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Abstract

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.

Potential Influence of Sewage Phosphorus and Wet and Dry Deposition Detected in Fish Collected in the Athabasca River North of Fort McMurray

“…These data were retained for this study and further information is provided below. The sampling schedule used in this program has been adapted for use in the OSR from the technical guidance for the regulatory Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) program (e.g., [51]). Environmental Effects Monitoring programs are based on the periodic collections of fish.…”

Water resource use and management by the United States forest products industry

“…Since that time the indicators (condition factor [length:weight], liver size, gonad size, age, and weight at age) seen in individual fish at effluent-exposed sites relative to upstream reference sites (Walker et al 2003). Additionally, fish habitat is assessed through the examination of benthic macroinvertebrate endpoints (abundance, Bray-Curtis similarity, richness, and evenness).…”

The potential use of Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia) for monitoring estuarine pollution

“…13 In Canada, fish environmental effects monitoring techniques focus primarily at the whole organism/population level, and while these monitoring approaches are well developed for freshwater fish populations, 14 they have been less successful in marine environments. There are a number of reasons for this, including the multidirectional movement of water, floating or trapped plumes, difficulties with adequate reference sites, lack of basic life-history information of species, [15][16][17] confounding factors, 18 migration of fish species, 7,9,18 reduced site fidelity, 19 and spatial and temporal variation in abundance of species. 13 It is probable that many of these limitations can be reduced by choosing the optimal sentinel species, and there are many examples of studies successfully detecting impacts near marine discharges using fish populations.…”