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30-593: The Arctic Basin Marine Ecozone , as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian marine ecozone encompassing the northwestern areas of waters on the Arctic continental shelf. It is bitterly cold and permanently covered in ice. Polar nights and the midnight sun may last months in this region, which has come to characterize the stereotype of the north. Its only land contact

60-463: A concentration high enough to have significant negative impacts. A pollutant may cause long- or short-term damage by changing the growth rate of plant or animal species, or by interfering with resources used by humans, human health or wellbeing, or property values. Some pollutants are biodegradable and therefore will not persist in the environment in the long term. However, the degradation products of some pollutants are themselves polluting such as

90-417: A searchable database of integrated, North American PRTR data and the annual Taking Stock report . The Taking Stock Online tool allows the user to explore information on pollution from industrial facilities across North America. Summary charts and customized queries can be created and the analysis results downloaded in a variety of formats, including kml files for viewing through Google Earth. Created through

120-686: A submission asserting that a Party to the Agreement is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. The process is informed by the Guidelines for Submissions on Enforcement Matters under Articles 14 and 15 of the NAAEC. The process may lead to the development and publication of a detailed report, called a factual record, researched and written by independent experts. Past submissions have resulted in improved environmental protection, law and policy changes, and increased budgets for enforcement. Here

150-719: A trilateral organization such as the CEC. In July 2017, the group was re-christened the "TEK Expert Group" and now reports directly to the CEC Council. The CEC's cooperative agenda is defined through the Strategic Plan. The current CEC Strategic Plan 2015–2020 identifies three areas of priority action for the CEC: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Green Growth, and Sustainable Communities and Ecosystems. Two-year Operational Plans present how

180-497: Is a list of factual records published since 1996: Under NAAEC Article 13, the CEC Secretariat may develop independent reports on any matter within the scope of the annual program and present them to the three Parties and the general public. These reports may address issues that are not covered by biennial operational plans and have the potential to inform future work of the CEC. Since 1994, the CEC Secretariat has published

210-453: Is a microcosm of the public: independent individuals who contribute diverse but rich institutional experience and cultural perspectives. In addition, in 2015 the CEC established a Roster of Experts on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) whose mandate it is to identify opportunities to apply TEK to the CEC's operations and policy recommendations. This is an innovative mechanism and the first traditional ecological knowledge panel to be named to

240-440: Is an international legally binding agreement for the control of persistent organic pollutants. Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) are systems to collect and disseminate information on environmental releases and transfers of toxic chemicals from industrial and other facilities. The European Pollutant Emission Register is a type of PRTR providing access to information on the annual emissions of industrial facilities in

270-513: Is continually synthesizing new chemicals, the regulation of which requires evaluation of the potential danger for human health and the environment . Risk assessment is nowadays considered essential for making these decisions on a scientifically sound basis. Measures or defined limits include: Pollutants can cross international borders and therefore international regulations are needed for their control. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants , which entered into force in 2004,

300-630: Is intended to support a flexible and diverse set of project types that will improve access to resources provided by the Parties through the CEC for smaller, more hands-on organizations and that build partnerships at the community level with a focus on sustainable communities and urban initiatives. The CEC's online publications library provides the public with easy access to its large body of published work on environmental policy and research in North America. The North American PRTR Project involves

330-610: Is to group them together according to more specific properties, such as organic, particulate, pharmaceutical, et cetera. The environment has some capacity to absorb many discharges without measurable harm, and this is called “ assimilative capacity (or absorptive capacity); a pollutant actually causes pollution when the assimilative capacity is exceeded. Pollutants, towards which the environment has low absorptive capacity are called stock pollutants . Examples include persistent organic pollutants like PCBs , non- biodegradable plastics and heavy metals . Stock pollutants accumulate in

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360-414: Is with the northern coast of Ellesmere Island . Because of this, there are no inhabitants in this zone. All human activity here involves scientific excursions, petroleum exploration , rare hunting groups and extreme adventurers. Ice floes that are kilometres long and several metres thick are common in this Arctic Ocean ecozone. Undersea, the dominant feature is the deep Canada Basin , extending from

390-561: The Beaufort Sea to the North Pole to depths reaching 3,600 m. The Lomonosov Ridge represents its northern submarine extent. The region is arid, receiving between 100 and 200 mm of annual precipitation , mostly snow . Mean January temperatures are -30 to -35 °C, though wind chill makes it appear significantly colder. Commission for Environmental Cooperation The Commission for Environmental Cooperation

420-724: The Clean Water Act , EPA promulgated national standards for municipal sewage treatment plants, also called publicly owned treatment works , in the Secondary Treatment Regulation. National standards for industrial dischargers are called Effluent guidelines (for existing sources) and New Source Performance Standards , and currently cover over 50 industrial categories. In addition, the Act requires states to publish water quality standards for individual water bodies to provide additional protection where

