PCB Regulations (SOR/2008-273)
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Regulations are current to 2024-10-30 and last amended on 2021-10-31. Previous Versions
PCB Regulations
SOR/2008-273
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, 1999
Registration 2008-09-05
PCB Regulations
P.C. 2008-1659 2008-09-05
Whereas, pursuant to subsection 332(1)Footnote a of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999Footnote b, the Minister of the Environment published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, November 4, 2006, a copy of the proposed PCB Regulations, substantially in the annexed form, and persons were given an opportunity to file comments with respect to the proposed Regulations or to file a notice of objection requesting that a board of review be established and stating the reasons for the objection;
Return to footnote aS.C. 2004, c. 15, s. 31
Return to footnote bS.C. 1999, c. 33
Whereas, pursuant to subsection 93(3) of that Act, the National Advisory Committee has been given an opportunity to provide its advice under section 6Footnote c of that Act;
Return to footnote cS.C. 2002, c. 7, s. 124
And whereas, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, pursuant to subsection 93(4) of that Act, the proposed Regulations do not regulate an aspect of a substance that is regulated by or under any other Act of Parliament in a manner that provides, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, sufficient protection to the environment and human health;
Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Health, pursuant to subsection 93(1) and section 97 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999Footnote b, hereby makes the annexed PCB Regulations.
PART 1General
Marginal note:Definitions
1 (1) The following definitions apply in these Regulations.
- Act
Act means the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. (Loi)
- authorized facility
authorized facility means a facility, including a transfer site, that is authorized by the authorities of the jurisdiction in which it is located to process PCBs or products containing PCBs or to conduct laboratory analysis or research with PCBs or products containing PCBs. (installation agréée)
- National Fire Code
National Fire Code means the National Fire Code of Canada 2005, NRCC No. 47667, issued by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes, National Research Council of Canada, as amended from time to time. (Code national de prévention des incendies)
- PCB
PCB means any chlorobiphenyl described in item 1 of the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 to the Act. (BPC)
- process
process[Repealed, SOR/2011-301, s. 3]
- product
product[Repealed, SOR/2011-301, s. 3]
Marginal note:Concentration — several matrices
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, if a solid or a liquid containing PCBs is composed of several matrices, the concentration of PCBs is based on the mass of the matrix in which the PCBs are located.
Marginal note:Accredited laboratory
(3) Any analysis performed to determine the concentration of PCBs for the purposes of these Regulations must be performed by a laboratory that meets the following conditions at the time of the analysis:
(a) it is accredited
(i) under the International Organization for Standardization standard ISO/IEC 17025, entitled General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, by an accrediting body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement, or
(ii) under the Environment Quality Act, CQLR, c. Q-2; and
(b) the scope of its accreditation includes the analysis performed to determine the concentration of PCBs in the matrix in which the PCBs are located.
Marginal note:Sampling method
(4) For the purposes of these Regulations, other than section 13, the concentration of PCBs in a matrix is determined using a provincially, nationally or internationally recognized sampling method for PCBs in the matrix in which the PCBs are located.
Marginal note:Sampling method — bulk solid products
(5) For the purposes of section 13, the concentration of PCBs is determined using a sampling method for bulk solid products, which is set out in either federal or provincial legislation, as amended from time to time, or approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or with the regulations made under that Act, as amended from time to time.
- SOR/2010-57, ss. 1(F), 20(F)
- SOR/2011-301, s. 3
- SOR/2014-75, s. 1
- SOR/2021-42, s. 2
Marginal note:Application
2 (1) These Regulations apply to PCBs and to any products containing PCBs.
Marginal note:Non-application
(2) These Regulations do not apply to the following:
(a) the import and export of PCBs that are or are considered to be hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material within the meaning of sections 2 to 5 of the Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations;
(b) the sale, importation or advertising of liquids containing PCBs for use in microscopy, including immersion oils but not including refractive index oils, which is prohibited under section 5 of the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act; and
(c) the offer for sale, sale and use of land contaminated with PCBs or with products containing PCBs.
- SOR/2014-75, s. 2
- SOR/2021-25, s. 83
Marginal note:Sale of property
3 Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as preventing the sale of
(a) personal property or movables that contain PCBs, or real property or immovables that have PCBs or products containing PCBs, and that form part of the sale of the whole or part of a business, including a manufacturing or a processing business;
(b) real property or immovables that have products containing PCBs if the products continue to be used after the sale for the same purpose at the same place and are an integral part of the property or immovable; or
(c) real property or immovables on which a PCB storage site is located.
Marginal note:Compliance
4 In addition to the persons who must comply with the requirements set out in these Regulations, a person who owns PCBs or products containing PCBs shall ensure that the requirements of these Regulations with respect to those PCBs or products are met.
