Item - 2019.HL12.1

The Board of Health:

1.  Received the report (November 19, 2019) from the Medical Officer of Health for information.

The ChemTRAC program aims to increase public awareness of chemicals in the environment and reduce pollution from industrial and commercial sources by annually reporting to the public on the manufacture, use, or release of chemicals by local industries. It is administered by Toronto Public Health (TPH) and is guided by the Environmental Reporting and Disclosure By-law, which requires certain facilities to report each year if they use or release any of 25 priority substances above identified thresholds. The information reported to ChemTRAC is then publically released. The information for 2018 is currently available online through the program's interactive map and in the 2019 annual report. ChemTRAC, with its lower reporting thresholds and focus on local industries, complements the National Pollutant Release Inventory which captures information from facilities with large emissions. Regulating local industrial and commercial releases of contaminants that can affect human health and the environment is the responsibility of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and falls outside the scope of the ChemTRAC program.

This report provides an update on the ChemTRAC program and responds to City Council's June 2019 request for a review of industrial operations in Ward 5 (York South-Weston) to determine compliance with the reporting requirements of the ChemTRAC program.

For 2018, 26 facilities in Ward 5 reported amounts above the thresholds. As part of annual data quality control procedures, staff initiated audits of randomly selected facilities from the ward, including facilities that reported to ChemTRAC and facilities that did not report to ChemTRAC. Of 16 completed audits, a majority (88 percent) of audited facilities were in compliance with the By-law. Those who require assistance to be in compliance, including one identified in the audit this year, receive support from ChemTRAC to submit an accurate report.