Question Period Note: Wastewater

Wastewater

• All levels of government share responsibility for managing wastewater.

• The Government continues to invest in science and infrastructure to support wastewater treatment.

• To avoid untreated or undertreated wastewater, the federal Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER) were put in place in 2012.

• The Regulations set standards that can be met with secondary wastewater treatment.

• About three quarters of wastewater systems meet the standards now.

• The remainder are subject to clear timelines to upgrade their treatment by 2020, 2030 or 2040, depending on the level of risk their current effluent poses.

UNAUTHORIZED RELEASES

• Repairs, maintenance and upgrades may be required to ensure the longevity of wastewater systems. This work can result in unauthorized releases of untreated or undertreated wastewater.
• These situations are addressed on a case-by-case basis.

In July 2012, the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER) came into force after undergoing a multi-phase consultation process over a number of years engaging provinces, territories, municipalities, industry organizations and associations, and Indigenous communities and organizations.

The WSER establish national effluent quality standards that can be met by secondary wastewater treatment, and will reduce loadings of biochemical oxygen demanding matter, suspended solids, residual chlorine, and un-ionized ammonia in receiving waters.

The WSER apply to approximately 1,500 wastewater systems that discharge to surface water and collect an average daily volume of influent of 100 m3 or more during a year. Wastewater systems are owned or operated by municipal, provincial and federal governments and Indigenous communities. The WSER exclude wastewater systems located in Canada’s Far North (Northwest Territories, in Nunavut, north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador) as further research and consultations are required to set appropriate standards for the extreme climatic conditions found in those areas.

Under the Regulations, regulatees were provided a one-time opportunity to apply for a Transitional Authorization (TA) by June 30, 2014 if they did not have treatment in place that could meet the standards. TAs impose timelines for compliance with the standards based on a level of environmental risk; end of 2020 (high risk), 2030 (medium risk), and 2040 (low risk). Systems without TAs have been subject to WSER limits since January 1, 2015.

Regulatees regularly need to conduct maintenance and construction activities on their wastewater treatment plant. In some cases, when these activities are taking place, releases of undertreated or untreated effluent are unavoidable. The WSER do not authorize releases due to maintenance and construction when these releases do not occur at the final discharge point. These releases are unauthorized and are subject to the general prohibition of the Fisheries Act. In the case of unauthorized releases, regulatees have the duty to notify, take corrective measures and report as per subsections 38(5), (6) and (7) of the Fisheries Act.

Administrative agreements are in place with New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, and equivalency agreements are in place with Yukon and Québec. Under an administrative agreement, the province administers the federal Regulations on behalf of the federal government. Where an equivalency agreement is in place, the federal Regulations do not apply, as the provincial/territorial regime is deemed equivalent in effect to the federal Regulations. An Order in Council stands down the federal Regulations.

Infrastructure Funding
Since 2015, Infrastructure Canada has contributed $1.61 billion to 1,473 wastewater projects in Canada. This includes $1.1 billion from new investment programs (Investing in Canada Plan, and the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund). As part of the Government of Canada's historic Investing in Canada plan, the Canada Infrastructure Bank is a tool that can be used to build more infrastructure across Canada. The Bank would be an optional tool to build new infrastructure by attracting private sector and institutional investors to support transformational infrastructure. The Bank will be responsible for investing at least $35 billion, using loans, loan guarantees and equity investments.

Since 2002, through the various infrastructure funds, the Government of Canada has approved more than $4.23 billion toward wastewater infrastructure projects across Canada. In addition, since 2005 municipalities have invested over $2.6 billion of the federal Gas Tax Fund towards their wastewater infrastructure priorities. Budget 2019 allocated a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the federal Gas Tax Fund to address short-term priorities in municipalities and First Nation communities; which will make additional funding available for wastewater projects.

Question Period notes as provided by the Department to the Minister’s Office