PART 2Prohibitions and Permitted Activities
Prohibitions
Marginal note:Release into the environment
5 (1) No person shall release PCBs into the environment, other than from the equipment referred to in subsection (2), in a concentration of
(a) 2 mg/kg or more for a liquid containing PCBs; or
(b) 50 mg/kg or more for a solid containing PCBs.
Marginal note:Release from equipment
(2) No person shall release more than one gram of PCBs into the environment from equipment referred to in section 16 that is in use or from equipment in use for which an extension has been granted under section 17.
Marginal note:Prohibited activities
6 Except as provided in these Regulations, no person shall
(a) manufacture, export or import PCBs or a product containing PCBs in a concentration of 2 mg/kg or more;
(b) offer for sale or sell PCBs or a product containing PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more; or
(c) process or use PCBs or a product containing PCBs.
Permitted Activities
Marginal note:Laboratory analysis
7 A person may manufacture, export, import, offer for sale, sell, process and use PCBs or products containing PCBs for the purpose of laboratory analysis if the analysis is conducted
(a) in an authorized facility that is authorized for that purpose; or
(b) in a facility that conforms to internationally recognized guidelines on best laboratory practices, if the authorities of the jurisdiction in which the facility is located do not have a mechanism in place to authorize the facility to conduct the analysis.
- SOR/2010-57, s. 20(F)
Marginal note:Research
8 (1) A person may offer for sale or sell PCBs or products containing PCBs to be processed or used for the purpose of research to determine the effects of those PCBs or products on human health or on the environment, if the facility in which they are processed or used is
(a) an authorized facility that is authorized for that purpose; or
(b) a facility that conforms to internationally recognized guidelines on best laboratory practices, if the authorities of the jurisdiction in which the facility is located do not have a mechanism in place to authorize the facility to conduct the research.
Marginal note:Processing and use
(2) A person may process and use the PCBs or products containing PCBs for the purpose of the research referred to in subsection (1) at a facility that meets the requirement set out in paragraph (1)(a) or (b).
- SOR/2010-57, s. 20(F)
Marginal note:Electrical capacitor
9 A person may offer for sale, sell and use an electrical capacitor containing PCBs if the electrical capacitor
(a) is an integral part of a consumer product;
(b) is fusion sealed; and
(c) would be rendered inoperable and irreparable if the PCBs were removed from it.
Marginal note:Aircraft, ships, trains and other vehicles
10 A person may export, import, offer for sale, sell and use for transportation purposes aircraft, ships, trains and other vehicles that contain PCBs only in their communication, navigation or electronic control equipment or cables.
Marginal note:Colouring pigment
11 (1) A person may manufacture, export, import, offer for sale, sell, process and use a colouring pigment containing PCBs produced incidentally if the concentration of the PCBs is less than 50 mg/kg.
Marginal note:Annual average concentration
(2) Despite subsection (1), the annual average concentration of PCBs produced incidentally in colouring pigment that a person may manufacture, export, import, offer for sale, sell, process and use shall not exceed 25 mg/kg.
- SOR/2010-57, s. 2(F)
Marginal note:Destruction
12 A person may process PCBs or products containing PCBs for the purpose of destroying PCBs or recovering PCBs for the purpose of destroying them in an authorized facility that is authorized for that purpose.
- SOR/2010-57, s. 3(F)
Marginal note:Solid products
13 (1) A person may manufacture solid products containing PCBs in a concentration of less than 50 mg/kg using bulk solid products containing PCBs in a concentration of less than 50 mg/kg, and may use those solid products.
Marginal note:Application
(2) Subsection (1) only applies to the manufacture of the types of products that are manufactured before September 5, 2008.
Marginal note:Exception
(3) No person shall offer for sale or sell the products manufactured in accordance with subsection (1) unless the products are used in the course of a commercial or industrial activity.
- SOR/2010-57, s. 4
Marginal note:Cables, pipelines, electrical capacitors and other equipment
14 (1) A person may use the following products containing PCBs:
(a) cables, if they remain in place on September 5, 2008;
(b) pipelines that transport natural gas, petroleum or petroleum products and any associated equipment that is in contact with the natural gas, petroleum or petroleum products if the pipelines and the equipment remain in place on September 5, 2008;
(c) fusion sealed capacitors if they are used in relation to communication equipment or electronic control equipment; and
(d) the following equipment containing PCBs in a concentration of less than 50 mg/kg if the equipment is used for the purpose for which it was manufactured:
(i) electrical capacitors, light ballasts, electrical transformers and their auxiliary electrical equipment, including pole-top electrical transformers and their pole-top auxiliary electrical equipment,
(ii) electromagnets that are not used in the handling of food, feed or any additive to food or feed, and
(iii) heat transfer equipment, hydraulic equipment, vapour diffusion pumps and bridge bearings.
Marginal note:Electrical capacitors
(2) A person may import fusion sealed capacitors containing PCBs for use in relation to communication tactical equipment or electronic control tactical equipment.
- SOR/2010-57, ss. 5, 19
- Date modified: