Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations Data

The Pulp & Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER) were published in 1992 pursuant to the Fisheries Act to control effluent discharges and reduce the impacts of effluents on fish and fish habitat that had been observed at pulp and paper mills across Canada at that time. The Regulations set out limits for certain deleterious substances, prohibit the discharge of effluent that is acutely lethal to rainbow trout, and specify the requirements for carrying out effluent sampling, reporting and environmental effects monitoring (EEM). The Regulations are administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

Regulatory data collected under the PPER has been compiled and formatted by ECCC for the purpose of this data record. This data intends to inform the regulated community, other stakeholders and the interested public on data collected through the PPER, for informational purposes only. Should any discrepancies exist between the original submission and the data presented in this data record, the original data submitted prevails. For any questions concerning the data presented in this record, please contact the Forest Products and Fisheries Act Division at ECCC using the following email: ec.refpppper.ec@canada.ca

The files published as part of this record contain daily discharge amounts for suspended solids (SS) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), and the results for effect on Daphnia magna testing, and rainbow trout acute lethality testing required under the PPER as reported to ECCC. Each CSV file contains the data mentioned above, as well as the name of the associated mill and outfall(s). Data collection for this dataset is ongoing.

Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) is a condition governing the authority to deposit effluent under the PPER pursuant to the Fisheries Act. Under the PPER, sublethal toxicity testing on final effluent twice every calendar year is a required component of the EEM. Testing must be conducted using the methods referenced in the PPER. Tests are conducted on freshwater and marine fish, invertebrate and alga species. The dataset includes test results for all sublethal toxicity tests conducted from 2010 to 2019 on the final effluent of all pulp and paper mills in Canada. Sublethal toxicity testing of final effluent continues for all mills in production. Testing results are submitted electronically into a database by mills on an ongoing basis. The dataset is updated annually and is an Excel file exported from the database, which contains for each test a record identifier, mill identifier, cycle name, effluent description, collection date, laboratory, species, LC50 results and IC25 or EC25 results and comments.

Supplemental Information

The full text of the Regulations outlining all the requirements is published in Part II of the Canada Gazette and is available here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-92-269/FullText.html

A Status Report on the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations is available here: http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.696144/publication.html

The Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations Annual Report is published here: https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.898066/publication.html