues of gender and the like. Analysis is undertaken to support the drafting of the legislation, and considerations are laid out with respect to that.

Environment committee  As I mentioned, there was specific work done. There are elements within the legislation itself that reflect some of the ways the government decided it wanted to help address that. For instance, with respect to farmers, there are some specific exemptions that relate to their considerations.

Environment committee  We are not responsible for nuclear waste sites. They are regulated by another organization. So that is not part of our portfolio.

Environment committee  I will let Ms. Gonçalves answer your question, since environmental assessments are carried out at the Science and Technology Branch, in collaboration with Health Canada.

Environment committee  Sure, absolutely. In the administration of our vehicles regulation, we actually undertake the vehicle testing. We also work collaboratively with our partners in the United States. We actually have a shared testing program, and we share testing results. We were starting to see this information surface, particularly with the study that was done by the ICCT.

Environment committee  To unearth that was very complex. We put in place a new testing program and started to see these odd results. We amassed a body of evidence, including the information that was coming from the U.S. EPA and CARB as well. We had evidence to support this, working in collaboration with our U.S. colleagues.

Environment committee  Yes, that is correct.

Environment committee  We've been working collaboratively with stakeholders and have had quite broad consultations and discussions at a technical level both with provinces and territories and with stakeholders. We've put out discussion documents and the framework for how the clean fuel standard would operate.

Environment committee  The discussions with respect to the development of the clean fuels standard are ongoing. They will continue throughout the development of the regulatory proposal. We are expecting to be bringing forward draft regulations in the next while. When we do so, that will go out for further public comments and engagement to help inform that development.