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Town estimates 10-15 businesses are major emitters 3 · Wednesday, February 3, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Continued from page 1 reporting need only be done if there are changes in emissions. Facilities deemed "major emitters," based on standards determined by the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), will be required to go through a $25,000 town approval process. Those standards would deem a facility a major emitter if it released 500 kg/year of particulate matter under 10 microns, or 300 kg/year of particulate matter under 2.5 microns. Along with all emissions from the facility, the approval process will look at the dispersion of the pollutants and assess the public health risks associated. The Town will hire professionals to review data provided by the facility and council will determine whether to grant or refuse approval. Existing facilities that agree to develop a five-year plan leading to a 25 per cent reduction in emissions will be given approval to continue to operate. Those that do not agree to a reduction plan will need to convince Town council that there is a public interest in allowing them to continue to operate despite their emissions. Town staff estimate there are probably 10 or 15 facilities in town "You want to catch a large tuna, but you'll kill a lot of dolphins in the process." John Sawyer, president Oakville Chamber of Commerce likely to be classified as major emitters. Consultant Rodney Northey, an environmental law specialist hired to advise the Town, noted that those companies will already be collecting emissions data and dealing with approval processes. "There should be no surprises to a major emitter because they are already reporting under NPRI," he noted. Oakville facilities -- which can include institutions and large apartment buildings, along with corporations -- that currently operate under a provincial Certificate of Approval (CofA) for air quality emissions will be required to report their emissions in six months. Emitters that are not operating under a CofA will not be required to report for the first year of the bylaw. Town CAO Ray Green told councillors that the cost to administer the first year of the bylaw will probably be in the neighbourhood of $75,000 to $100,000, but could be double that, depending on the public education component planned. He added that he is unsure of ongoing costs. "To some degree, this is like the pesticide bylaw and the private tree bylaw," said Green. "What we'll do is develop options for council." Cindy Toth, the Town's director of environmental policy, told councillors that fine particulate matter, which is small enough to be breathed into the lungs and even absorbed into the bloodstream, causes about 80 premature deaths each year in Oakville. The message was reinforced by Northey, who emphasized that there is no safe level for fine particulate matter pollutants. "Those numbers are as firm as anything you can find," he said. "Any level of increase in fine particulate matter is associated with some increase in the death rate and any level of decrease is associated with some decrease." John Sawyer, president of Oakville Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber supports initiatives to improve air quality and air quality standards, but doesn't believe the Town should be doing the regulation. "The reason we support it is simple -- air pollution kills people.." Liz Benneian,Oakvillegreen "We're not in support of municipal regulation of the airshed," he told councillors. "This type of regulation should be mandated by the province in a process that would affect all jurisdictions equally." Sawyer suggested the new bylaw will be expensive for businesses and ineffective in reducing air pollution. He is also afraid it will put Oakville companies at a competitive disadvantage, create an uncertain business climate and make it difficult to attract new companies to town. "You want to catch a large tuna, but you'll kill a lot of dolphins in the process," he said, in what appeared to be an oblique reference to Town council's ongoing battle to keep TransCanada's proposed gas-fired power plant out of Oakville. The bylaw did receive support from representatives of Oakvillegreen, C4CA (Citizens for Clean Air) and two local residents groups that spoke at the council meeting. "The reason we support it is simple -- air pollution kills people," said Liz Benneian of Oakvillegreen. "Some say it's up to the province to pass legislation to protect public health, but the bigger the government, the slower to move." "Do not rely on another level of government to protect Oakville's health. Clearly they have another agenda or move at a snail's pace," said Janet Haslett-Theall, president of the Joshua Creek Residents' Association. While local politicians may be the first in the province to try to improve air quality through a bylaw, a number of councillors expressed confidence that the province will eventually follow their lead, as it did with smoking and pesticide regulations. Fine particulate matter is currently regulated at the provincial level in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland, as well as in all American states. "We can't rest on our laurels with this because this is only one small tool in a very large toolbox to deal with our toxic airshed," said Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll. 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