Performance Reporting — Continued

Goal 1: Protect human health and safety by ensuring clean and safe water, land and air.

In the 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan, the ministry articulated its objectives for this goal in terms of protecting air, water and land and responding to environmental emergencies. In addition to assigning specific strategies for those objectives, it also identified a number of strategies that were not objective-specific, but pertained to all of them.

As discussed earlier in this report, the ministry is making significant changes in the way it delivers its environmental mandate. Its aim is not only to reduce its own costs and the costs incurred by those who must meet environmental standards, but also to reduce conflicts and litigation, eliminate service backlogs and focus efforts in areas where there is the greatest risk to the environment. To achieve this aim, the ministry is shifting from a prescriptive approach for environmental regulation to a science- and results-based approach — one with clear results-based standards and workable regulation. The review of the Waste Management Act, for example, will likely result in changes to a number of the ministry's processes and outputs, some of which are addressed in performance measures in the Service Plan.

The information presented below describes the achievements and challenges associated with each performance measure used in the 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan for this goal. Each performance measure is linked to the ministry objective it assesses, and the rationale for the choice of each measure is explained.

Strategies Supporting All Objectives of Environmental Protection

The 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan identified the following strategies that support the goal and all of the objectives of Clean Air and Climate Change, Clean Water, Land Protection, and Environmental Emergencies:

• Implement industry-led pollution prevention planning at large industrial sites.
• Simplify environmental regulations and standards, especially for low- and medium-priority operations.
• Implement high-priority monitoring and reporting on air, surface water and groundwater quality (and continued opposition to bulk water exports).
• Provide compliance and enforcement services targeting high-risk activities.
• Conduct permit authorizations and inspections of high-risk industrial and municipal discharges and high-risk contaminated sites.
• Undertake a comprehensive review of contaminated sites administration by mid-2003.
• Phase-out permitting for low- and medium-risk waste management sites, where appropriate.

Performance Measures Supporting All Objectives of Environmental Protection

Municipal/industrial sectors for which the ministry has established clear, up-to-date performance expectations

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Municipal/industrial sectors for which the ministry has established clear, up-to-date performance expectations.	Organic matter recycling regulation is in place and environmental standards for aquaculture industry developed; AOX standards enacted by regulation to appropriately limit discharges of AOX.	Oil industry stewardship program.	Oil industry stewardship program expanded in January 2003.	Target met.
		Amendment of Contaminated Sites Regulation.	Contaminated Sites Regulation reviewed by Advisory Panel. First phase of legislative changes was prepared for introduction in spring 2003 legislative session.	Awaiting review of legislative changes. Work in progress on further changes to contaminated sites regulatory regime.
		Overhaul of Pesticide Control Act.	New legislation was prepared for introduction in spring 2003 legislative session.	Awaiting review of new legislation. Timing depends on dates of legislative session and government priorities.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Linked directly to its vision, mission and the goal of protecting human health and safety, the ministry is responsible for setting clear and up-to-date environmental standards for all municipal and industrial sectors across the province. Such standards allow the sectors to operate with greater certainty, knowing what is expected of them in terms of environmental protection and pollution prevention. This performance measure marks the ministry's progress in completing several important initiatives (outputs) that are related to the assessment and management of sources of significant environmental risk.

Achievements and Key Issues

The ministry succeeded in fully meeting one of the three targets it set for this measure in 2002/03, making significant progress in another and paving the way for completion of the third.

• In January 2003, the Minister announced that the oil industry stewardship program would be expanded to include used lubricating oil filters and oil containers. This program ensures that a wide range of oil products is disposed of in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner. Funding for the expanded program will come from brand owners and consumers; and the British Columbia Used Oil Management Association, a non-profit organization led by the industry, is managing the program. Once the program has been fully implemented (which is expected to be in 2005), used oil recovery is expected to increase from the current 46 million litres to 64 million litres, oil filters from 2 million to 5.6 million, and empty oil containers from 300,000 kilograms to 1.8 million kilograms on an annual basis.
• On May 14, 2002, the Minister appointed an advisory panel to review a number of key components of the contaminated sites regulatory regime and consult with citizens and stakeholders on needs, issues and expectations. The panel issued an interim report to the Minister in September 2002. The final report was issued to the Minister in February 2003. The recommendations of the panel are being used to develop a new policy framework for the regulation of contaminated sites in the province, including legislative changes prepared for introduction in the spring 2003 legislative session.
• The ministry worked to replace the existing legislative provisions in the Pesticide Control Act with a more standards-based approach to regulating pesticide use in British Columbia. In 2002/03, the ministry wrote new legislation and was expecting the new Integrated Pest Management Act to be introduced and reviewed during the spring 2003 legislative session.

In September 2002, the ministry launched a major review of the Waste Management Act's environmental protection provisions. This review — which supports the government's New Era commitment to adopt a science-based approach to environmental management — will, in combination with the deregulation initiative, ultimately affect the timing and scope of other ministry environmental protection initiatives. Progress on the Waste Management Act review and related initiatives will continue to be reported in future years.

Compliance with standards (includes municipal and industrial sectors for which results-based standards or regulations are already in place, e.g., asphalt, municipal sewage).

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Compliance with standards (includes municipal and industrial sectors for which results-based standards or regulations are already in place, e.g., asphalt, municipal sewage).	Measure to be developed in 2002/03.	Work conducted on developing the ministry's overall compliance strategy, of which compliance reporting will be a part.	Ministry approach to compliance is under review.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

 

 

Rationale for the Performance Measure

With the ministry's shift from a prescriptive approach to a results-oriented approach using science-based standards, it was recognized that monitoring compliance with environmental standards will be a key ministry activity for attaining environmental protection objectives.

Achievements and Key Issues

The ministry continued in 2002/03 to conduct inspections and, where non-compliance was detected, appropriate investigations and enforcement actions were taken.

The review of the Waste Management Act, combined with the ministry's development of a compliance strategy, are together addressing this performance measure. As well, the critical issue of compliance is now included in a new environmental protection objective in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan to "streamline standards and improve monitoring, reporting and compliance"; and in a strategy to "target compliance initiatives at situations posing high risks to human health or the environment."

A key ministry achievement in 2002/03 related to compliance was the establishment of a call centre. A partnership with the Provincial Emergency Program, the centre enables the public to phone in reports of environmental violations or concerns. This not only puts into action the ministry's commitment to shared stewardship, but it will provide the ministry with important information it can use to identify priority compliance issues and resource allocation needs to support monitoring and enforcement efforts. The 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan includes an additional performance measure related to call centre trends to inform decision-making for allocating compliance resources.

Frequency of inspections of high-risk authorizations

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Frequency of inspections of high-risk authorizations.	Variable inspection rate for 90 high-risk sites.	Minimum of annual inspection for each site.	77 high-risk sites were inspected, some more than once where risk was considered particularly high. Total inspections/ visits: 215.	The 13 sites not inspected were not considered to be high risk in 2002/03.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Compliance with environmental standards is required if environmental protection objectives are to be met. For sites where authorizations allow the discharge of contaminants that pose a high risk to the environment, ensuring compliance is especially important. Regular inspections are one way the ministry can detect non-compliance and create an incentive for high-risk sites owners to comply with their authorizations.

Achievements and Key Issues

In 2002/03, the ministry carried out 215 site inspections or visits on 77 of the target 90 high-risk sites. The 13 sites not inspected were those where the high-risk status had been reassessed and deemed to be of lower risk.

Timeliness of issuing waste management authorizations

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Timeliness of issuing waste management authorizations.	28 months (status quo permit system)	0–6 months for non-permit approvals; 12–24 months for remaining high-risk detailed approvals.	Data on timeliness not available, but 240 permit processing decisions made and backlog reduced from 298 to 75.	Process for collecting data on timeliness of issuing non-permit approvals was not in place. Not enough time has elapsed for data to be available for high-risk approvals.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Fostering economic development is part of the ministry's mission and also supports the government's goal of building a strong and vibrant provincial economy. Removing unnecessary impediments to business is essential to do this. In the past, companies requiring a waste management authorization to operate had to wait an average of 28 months for their application to be processed. A key objective of the Waste Management Act review is to make the legislative changes needed to enable more timely response. This timeliness measure was selected to help the ministry monitor its progress in reducing the administrative delay.

