| Oakville Health Protection Air Quality By-law 2010-035 |
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See also MIRANET articles: NOTE: The Town of Oakville provides the latest information about the town's actions to improve air quality, and information related to the proposed TransCanada power plant in the Clarkson-Oakville Airshed, at its new webpage: Health and Air Quality Protection. Oakville Beaver article (June 18, 2010): TransCanada files challenge against air quality bylaw. Excerpt: "TransCanada Energy has launched a court challenge of an Oakville bylaw it claims is vague, unreasonable and 'enacted in bad faith for the improper purpose of preventing, delaying or frustrating the construction and operation of the Oakville Generating Station.' The company, which has been given a provincial contract to build and operate a 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant on Ford Motor Company land at 1500 Royal Windsor Dr., filed its challenge of the Town’s Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw last week. The application asks the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to quash the bylaw, which the company claims exceeds the Town’s legislative authority, was enacted in bad faith, contravenes existing environmental legislation and is invalid due to vagueness. As well, the application asks the court to rule that the company had the legal right to use the property for the generation of electricity as of March 31, 1999, and to permit that use of the property 'despite any bylaw, or any other land use control or prohibition of the Town of Oakville.' ... In a letter to Town of Oakville lawyer Doug Carr, solicitors for TransCanada note that they are requesting the court combine the hearing of this new application with a previous one filed by the company challenging the Town’s interim control bylaw concerning new power plants." MIRANET DEPUTATION: The MIRANET Clean Air Subcommittee made a Deputation to Mississauga Council: May 26, 2010 (click to view), concerning the proposed air quality by-law for Mississauga, further to the Corporate Report dated May 13, 2010 from the Commissioner of Community Services, entitled Potential Fine Particulate Matter (FPM) By-law for Mississauga (click to view the 14p PDF). The report outlines what would be required to introduce a FPM by-law in Mississauga similar to the Town of Oakville's by-law. Click here for the Council Agenda. During the deputation, Council members were shown a 2-minute partial 'rough cut' of MIRANET's YouTube video about the Nanticoke solution, currently finishing production. Later, on a Motion by Councillor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , seconded by Councillor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Council voted unanimously to defer the Corporate Report pending specified reports, and to support the Town of Oakville in requesting provincial regulation of PM2.5 emissions. The Council Motion will be posted here shortly, and the Video once available. BY-LAW: Town of Oakville, Health Protection Air Quality By-law. Includes links to By-law 2010-035 as passed by unanimously by Oakville Council on February 1, 2010; Staff Reports; Q&A sheet; Presentation slides from the Public Information Meeting (Jan. 21, 2010) and Business Information Meeting (Jan. 19, 2010); and draft By-law 2009-197 which was subsequently revised. MISSISSAUGA COUNCIL RESOLUTION: March 10, 2010 - Mississauga Council unanimously passed Resolution 0063-2010 which directs staff to: "review the Town of Oakville By-law Number 2010-035 [Health Protection & Air Quality] ... and report back to Council on what would be required to develop and introduce such a by-law in Mississauga." Click here for the MIRANET article. The Guardian (UK) article (March 22, 2010): Pollution 'causing early deaths'. Excerpt: "Air pollution is causing the early deaths of up to 50,000 people a year and making thousands more ill - but the Government is failing to take enough action to tackle the problem, MPs have said. The UK should be 'ashamed' of its poor air quality and the harm it is causing to people's health and the environment, a report by the Commons Environmental Audit Committee said. The report said pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and "particulate matter" from transport and power stations contributed to conditions such as asthma, heart disease and cancer. The failure to reduce levels of pollution has 'enormous' costs for the NHS, and puts the UK at risk of multimillion-pound fines from Brussels for missing air quality targets, the committee said. ... The committee called for the Government to do more to raise awareness of the problem and for more joined up action between departments, as well as greater support to help local authorities address pollution and a shift in transport policy." MUST READ: Wood Smoke World blog 're-post' (March 22, 2010) of an Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP article originally appearing on the ACC Lexology website (March 16, 2010): New health protection air quality by-law in the Town of Oakville. Excerpt: "The [Oakville] Air By-law [2010-035] is controversial, being the first of its kind in Ontario. It was passed by the Town in response to extensive public lobbying to stop a proposed natural gas electrical generating facility from being located within its municipal boundaries in close proximity to residential areas. The fine particulate matter [FPM] and other compounds which the Air By-law seeks to regulate are currently not subject to approval limits provincially or federally. If other municipalities follow suit