Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy

IMPLEMENTING THE BINATIONAL TOXICS STRATEGY
Implementation

Stakeholders Forum
November 16-17, 1998 - Chicago, Illinois

1998 Progress Report - Final Draft
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In early 1998, Environment Canada and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in concert with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, began their collective efforts to implement the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy: Canada-United States Strategy for the Virtual Elimination of Persistent Toxic Substances in the Great Lakes (Strategy). A variety of actions are now taking place at the federal, state, provincial, and local levels that seek to achieve the use and release reduction goals for the substances targeted by this Strategy: dioxins/furans, mercury, PCBs, hexachlorobenzene, benzo(a)pyrene, alkyl lead, octachlorostyrene, and a number of canceled or restricted pesticides (aldrin/dieldrin, chlordane, DDT, mirex, and toxaphene). The Strategy is designed to build on these actions, continue the momentum, and sustain the focus to maximize the benefits to the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem. 

Implementation Plan

Using a collaborative process, the implementation plan for the Strategy has been built around the efforts of substance-specific workgroups. Seven workgroups have been formed to deal with the twelve targeted substances, grouping them according to chemical or industrial sector similarities. Comprised of representatives from environmental groups, local, state, provincial, and federal governments, industry, and tribes and First Nations, these seven workgroups are seeking to identify ways to virtually eliminate the targeted persistent toxic substances from the Great Lakes Basin. As was expected from the outset, each workgroup faces its own challenges and is making progress toward its challenge goal at its own pace, within a prescribed implementation framework.  

Substance-specific Workgroups

Each workgroup is following a "four-step process" for organizing its activities related to meeting the goals of the Strategy. The four steps include gathering information, analyzing current regulations, initiatives, and programs, identifying cost-effective options to achieve further reductions beyond those required by regulations, and implementing actions to work toward the goal of virtual elimination of the targeted substances. Some of the workgroups, although still in the initial stages of gathering information about baseline levels and sources of the substances, are also involved in identifying cost-effective options to achieve reductions.

• The mercury workgroup continues to identify new options to achieve further reductions, but is also implementing specific activities leading to the goal of virtual elimination. Such activities include the recent signing of an agreement with the American Hospital Association to eliminate mercury from hospital waste, working with the chloralkali sector to reduce mercury releases, and working with the steel industry to reduce the use and release of mercury.
• With the publication of both the Canadian and U.S. dioxin inventory updates this year, the dioxin/furans workgroup is assessing the implications of these inventories, as well as analyzing new developments and regulations that will affect current and future dioxin/furans emissions.
• The PCB workgroup continues to promote the removal of PCBs from the environment through supporting Clean Sweep programs, and plans to analyze how new U.S. PCB regulations will affect the storage and release of PCBs.
• The octachlorostyrene and the hexachlorobenzene/benzo(a)pyrene workgroups are focused on source identification and obtaining the involvement of key industries.
• Documenting and understanding the effects of current environmental loadings, fate, and transport have been the early emphasis of the pesticides and alkyl lead workgroups.

Communications and Outreach

As these actions are taking place, the two federal governments are working to facilitate communication among Strategy participants and to assist the workgroups with cross-cutting issues such as long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants from outside the Great Lakes Basin. A meeting was held on March 23, 1998, to kick off the implementation efforts of the Binational Strategy. A Binational Toxics Strategy list server and two web pages (www.epa.gov/bns and www.cciw.ca/glimr) have been created to encourage and facilitate communication between and with workgroup members. The USEPA web site also includes a discussion forum for the use of workgroup members. Because implementation efforts are focused primarily, but not solely, around substance-specific workgroups, in June 1998 stakeholders were invited to participate in a meeting of a separate workgroup called the Integration Group. This group met to discuss reporting mechanisms, recognition and incentive programs, sector-based approaches, long-range transport, sediments, and other issues outside the scope of the substance-specific workgroups.

The two governments are committed to providing progress reports on a regular basis, detailing the most recent efforts and achievements under the Strategy. This Progress Report is the first of these reports.