Achievements and Key Issues

Rather than develop a tracking system for this measure, resources have instead been allocated to the review of the Waste Management Act and to the reduction of the backlog in authorization requests. Significant progress in the latter was made during 2002/03, with the backlog being reduced by 75%, from 298 to 75.

The issue of timeliness in receiving approval for applications is a very important one to the ministry. It has therefore been incorporated into the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan as part of an additional environmental protection objective to "streamline standards and improve monitoring, reporting and compliance." It is also included in a related strategy. Linked to this objective and strategy is a new performance measure that has been identified to monitor the time required to process approval requests for contaminated sites. Additional performance measures may be developed, as appropriate, after the Waste Management Act review.

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Objective: Clean Air and Climate Change — Limit air pollution and contribute to meeting global atmospheric objectives.

The 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan identified the following strategies for this objective:

• Develop airshed planning framework, policy and advocacy (continued opposition to Sumas II power project).
• Adopt vehicle and fuel standards established through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
• Develop climate change strategy by the end of 2002.

Performance Measures

Percentage of communities meeting the provincial air quality objective for PM₁₀ of 50 μg/m³

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Percentage of communities meeting the provincial air quality objective for PM10 of 50 μg/m3 (24-hour average).	55% of communities	58% of communities met the target (22 of 38 communities)	Target exceeded.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Particulate matter (PM) is the outdoor air contaminant of most concern in British Columbia from a human health perspective. It originates from a variety of natural and human-related sources such as factories, power plants, cars, construction activity, fires and windblown dust. It is also formed in the atmosphere from the reactions involving various gases.

Exposure to particles smaller than 10 μm (PM₁₀) can affect people's breathing, aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease, alter the body's defence systems and damage lung tissue, which contributes to cancer and premature death. Particles smaller than 2.5 μm are believed to pose the greatest health risk. Even very low concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 are linked to health impacts. Use of this performance measure is designed to help the ministry determine how effectively it is achieving its air quality improvement targets.

Achievements and Key Issues

The results in the table refer to percentage of monitored communities that achieve the specified air quality objective. In 2002/03, the target of 55% was slightly exceeded. (Important to note, however, is that the communities included in the sampling are only those that have had air quality problems from particulate matter. When a community's air quality problems have been resolved, monitoring equipment is moved to another area that requires attention. Trend results must therefore be interpreted carefully because they may not accurately reflect whether air quality has been improving in the monitored communities if the sample of communities being monitored has changed.)

At the same time, the ministry continued in 2002/03 to support several important initiatives related to protecting or improving air quality in the province:

• Efforts have been focused on improving our understanding of PM_2.5 sources and levels in British Columbia, including expanding the provincial monitoring network to include more PM_2.5 monitors. In the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan, the PM₁₀ measure has been replaced with a performance measure based on PM_2.5, which is also used in the government Strategic Plan.
• Work is underway to develop both an airshed planning guide for local governments and an implementation plan for improvement of degraded airsheds and maintenance of clean airsheds across the province.
• Funding support was provided to airshed planning committees in the Capital Regional District, the South and Central Okanagan, Kamloops and Nelson.
• Funding and technical support continued to be provided for airshed activities in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the Fraser Valley Regional District, Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Kelowna and Golden.
• A number of technical studies are underway, aimed at better informing air management decisions at the provincial or airshed level. The studies are assessing:
• areas of degraded air quality,
• the impacts of air pollution on human health and the environment,
• contributing sources (including a provincial emissions inventory for base year 2000),
• meteorology's role in degraded air quality, and
• tools to better predict the impact of sources on air quality.

As part of its Waste Management Act Review, the ministry is also looking at making changes to the air management system. Stakeholder input on potential changes is being invited through feedback on the Clean Air Issues Paper, a discussion paper that presents a number of options for addressing deficiencies in the current air management system.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Total greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia.	No target was identified.	Development of the Climate Change Action Plan for British Columbia is in progress. The plan will include an emission reduction target.	None.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

There is widespread agreement among scientists that elevated levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere are causing changes to global climate. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol would commit ratifying countries to reducing their GHG emissions. British Columbia is participating with other jurisdictions in Canada to address this high-profile issue, which has potentially significant economic implications.

