CEC Secretariat releases final independent report investigating environmental and health

hazards of spent lead

- acid battery trade in North America Report recommends specific policy actions to North American governments on how to handle this common and pote ntially hazardous waste. Visit www.cec.org/slabs

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Montreal, 15 April 2013

— On Monday, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation Secretariat released its final independent report: Hazardous Trade? An Examination of US

- generated Spent Lead

acid Battery Exports and Secondary Lead Recycling in Mexico, the United States and Canada. The report analyzes the reported cross

- border trade in lead

- acid batteries and presents recommendations on

how to better monitor their han dling to the CEC Council , composed of Canada’s Environment Minister, Mexico's Secretary of the Environment, and the US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. To download the report, visit www.cec.org/slabs

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Spent lead

- acid batteries (SLABs) from cars and trucks are one of the world’s most

- recycled consumer products because the lead they contain is valuable and can be processed for reuse. The CEC initiated this report in response to concerns that US companies were shipping batteries to Mexico and other countries to avoid the cost imposed by stricter environmental laws.

“ If not handled properly, lead presents a grave health risk to workers and also to the young children and community members who live near smel ting facilities. All of us who own a car ‘own’ this problem, and need to feel confident that the hazardous waste we bring in for recycling is being disposed of properly, no matter where it is sent for processing,” said Irasema Coronado, CEC executive direc tor.

Findings include:

The regulatory frameworks covering secondary lead smelters in the United States, Canada and Mexico do not provide equivalent levels of environmental and health protection. Currently, the United States has the most stringent overall framework, while Mexico, with significant gaps in its existing regulatory framework, is the furthest from US standards in terms of certain emission controls and requirements. According to estimates, between 2004 and 2011, US net exports to Mexico increas ed by between 449 and 525 percent. A review of USEPA and US Census Bureau data indicated that 47,352,382 kg of SLABs were exported to Mexico in 2011 without applying the proper harmonized tariff code.

Recommendations include:

The governments in Canada an d Mexico should commit to achieving levels of environmental and health protections in the secondary lead industry that are functionally equivalent to those in

the US. The US should require the use of manifests for each international shipment of SLABs, and require exporters to obtain a certificate of recovery from recycling facilities. Mexico needs to establish a comprehensive monitoring system to measure lead air emissions from every secondary lead smelter in operation in the country.

The report draws on s tatistics detailing the legal trade in SLABs from Environment Canada, the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Census Bureau, and the Mexican government.In reaction to the report’s development, Mexico’s environmental enforcement agency Profepa ramped

up investigations and operations. The implementation of a special program to target this issue has led to the inspection of 20 facilities and more than 256 tons of SLABs seized in different enforcement actions across the country.

“ Mexico is already takin g action, which bodes well for this issue in the future, and the CEC will continue to support Mexico in its efforts. The handling of SLABs presents an opportunity for North American environmental agencies to cooperate and raise the bar on enforcement and c ompliance,” said

Irasema Coronado.

Article 13 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) states that the CEC Secretariat may prepare independent reports for the CEC Council. Hazardous Trade? An Examination of US

- generated Spent Lead

- acid Battery Exports and Secondary Lead Recycling in Mexico, the United States and Canada was released in draft form in December 2012 and posted to the CEC website for public comments.

The CEC received several comments from industry, NGOs and govern ment (available on the CEC website) and, on 5 February 2013, the Secretariat resubmitted a final version to the CEC Council. According to procedure in Article 13, the Council then normally has 60 days to vote on whether to make the report publicly availabl e.

About the CEC

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an intergovernmental organization that supports the cooperative environmental agenda of Canada, Mexico and the United States to green North America’s economy, address climate change by promoting a low

- carbon economy, and protect its environment and the health of its citizens. The CEC is composed of three bodies: a Council, representing the governments of the three member countries, a Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) that advises t he Council and serves as a liaison with the public, and a Secretariat that supports the Council and JPAC and prepares independent reports. The CEC brings together governments, civil society, and businesses to develop innovative North American solutions to global environmental challenges. Find out more at: www.cec.org

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CEC initiatives are undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Federal Department of Environment, the Government of the United States of America, through the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Government of the United States of Mexico, through

the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales.