Bill C-579

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014

house of commons of canada

BILL C-579

An Act to reduce the effects of urban heat islands on the health of Canadians

Whereas about 80% of Canadians live in urban environments, where the atmosphere is greatly affected by the buildings and by changes introduced by humans;

Whereas, in urban environments, the infrastructure tends to absorb large amounts of solar radiation and release it in the form of heat, thus creating heat islands;

Whereas heat islands raise daytime temperatures, interfere with nighttime cooling and can amplify the effects of heat waves and impair the health of Canadians;

Whereas smog generally forms above urban areas and heat islands, adds to water pollution and air pollution, and leads to an increase in the morbidity and mortality rates of the exposed population;

Whereas, according to studies conducted by the American Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, every one-degree-Celsius increase in warm weather temperature increases the pollution caused by smog by some 5%;

Whereas the people most vulnerable to the effects of smog are often children or the financially disadvantaged, socially isolated, ill or elderly;

Whereas smog is one of the main causes of the increase in the number of cases of asthma, throat irritation and even premature death, and it scars lung tissue;

Whereas natural surfaces, such as vegetation, absorb a relatively significant portion of solar energy during the process of evapotranspiration and thus help cool the air;

And whereas it is important to coordinate the efforts to combat heat islands and smog in order to protect the health of Canadians;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Commons and Senate of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Reducing the effects of urban heat islands Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The following definition applies in this Act.

“urban heat island” means a built-up area in an urban environment in which the average air temperature is markedly greater — as much as 12 degrees Celsius hotter — than that in nearby rural areas.

NATIONAL STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF URBAN HEAT ISLANDS

3. The Minister of Health, in consultation with the Minister of the Environment, the provincial ministers responsible for health and with representatives of municipalities, must develop a National Strategy to Reduce the Effects of Urban Heat Islands that includes

(a) the inventorying of urban heat islands and their ranking in order of priority determined by the risk they pose to residents’ health;

(b) the content of plans to reduce the effects of heat islands, which must, among other things, deal with

(i) the management of urban biodiversity,

(ii) the promotion of community green projects,

(iii) the protection of natural areas,

(iv) the establishment of greening areas to be developed; and

(v) the promotion of public transit and sustainable transportation;

(c) the establishment of campaigns to raise public awareness about the air quality level deemed acceptable in urban heat islands; and

(d) the establishment of a public register that will contain all the information on heat islands, including their location and the measures put in place to reduce their effect on public health.

4. Within 90 days after this Act comes into force, the Minister of Health must convene a national conference of the people referred to in section 3 in order to establish a working plan to achieve the objectives set out in that section.

REPORT TO HOUSE OF COMMONS

5. Within one year after this Act comes into force, and every year after that, the Minister of Health must cause to be laid before the House of Commons a report on the implementation of this Act that sets out the results of the efforts to reduce the effects of urban heat islands.