Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) Programs in Canada have been developed for the pulp and paper and metal mining industries. The EEM Program conducts cyclical evaluations of receiving environments to determine whether effects exist when facilities comply with existing regulations. Investigation of cause (IOC) is a specific stage in the EEM Program that is used after environmental effects in fish and/or benthos have been detected, confirmed and their extent and magnitude have been documented. This paper presents an overview of the processes associated with this phase of monitoring. The objective of an IOC is to obtain sufficient information so that the source of the effect can be identified and removed, or its effects reduced to an acceptable level. The initial direction of an IOC is dependent upon the type of response patterns observed for fish and/or benthos during EEM cycles and extent/magnitude studies. The framework presented in this paper is based on an amalgamation of research projects conducted at Canadian pulp mills over the last decade and selected studies are summarized as examples. It also represents an integration of several research philosophies and scientific disciplines. The framework is based on national response patterns from the second cycle of pulp and paper EEM studies. IOCs are directed into either an eutrophication-based investigation or a contaminant-based investigation (including metabolic disruption in fish). The framework is constructed with a progression of investigative levels designed to provide more information on the causative factors. Each of these phases also represents a decision point for stakeholders to determine if sufficient information has been attained about the causal factor(s) and whether the IOC should be concluded. It is expected that the framework will evolve with a growing knowledge base of causal factors, as facilities enter into this phase of the EEM Program.
As part of the amended Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulations under the Fisheries Act, mines will be required to develop and conduct Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM). EEM will be done to evaluate the effects of mine effluent on fish, fish habitat, and fish usability. Mines will be required to determine if there are changes in fish populations and/or in the usability of fish due to mine effluent. The EEM program has been designed with a tiered monitoring approach, with the first phase determining if an effect is present. Subsequent phases of EEM will focus on continued monitoring and determining the magnitude, geographic extent, and cause of effects (if any). Fish collected from the area exposed to mine effluent will be compared to fish from a reference area in order to determine if there is an effect, if the effect is mine related and the cause of the effect within the effluent. The fish population survey will examine the growth, reproduction, condition, and survival of one or more resident sentinel fish species. Fish usability will be determined based on the appearance of fish, their use, and the contaminant levels in fish tissue. It is recognized that some mines may not be able to implement a fish monitoring program as outlined, so it has been recommended that alternative methods, such as a caged bivalves or on-site bioassays, may also be used. Frequency of monitoring will be dependent on the previous results of the fish and benthic invertebrate monitoring phases.
In Canada, Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) programs exist within two regulations: the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations and the new Metal Mining Effluent Regulations under the Canadian Fisheries Act. EEM provides a biological, effects-based feedback loop to assess the effectiveness of technology-based regulations in protecting receiving environments. The promulgation of the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations, in 1992, represented a significant step forward in the Canadian regulatory approach by incorporating directly into a regulation a requirement to assess the effects of effluent discharges on receiving environments using proven scientific monitoring methodologies. Similarly, an assessment of the aquatic impacts of mines resulted in recommendations to amend the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations, recently promulgated in 2002, and includes an EEM program as a science-based feedback loop. As such, these regulations recognize the possibility that national, technology-based standards may not necessarily protect all receiving environments because of the diversity and variability of both discharges and receiving sites across the country. Since that time, EEM has improved its flexibility by considering both advances in science and the uniqueness of monitoring sites across Canada to allow the most appropriate and cost-effective monitoring approaches at each site while maintaining national consistency. This paper discusses the use of monitoring under two Canadian regulations to assess effects on aquatic ecosystems. As well, the National EEM approach to maintaining up-to-date scientific practices in a national regulatory program is discussed using examples.
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