Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

Marginal note:Plan — priorities

• 73 (1) The Ministers shall, within two years after the day on which this section receives royal assent, develop and publish a plan with timelines

  • (a) that specifies the substances to which the Ministers are satisfied priority should be given in assessing whether they are toxic or capable of becoming toxic;

  • (b) that specifies the activities or initiatives in relation to assessing, controlling or otherwise managing the risks to the environment or to human health posed by substances that are or will be undertaken under an Act of Parliament for whose administration either Minister is responsible and which the Ministers are of the opinion should be prioritized; and

  • (c) that specifies activities or initiatives to promote the development and timely incorporation of scientifically justified alternative methods and strategies in the testing and assessment of substances to replace, reduce or refine the use of vertebrate animals.

• Marginal note:Consultation and considerations

  (2) In developing a proposed plan, and in implementing the plan, the Ministers

  • (a) may consult with the Committee, a government department or agency, aboriginal people, representatives of industry and labour and municipal authorities or with persons interested in the quality of the environment or the preservation and improvement of public health;

  • (b) shall consider whether assessing substances by class is more advantageous than assessing them individually, with a view toward avoiding substitutions within the class that may be harmful; and

  • (c) shall take into account the matters referred to in paragraph 68(a), including the manner in which the public may be provided with information regarding substances or products including, in the case of products, by labelling them.

• Marginal note:Publication of proposed plan

  (3) The Minister shall publish the proposed plan in the Environmental Registry and shall give notice in the Canada Gazette and in any other manner that the Minister considers appropriate of the proposed plan’s availability.

• Marginal note:Comments

  (4) Within 60 days after the publication of the notice, any person may file with the Minister written comments on the proposed plan.

• Marginal note:Consideration of comments

  (5) The Ministers shall take into account the comments and may amend the proposed plan in any manner they consider appropriate based on those comments.

• Marginal note:Publication of plan

  (6) The Minister shall publish the plan in the Canada Gazette and in any other manner that the Minister considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Review of plan

  (7) The Ministers shall review the plan within eight years after it is published and every eight years after that.

• Marginal note:Application

  (8) If after reviewing the plan the Ministers propose to amend it, subsections (2) to (7) apply to the proposed amended plan.