Achievements and Key Issues

British Columbia's GHG emission reduction target is being set as part of the development of the provincial Climate Change Action Plan. Completion of that plan is expected in 2003. Decisions regarding targeted emission reductions are to be based on emission levels in 1990 (the base year) — 51.2 megatonnes of CO₂ equivalent. By comparison, emissions of 65.0 megatonnes were measured in 2001. The graphs in Figure 2 show total and per capita greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia from 1990 to 2000.

 

 

Source: Environment Canada. 2002. Canada's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2000

Figure 2. Total and per capita greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia from 1990 to 2000

Many issues need to be addressed before meaningful reporting on this performance measure can occur annually. For example, it is expected that a long-term target will be established for GHG emission reductions rather than yearly targets, and the data for this measure is usually not available until two years after the year in which the emissions occur.

The ministry will have a key role in working with other ministries to implement measures aimed at reducing GHG emissions since there are many sources of greenhouse gases. However, the amount of total emissions is strongly influenced by numerous factors beyond the control of the ministry (factors such as energy prices, economic activity and population growth).

 

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Objective: Clean Water — Ensure safe, high-quality drinking water and reduce effluent discharges that impact water quality.

The 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan identified the following strategy for this objective:

• Improve drinking water source protection, through amended Drinking Water Protection Act and groundwater legislation by fall of 2002.

Performance Measures

Trend of surface water quality

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Trend of surface water quality	26 monitored water bodies	Increase number of water bodies where trend reporting is possible.	30 water bodies monitored.	Target met.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

British Columbia has 25% of the flowing fresh water in Canada. Ongoing monitoring, protection and management of these water resources are of critical importance. The government is committed to increasing the number of surface water monitoring stations in the province. Expanded monitoring is part of the ministry's strategic shift to implementing a results-based approach to environmental management. This performance measure allows the ministry to determine its progress in achieving that strategic shift.

Achievements and Key Issues

In 2002/03, the ministry met its target of increasing the number of water bodies it monitors, adding 4 to the 26 it monitored in 2001/02. One limitation for this performance measure is that simply increasing the number of water bodies monitored (a ministry output) does not mean that the objective of clean water is being achieved.

Given the ministry's shift to setting and measuring environmental outcomes, and desire to more closely align its goals, objectives and performance measures with the government's, this measure has been replaced in the new ministry Service Plan. Used instead will be an outcome measure of water quality in 30 water bodies monitored under a federal/provincial agreement. This measure is also used in the government Strategic Plan.

The new measure will monitor trends in the presence of environmentally significant variables, such as metals and nutrients, which will indicate the cumulative effect of multi-agency land use activities and resource management activities in source watersheds.

Testing and trends for nitrates in groundwater

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Testing and trends for nitrates in groundwater	Some wells deteriorating in Abbotsford, Grand Forks and Osoyoos	Maintain monitoring capacity in the three critical aquifers.	Monitoring in 3 critical aquifers maintained. Nitrate monitoring expanded to 15 other community aquifers.	Target exceeded.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Approximately 750,000 people in British Columbia depend on groundwater sources for their drinking water. This performance measure was selected to address concerns about declining water quality in three critical aquifers in Abbotsford, Grand Forks and Osoyoos. It is an output measure that reflects ministry effort in monitoring water quality in these areas.

Achievements and Key Issues

The ministry was able to exceed the target because of the monitoring assistance it received through partnerships with Environment Canada and local stewardship groups.

This output measure has not been included in the ministry's new Service Plan, however, being included instead as a part of a strategy for achieving the clean water objective.

Number of aquifers identified and classified

Performance Measure	2001/02 Actual	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Number of aquifers identified and classified.	551	488*	593	Target exceeded.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

*

Because fiscal year data was not yet available when the 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan was published in February 2002, target and actual performance amounts may sometimes be out of step. For example, at the end of 2001/02, a total of 551 aquifers had been identified and classified — an amount that already exceeded the targeted total set in the Service Plan for 2002/03 and 2003/04. In an attempt to address this, the target has been clarified in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan as an "additional 50" aquifers to be identified and classified each year.

