Environment and Climate Change Canada, along with Health Canada, published the Prohibition of Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos Regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II on October 17, 2018.

These new regulations apply to any person who manufactures, imports, sells or uses asbestos or products containing asbestos.

The regulations prohibit the import, sale and use of all forms of asbestos as well as the manufacture, import, sale and use of products containing asbestos, with a limited number of exclusions:

• ongoing exclusions for
  • the transfer of physical possession or control of asbestos or a product containing asbestos to allow its disposal
  • the re-use of asbestos in existing road infrastructure into new road infrastructure or in asbestos mining site restoration
  • the import, sale or use of military equipment serviced overseas with a product containing asbestos if there were no technically or economically feasible asbestos-free alternatives available
  • the import, sale or use of asbestos and products containing asbestos for display in a museum or for use in a laboratory
• exclusions until
  • December 31, 2022 for the import, sale or use of products containing asbestos to service equipment in nuclear facilities, or to service military equipment, if there are no technically or economically feasible asbestos-free alternatives available,
  • December 31, 2029 for the import and use of asbestos for chlor-alkali facilities using asbestos diaphragm technology

The regulations include:

• permit provisions for unforeseen circumstances where asbestos or a product containing asbestos is used to protect human health or the environment, if there is no technically or economically feasible asbestos-free alternative available
• permit provisions for the import and use of products containing asbestos to service military equipment and equipment in a nuclear facility, if there is no technically or economically feasible asbestos-free alternative available
• provisions requiring the submission of reports from museums, laboratories, and military, nuclear and chlor-alkali facilities, as well as permit holders, who import, use or display asbestos or products containing asbestos. The preparation and implementation of an asbestos management plan is also required in most cases

The regulations do not apply to:

• asbestos integrated into a structure or infrastructure before the day on which the Regulations come into force (such as asbestos integrated into buildings and civil engineering works), or to products containing asbestos used before the day on which the regulations come into force (such as equipment installed in a facility, vehicles, ships, and airplanes)
• asbestos and products containing asbestos in transit through Canada
• mining residues, except for certain high risk activities which are prohibited, including:
• the sale of asbestos mining residues for use in construction and landscaping activities, unless authorized by the province, and
• the use of asbestos mining residues to manufacture a product that contains asbestos

In addition to these regulations, the existing Export of Substances on the Export Control List Regulations (ESECLR) and Schedule 3 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 were amended to prohibit exports of asbestos, with a limited number of exceptions.  These provisions ensure that Canada continues to meet its export obligations under international conventions, including the Rotterdam Convention. The regulations and related amendments to the ESECLR come into force on December 30, 2018.

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2018/10/the-government-of-canada-takes-measures-to-ban-asbestos-and-asbestoscontaining-products.html

____________________________________________________________

Manning Environmental Law is a Canadian law firm based in Toronto, Ontario. Our practice is focussed on environmental law, energy law and aboriginal law. 

Paul Manning is a certified specialist in environmental law. He has been named as one of the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers and one of the World’s Leading Climate Change Lawyers by Who’s Who Legal.

As always, these posts  are provided only as a general guide and are not legal advice. If you do have any issue that requires legal advice please get in touch. Our contact details can be found here