450-645: The Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Council meets at least once a year, including with the public, to set the CEC's overall direction, including its budget and activities. It assigns responsibilities, if needed, to committees, working groups or expert groups, as may be required to fulfill its mandate. The CEC Secretariat is headquartered in Montreal. The Secretariat implements several projects under

480-967: The Member States of the European Union , as well as Norway. Clean Air Act standards. Under the Clean Air Act , the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for six common air pollutants, also called "criteria pollutants": particulates ; smog and ground-level ozone ; carbon monoxide ; sulfur oxides ; nitrogen oxides ; and lead . The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants are additional emission standards that are set by EPA for toxic air pollutants. Clean Water Act standards. Under

510-614: The United States Geological Survey, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, and other agencies in each country produced the information contained in the Atlas. The collection of viewable maps, data, and downloadable map files is available online without cost. Articles 14 and 15 of the NAAEC provide a mechanism whereby any nongovernmental organization or person residing or established in North America can file

540-550: The area that is damaged by a pollutant. Local pollutants cause damage near the emission source. Regional pollutants cause damage further from the emission source. The vertical zone refers to whether the damage is ground-level or atmospheric. Surface pollutants cause damage by accumulating near the Earth's surface. Global pollutants cause damage by concentrating on the [atmosphere]. Measures of pollutant concentration are used to determine risk assessment in public health . Industry

570-517: The compilation and dissemination of information on the sources, amounts and handling of toxic substances released or transferred by over 35,000 industrial facilities in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, based on data reported to the pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) of each country. The main products of this project are Taking Stock Online : a website featuring information and

600-635: The cooperation of three national agency partners, the North American Environmental Atlas combines harmonized data from Canada, Mexico and the United States to allow for a continental and regional perspective on environmental issues that cross boundaries. The Atlas continues to grow in breadth and depth as more thematic maps are created through the work of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and its partners. Scientists and map makers from Natural Resources Canada,

630-500: The environment has low absorptive capacity, fund pollutants are those for which the environment has a moderate absorptive capacity. Fund pollutants do not cause damage to the environment unless the emission rate exceeds the receiving environment's absorptive capacity (e.g. carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants and oceans). Fund pollutants are not destroyed, but rather converted into less harmful substances, or diluted/dispersed to non-harmful concentrations. Many pollutants are within

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660-498: The environment over time. The damage they cause increases as more pollutant is emitted, and persists as the pollutant accumulates. Stock pollutants can create a burden for the future generations , bypassing on the damage that persists well after the benefits received from incurring that damage, have been forgotten. Scientists have officially deemed that the planetary boundaries safe chemical pollutant levels (novel entities) have been surpassed. In contrast to stock pollutants, for which

690-432: The following notable groups: Light pollution is the impact that anthropogenic light has on the visibility of the night sky. It also encompasses ecological light pollution which describes the effect of artificial light on individual organisms and on the structure of ecosystems as a whole. Pollutants can also be defined by their zones of influence, both horizontally and vertically. The horizontal zone refers to

720-471: The following reports: Pollutant A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oil ) or anthropogenic in origin (i.e. manufactured materials or byproducts ). Pollutants result in environmental pollution or become public health concerns when they reach

750-493: The goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan will be implemented through project activities and key initiatives, and specify the budget for the Commission. Operational Plans are updated biennially. In 2010, the CEC established a grant program, the North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) to support communities in their efforts to address environmental problems locally. NAPECA

780-842: The impact of trade on the environment of North America. The CEC is composed of the Council, the Secretariat and the Joint Public Advisory Committee. The Council is the CEC's governing body and is composed of the highest-level federal environmental authorities from Canada, Mexico, and the United States: the Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), and

810-500: The operational plan authorized by the Council and processes submissions on enforcement matters. The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) is composed of fifteen citizens (five from each country). JPAC advises the Council on any matter within the scope of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and serves as a source of information for the CEC Secretariat. As a group of volunteer citizens, JPAC

840-445: The products DDE and DDD produced from the degradation of DDT . Pollution has widespread negative impacts on the environment. When analyzed from a planetary boundaries perspective, human society has released novel entities that well exceed safe levels. Pollutants can be categorized in a variety of different ways. For example, it is sometimes useful to distinguish between stock pollutants and fund pollutants . Another way

870-414: The three signatory countries. In part, the NAAEC was driven by the desire of the United States to mitigate public concern about the impact of trade liberalization on environmental protection in the three countries, particularly Mexico. The CEC is the first international environmental organization created in parallel with a trade agreement and is the sole organization with a mandate to monitor and report upon

900-587: Was created in 1994 by Canada , Mexico and the United States , under the NAAEC. The NAAEC was implemented in parallel to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and complements NAFTA's environmental provisions. It signified a commitment that liberalization of trade and economic growth in North America would be accompanied by collaboration and continuous improvement in the environmental protection provided by each of

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