At time of writing, the City of Toronto was considering a new bylaw to introduce an Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Program that would require certain businesses to report, on an annual basis, the use or release of certain prescribed chemicals to the City. The information reported to the City would be made publicly available.

Businesses with facilities that use or release any of 25 listed chemicals in amounts above specified thresholds would be affected by the proposed program.

The 25 substances listed in the consultation document are substances that the City has identified as being of concern to human health. These substances include: carbon tetrachloride, lead, nickel, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and volatile organic compounds.

See law note for more information.