The Globe and Mail reports this morning that, “Canadian municipalities will have to bring their sewage treatment plants up to snuff under new regulations to be unveiled by the Harper government later this year.”
“The new rules will set performance benchmarks, timelines and monitoring and reporting requirements for the country’s 4,000 wastewater facilities, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Thursday in Saint John.””Facilities that can’t afford the upgrades or repairs can apply to Ottawa’s infrastructure fund or borrow from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Mr. Prentice said. More details will emerge when the government publishes draft regulations in December, which are expected to be revised and finalized next year.”
“The Conservative government has been criticized for announcing only piecemeal projects instead of the national water strategy promised more than two years ago. This spring, Canada’s environment commissioner told a House of Commons committee the Tories have made negligible progress on a national water strategy.”
“Mr. Prentice’s announcement drew a rebuke Thursday from Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, the party’s water critic. ‘The Harper government has no vision on this pressing issue,’ he said in a statement. The government has ignored Parliament’s calls for a national water strategy, he said.”
The full article is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/prentice-pledges-new-wastewater-rules/article1243600/.
