INTRODUCTION

Over the last few years there has been increasing concern about the deposition of airborne toxic substances into the Great Lakes Basin. As a result, one of the amendments made to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1987 was the addition of an Annex (Annex 15) to specifically address the issue of Airborne Toxic Substances as it pertains to the protection of the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Annex 15 commits the Parties (Canada and the U.S.), in cooperation with State and Provincial Governments, to: conduct research to determine pathways, fate and effects of such substances; to undertake surveillance and monitoring to determine sources and inputs to the Lakes; and to implement measures for the control of the sources of emissions of toxic substances.

In attempting to address how Parties have responded to this commitment, the International Air Quality Advisory Board (IAQAB) of the International Joint Commission (IJC) opted to address the transport of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTSs) via the air pathway as its priority work item for the 1997-99 period, focusing on the substances identified in the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy, and drew up the following work plan objectives:

1. To determine the major sources and pathways of airborne toxic substances (PTS) into the watershed of the Great Lakes
2. To assess the progress of Parties under Annex 15 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in reducing emissions of PTS and in establishing programs that are projected to reduce the emissions of PTS from identified major sources.
3. To review global initiatives on persistent toxic substances and assess their implications for control strategies for the Great Lakes.
4. To recommend to the Commission further action that could be taken by the Parties to improve the identification of major sources and pathways and reduce emissions from known major sources.

This report provides a summary of information on control programs and initiatives addressing emissions of PTSs relevant to the Annex 15 commitments.

For clarity of presentation, Part 1 describes the different control programs and initiatives and, if appropriate indicate specific action. Part 2 is a tabular presentation identifying how individual substances under Annex 15 are addressed by relevant programmes and initiatives.