Reviewing CEPA

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) is the backbone of Canadian environmental legislation. The mandatory five-year review of CEPA is an opportunity to modernize this law and address key issues of concern to Canadians. CEPA needs to include expanded and mandatory protections for children's health as well as special protection of the Great Lakes. It must address the serious gap in regulating toxic substances in consumer products. The review and management of toxic substances is too slow and lacks accountability. A reformed CEPA must impose rigorous timelines and deadlines for taking action to reduce and prevent exposure to toxic substances. During 2006, two federal standing committees, in the Senate and the House, began parallel reviews of CEPA.

Throughout the CEPA review, this collection will continue to aggregate CELA's submissions and media releases concerning ongoing steps in implementing CEPA and proposals for improving this law. For information about the first review of CEPA, see: Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (First CEPA Review). Additional and relevant resources are available in the following collections: Children's Health and the Environment and PBDEs - Flame Retardants as Problematic as PCBs.