On June 2, 2010, Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable
Development, Environment and Parks announced that it has published,
for a 60-day public consultation, amendments to the Regulation
Respecting Mandatory Reporting of Certain Emissions of Contaminants
into the Atmosphere (the Regulation). The amendments are meant
to harmonize the Regulation with the common policies adopted by the
members of the Western Climate Initiative (the WCI). The partners
of the WCI are comprised of 7 U.S. states, including California,
and four Canadian provinces, namely British Columbia, Manitoba,
Ontario and Quebec.
The current Regulation sets the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
reporting threshold at 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
equivalent per year. The amended Regulation would lower the
threshold and require reports be provided by Quebec enterprises
that have emissions of 10,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year or
more. If enacted, the amended Regulation would also prescribe the
methods to be used to quantify emissions and would require emitters
of more than 25,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year to have their
emission reports verified by an accredited organization.
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