Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) (English, HTML)

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Publisher-reported update

2026-05-12

Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) studies are required under two regulations administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) under the Fisheries Act, the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER) and the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (MDMER). These regulations authorize the deposit of effluent containing harmful substances into water bodies frequented by fish under strict conditions, the requirement to conduct EEM studies being one of them. The purpose of EEM studies is to determine how effectively regulations protect fish, fish habitat, and the use of fish by humans. To do so, they examine, directly in aquatic ecosystems, whether exposure to effluent results in effects on fish populations, the benthic invertebrate community (an indicator of fish habitat quality), or leads to contamination of fish by substances harmful to human health (e.g., dioxins and furans, or mercury). The data collected under EEM studies include contaminant concentrations in effluent and water, the results of sublethal toxicity tests conducted on the effluent, benthic invertebrate densities by taxon, fish characteristics (for example, body weight and length), and…

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