with similar by-laws, companies which are otherwise fully compliant with their provincial approvals may nevertheless be required to close. Thus far, the Air By-law has not been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board or through the courts. However, it is worth remembering that by-laws such as this one could face legal challenge on a number of grounds." Oakville Beaver article (March 10, 2010): Oakville’s major pollution emitters: Ford tops list of 14 companies that fail Oakville’s air quality bylaw. Excerpt: "According to the Province’s National Pollution Release Inventory (NPRI), 14 Oakville industries would be considered major emitters under the Town’s new Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw. The Ford Assembly Plant would be ranked as the worst among them. ... Under the bylaw, a facility is considered a major emitter if its emissions exceed at least one of the thresholds for the following pollutants: more than 500 kilograms of PM 10 (particulate matter) per year, more than 300 kilograms of PM 2.5 per year, more than a tonne of VOC (volatile organic compounds) per year, more than 2.7 tonnes of nitrogen oxide per year and more than 2 tonnes of sulphur dioxide per year." Includes table of major emitters. Oakville Beaver editorial (March 10, 2010): Wrong weapon. Excerpt: "We can understand Town Council’s desire to improve the community’s air quality and air quality standards. We can also understand its desire to come up with legislation to impede the construction of TransCanada’s 900 megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant on Royal Windsor Drive. However, in an effort to do so, the Town has come up with a Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw that creates an air of uncertainty for many local businesses. This includes 14 companies, which would be labeled major emitters based on the 2008 data from the Province’s National Pollution Release Inventory (NRPI)." Oakville Beaver opinion column (March 4, 2010): Town should not be regulating FPM, by John Sawyer, President, Oakville Chamber of Commerce. Excerpt: "A municipal air quality bylaw cannot achieve its stated objective of reducing levels of FPM [Fine Particulate Matter] in Oakville’s air. Studies have established that more than 70 per cent of the targeted emissions do not come from industry and that up to 50 per cent of the emissions originate from as far away as the Ohio Valley and the mid-western U.S. ... Oakville’s industrial base is small compared to other municipalities in and around our airshed. The potential reduction in emissions as a result of the Town’s bylaw will be less than one per cent. We need emission-reduction strategies supported by regulation." MUST READ: Environmental Law and Litigation blog, by Dianne Saxe (Feb. 15, 2010): Can Oakville make power plant get municipal air permit?. Excerpt: "Can municipalities insist that local industries obtain municipal air permits, in addition to those issued by the province? Spurred by opposition to a new gas-fired electric power plant, the Town of Oakville has opened a new front in the long battle over the role of municipalities in controlling pollution. ... On February 2, Oakville council therefore took matters into its own hands, passing the Health Protection Air Quality By-law 2010-035. ... It will almost certainly be challenged in the courts. In the interim, it may or may not hold up the proposed power plant." Oakville Beaver article (Feb. 12, 2010): TransCanada would be major emitter. Excerpt: "TransCanada broke its silence on the Town’s recently passed Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw [2010-035] during its Wednesday night open house, noting that under the legislation its proposed 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant would be considered a major emitter of pollutants. ... 'We don’t believe the Town of Oakville has the jurisdiction to deal with air quality issues,' said This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , TransCanada’s project manager of the Oakville Generating Station. 'We believe this falls under provincial jurisdiction.' ... Steeves said TransCanada has yet to decide what course of action it will take to deal with the bylaw, but did not rule out an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board." Town of Oakville, News Release (Feb. 2, 2010): Town passes new by-law to protect public from fine particulate matter. Excerpt: "Town Council has unanimously passed Health Protection Air Quality By-law 2010-035. The new by-law's purpose is to protect the health of Oakville residents from the effects of fine particulate matter (fine PM). It allows the town to collect information on emissions from facilities within Oakville and implements an approval process for major emissions of fine PM. ... 'We're taking immediate action to protect the health of our community,' Mayor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it said. 