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Most usable groundwater comes from aquifers, natural water-bearing geologic formations or subsurface reservoirs. Approximately 1,000 aquifers have been developed in British Columbia, and an inventory of these is being compiled to identify, delineate and classify each one's level of groundwater use and vulnerability to contamination. This information will enable the ministry to determine protection requirements, set groundwater management priorities, and implement management initiatives, particularly for drinking water supplies. Ministry progress in collecting this critical data can be assessed with this performance measure.

Achievements and Key Issues

Forty-two additional aquifers were identified and classified in 2002/03, bringing the total in the inventory to 593 — almost 60% of the total number of developed aquifers in the province.

Although it would be preferable to have an outcome measure for this issue (i.e., a measure of groundwater quality), this output measure of the number of aquifers identified and classified is a useful indicator of the extent to which the ministry has the information necessary to identify vulnerability to water quality problems in individual aquifers.

 

 

Objective: Land Protection — Reduce/remove toxins and wastes that contaminate land.

The 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan identified the following strategy for this objective:

• Improve and expand product reuse and recycling business approach by end of 2004.

Performance Measure

An appropriate measure relating to industry-led product stewardship

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
An appropriate measure relating to industry-led product stewardship.	Measure to be developed in 2002/03.	New measure was identified in new Service Plan.	Target met.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

Many Canadian provincial and international jurisdictions are working to find ways to extend producer responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. Industry-led product stewardship programs are being encouraged, which is consistent with the ministry's shifts to shared stewardship and a results-based rather than prescriptive approach to environmental management. With this approach, it is possible to focus efforts on reducing waste from product categories that pose relatively high risks to the environment (e.g., paint and used oil).

Achievements and Key Issues

A common method of measuring trends in the amount of waste disposed on land over time is to compare changes in total volume or percentage change. However, such a measure does not take into account the risk or damage to the environment that can result from disposal of different types of waste. The associated data may therefore not accurately reflect changes in actual environmental conditions.

The performance measure the ministry developed for this in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan is "number of product categories with industry-led product stewardship." This measure will be easy to monitor at minimal cost. One limitation, though, is that the ministry is not solely responsible for attaining the targets related to this measure, and so cannot be totally accountable for its achievement. However, since efforts to develop stewardship programs are tending to focus on product categories that present the greatest risk, an increase in the number of product categories with industry-led product stewardship should be a reasonable indicator of success in removing high-risk discharges from the waste stream.

Objective: Environmental Emergencies — Readiness to respond to high-risk environmental emergencies.

The 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan identified the following strategies for this objective:

• Test industry, agency and ministry toxic spill emergency response plans.
• Expand industry responsibility for response to and clean-up of spills.

Performance Measure

Number of toxic spill emergency response plans tested

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual	2002/03 Variance
Number of toxic spill emergency response plans tested (ministry plans, industrial plans, response agency plans).	Ministry plans: 2 approved, 1 tested. Industrial plans: 7 tested. Response agency plans: 2 tested	No plans were tested. There were more than 3,000 spill incidents in 2002/03. The ministry made considerable progress towards shifting responsibility for low- and medium-risk spills to industry and other partners and responded to the nearly 300 high-risk spills.	Program is adopting a new risk-based approach to identifying spills.

Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

Rationale for the Performance Measure

The purpose of this output measure is to indicate the ministry's performance in testing emergency response plans, which supports the objective of "readiness to respond."

Achievements and Key Issues

This program is in transition. No plans were tested in 2002/03 because it was considered a more effective use of ministry resources to focus on the program's transition to increasing the use of partnerships and expanding industry responsibility for responding to low- and medium-risk spills. The ministry made considerable progress in these areas in 2002/03. This will enable it to focus on high-risk spills, a move that is consistent with the ministry's overall approach of focusing on high-risk issues. This performance measure has not been included in the new Service Plan, reflecting the shift to outcome measures. Nevertheless, testing emergency response plans continues to be included in the 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan as a strategy to help achieve the objective.