Section 4  Environment Canada Emergency Reporting Structure

• 4.1 Environmental Emergencies Reporting System
  • 4.1.1 Operational Requirements
  • 4.1.2 Reporting System
  • 4.1.3 Incident Classification
  • 4.1.4 Internal Departmental Reports
    • 4.1.4.1 Pollution Incident Reports
    • 4.1.4.2 Spill Report Briefing Note
    • 4.1.4.3 NEEC Alert
• 4.2 Radiological Releases

4.1 Environmental Emergencies Reporting System

4.1.1 Operational Requirements

The incident reporting system is designed to meet the following departmental requirements:

1. operate a 24 hour per day, seven day per week national system, receiving and logging all incoming spill reports and disseminating information to senior managers and other government departments as appropriate;
2. trigger the invocation of Environment Canada regional, national or joint Canada/United States environmental emergencies contingency plan(s) and the mobilization of the Regional Environmental Emergencies Team (REET);
3. supply timely, coordinated and accurate incident information and a situation assessment to senior management, including the Deputy Minister and the Minister;
4. distribute to environmental emergencies decision-makers at the regional and national levels, a consistent and current series of situation reports, including action items, roles and activities of all players;
5. provide incident notification and status reports to the lead agency, other support agencies and departmental operations, as required; and
6. be the contact point for international organizations.

Figure 4.1 Environmental Emergency Reports

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4.1.2 Reporting System

The national and regional emergency spill-reporting hotlines of the Environmental Emergencies Program operate and are available to receive "emergency" reports 24 hours per day, seven days per week. In some regions, arrangements have been made with other agencies (i.e. Canadian Coast Guard, provinces) to consolidate spill reporting as a "one-window" harmonized system. In the Atlantic Region for example, Environment Canada, CCG and provincial departments of environment have "one window" (i.e. a single method) for spill reporting. A one-window, harmonized reporting system is also operational in the Ontario region. Work on the integration of federal and provincial spill-reporting systems is currently underway in British Columbia. Arrangements are also in place with the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and Northwest Territories for integrated spill-reporting systems. This arrangement is to be extended to include Nunavut.

The regional environmental emergencies officer (EEO) is responsible for obtaining sufficient information to assess the situation, initiating appropriate follow-up, advising the regional environmental emergencies coordinator and senior departmental management when necessary, and ensuring that a regional fan-out has occurred. Procedures are set out in the Standard Operating Procedures for Environment Canada Environmental Emergencies Officers. The required information includes:

• Date and time of
  • (i) occurrence and/or observation, and
  • (ii) report to EEO;
• Name and organization of observer and/or caller, contact number;
• Substance spilled (if unknown describe appearance, odour);
• Estimated quantity spilled (basis for estimate);
• Location of spill;
• Polluter and/or source of spill;
• Affected environment (marine, land, etc.);
• Weather/atmospheric conditions;
• Consequences (fish kill, spill contained, evacuation, etc.);
• Actions being taken to control spill;
• Agencies notified or on-scene;
• Safety concerns; and
• Other information.

Pollution incident reports (PIRs) for events that are significant in nature are transmitted from regional offices to the National Environmental Emergency Centre (NEEC), and are entered into the National Environmental Emergencies System (NEES). Reports requiring a fast briefing of senior management of potentially significant incidents are transmitted as NEEC Alerts (4.1.4.3).

4.1.3 Incident Classification

Classifying the severity of an incident is an important prerequisite to estimating the appropriate level of response. Initial reports may not provide all the necessary clues. Therefore, it is important for the EEO to obtain as much information as possible from the first reports, identify the information gaps, and ensure that the first responders on site collect the missing information, and then assess incident severity. This assessment must be based on the judgement of the environmental emergencies officer.

Since initial information may be incomplete, accurate analysis of the situation is difficult. For these reasons, it is departmental practice to plan for the worst of the range of incident possibilities, rather than wait until more complete incident information is available.

The criteria for judging the severity of an incident include:

• danger to human life (e.g. evacuation required);
• possibility of a pollutant crossing an international or interprovincial boundary;
• potential health hazard (e.g. spill in vicinity of water intakes, or release near a population centre);
• quantity and toxicity of material released or spilled;
• damage to natural resources or property;
• ability of local responders to deal with the incident;
• media interest; and
• uncertainty concerning the nature and magnitude of the incident.

4.1.4 Internal Departmental Reports

4.1.4.1 Pollution Incident Reports

The pollution incident report (PIR) is the first substantive document about a spill incident. It is completed and transmitted electronically to NEEC for incidents judged to be of sufficient severity based on defined criteria as an incident progresses, the original PIR may be followed by a series of supplementary reports. They include REET situation reports, questions and answers for senior managers, and regional briefing notes.

4.1.4.2 Spill Report Briefing Note

A spill report briefing note is prepared for an incident judged to be of potential national significance and thus of importance to the Minister and other senior departmental officials. Such notes are generated directly from the PIR data base. Spill report briefing notes are transmitted to departmental senior management, ministerial briefing and departmental communications offices, as well as national and appropriate regional environmental emergency offices.

4.1.4.3 NEEC Alert

A NEEC Alert is a one-page summary document used as an informal "heads up" to advise senior managers in the event of a significant environmental incident. The NEEC alert provides a brief interim report on what is currently known or suspected about a situation, actions underway and planned, and the agencies involved in the incident.

4.2 Radiological Releases

In the event of a major nuclear incident, AES (through its CMC operations centre in Dorval, Quebec) activates the nuclear incident reporting system (for releases to air), notifies Health Canada, Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), Emergency Preparedness Canada (EPC), and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to activate their contingency plans in support of their response. The system is also designed to facilitate Canada's international Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) role with respect to dispersion advisory support to requesting countries.

The specific system design, incident classification, and notification and reporting mechanisms are given in the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan (FNEP) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)* for CMC, Dorval. This includes international transfer of notification messages and technical information via the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on behalf of IAEA.

Joint Canada-United States response to transboundary radiological releases is covered under the Canada-United States Joint Radiological Emergency Response Plan, under which AES plays a significant operational role.

Organization and Responsibilities During Environmental Emergency

This section describes the department's organization structure for dealing with a major environmental emergency in Canada, including:

• contribution to the multi-agency Regional Environmental Emergencies Team (REET) and Federal Committee for Environmental Emergencies (FCEE);
• support to the National Earthquake Support Plan, theFederal Nuclear Emergency Plan, and the National Counter-Terrorism Plan;
• support during natural hazards and pollution emergencies of national significance; and
• provision of overall support to the National Support Planning Framework under the leadership of Emergency Preparedness Canada.

This section also includes information about Environment Canada's contribution in terms of scientific and technical input in dealing with all aspects of environmental emergencies, the duties of national support personnel within this structure, and general instructions and safety requirements that apply to emergency incidents.

To accommodate regional variability in administrative arrangements, the emergency organization and responsibilities outlined are generic. It is assumed that specific responsibilities may be fulfilled by partner agencies through REET or other partnerships.

Environment Canada's regional offices (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie & Northern, and Pacific & Yukon) are responsible for the development, maintenance, and implementation of the regional environmental emergencies plans complementing the National Plan.

In addition to its domestic responsibilities, Canada has commitments under international treaties to assist and cooperate with other nations in the prevention, preparedness and response to environmental emergencies. It is also incumbent upon Canada to ensure that Canadian environmental interests along the Canada-U.S. border and in Arctic areas are protected. To this end, Environment Canada participates in international fora including:

• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE),
• International Maritime Organization (IMO),
• International Joint Commission (IJC),
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM),
• Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) for circumpolar countries,
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO),
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and
• International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

* under revision