'Despite fine particulate matter being identified as a toxic substance, neither the provincial nor federal government has taken regulatory action to control emissions. There is no safe level of fine PM, so even a small reduction in emissions can save lives.'" Oakville Beaver article (Feb. 2, 2010): Oakville passes air quality bylaw. Excerpt: "A new bylaw aimed at making Oakville's air easier to breathe has received unanimous approval from local politicians. The town's new Health Protection Air Quality bylaw puts air-polluting industries on notice that the Town may not be a welcoming new home. It also makes Oakville the first Ontario jurisdiction to regulate fine particulate matter ... [and] reject incoming new industries judged to be major emitters of pollutants that cause unacceptable health impacts. The Town will also be able to deem existing industries and facilities that are major pollution emitters as 'public nuisances' and refuse them approval to continue to operate unless they cut emissions. ... While local politicians may be the first in the province to try to improve air quality through a bylaw, a number of councillors expressed confidence that the province will eventually follow their lead, as it did with smoking and pesticide regulations." Oakville Beaver article (Jan. 22, 2010): Residents want workable air quality bylaw. Excerpt: "They like the Town's proposed Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw, they just want to be sure it will work. ... While the prospect of an emissions regulating bylaw created much concern for Oakville's economy during a Tuesday meeting of Oakville's business leaders, residents at the Thursday meeting had mostly positive things to say about what the Town's effort to improve air quality. ... When another audience member asked if the bylaw would stop TransCanada's proposed 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant from being built in Oakville, [solicitor Rodney] Northey replied he was unsure at this time because TransCanada has not yet unveiled its projected emission levels." Davis LLP (Canada) - Municipal, Planning & Environmental Law Group Blog (Jan. 21, 2010): "More Environmental Regulation by Municipalities". Excerpt: "The Town of Oakville is venturing into the realm of regulating environmental issues. It recently announced that Council will consider a by-law for the reporting and regulation of the amount of fine particulate companies can emit in Oakville. ... This would seem to be part of an increasing trend by municipalities to regulate environmental issues within their boundaries. ... If passed in its current form, the by-law would impact proposed and existing facilities with or without Ministry of the Environment Certificates of Approval for air emissions." Oakville Beaver article (Jan. 21, 2010): Business blasts emissions bylaw. Excerpt: "The bylaw, listed as 2009-197, would require facilities that emit fine PM to undergo a rigorous approval process and be subject to reporting requirements on an ongoing basis. ... The Town’s Director of Environmental Policy Cindy Toth noted the bylaw is important because it seeks to remove a pollutant from the air that is extremely hazardous to human health. ... Rodney Northey, a solicitor retained by the Town, noted the bylaw is also important because despite these studies linking fine PM to health problems, neither the provincial nor federal governments regulate it." Oakville Beaver article (Dec. 29, 2009): "New bylaw aimed at controlling fine particulate matter emissions". Excerpt: "Town council is submitting a new bylaw, aimed at controlling major emissions of fine particulate matter, for public review. These emissions are an issue because fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) has been associated with hospital admissions and several serious health effects, even premature death. PM 2.5 emissions is one of the major concerns of local residents and politicians opposed to TransCanada’s proposed 900 megawatt gas-fueled power plant in southeast Oakville." Includes link to Staff Report and the proposed By-law. Town of Oakville, News Release (Dec. 22, 2009): New by-law to control major emissions of fine PM goes to public review. Excerpt: "'In the absence of effective regulation of fine PM by either the provincial or federal governments, we're taking action to protect the health of Oakville residents,' Mayor Rob Burton said. ... The purpose of the proposed by-law is to take measures to protect Oakville residents from the negative health effects of fine PM by collecting information from facilities that emit fine PM, implementing regulatory controls and monitoring emissions. Sources of major emissions could be designated as public nuisances under the by-law, which will come back to Council for consideration in February, 2010." Includes link to Staff Report and the proposed By-law. Oakville Beaver article (Dec. 18, 2009): "Town wants new Ontario air pollution act". Excerpt: "The Town of Oakville has applied to the Province under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights seeking a tough regulation, or even a new air pollution act, on the emissions of airborne fine particulate matter (fine PM). The move seeks to protect communities from adverse health effects and is being sought under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA)." Town of Oakville, News Release (Dec. 15, 2009): Town requests new provincial regulation for airborne fine particulate matter. Excerpt: "'Town residents have been told over and over that public health and environmental protection are considered when the province makes a decision, but the town can find no basis for this assurance. There is no limit on fine PM concentrations now, and no limit on how much more can be added into our already overtaxed airshed,' Mayor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it said. 'We're requesting a regulation that would require extensive assessment of the total fine PM levels for an area, and then ensure the results of the assessment are public. Residents should have an opportunity to comment before the province makes any decisions that could affect their health.'" PRINT AD: Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA): Full-page print ad in recent media (Dec. 11-12, 2009): A LITTLE PM2.5 NEVER HURT ANYBODY. |