Application of a Comprehensive Acid Deposition Model in Support of Acid Rain Abatement in Canada

Acid deposition has been an environmental and policy concern in North America since the 1970s. To date there have been two national initiatives in Canada to address the acid deposition problem through SO2 emission reductions: (a) the 1985 Eastern Canada Acid Rain Program between the Canadian federal government and the seven eastern provinces (e.g., Environment Canada, 1994); and (b) the Canada-Wide Acid Rain Strategy for Post-2000, signed in 1998 between the federal government and all 12 Canadian provinces and territories (e.g., Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers of Environment and Energy, 1998; Environment Canada, 2002). In addition, in 1991 the Canadian and U.S. federal governments signed the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, Annex 1 of which committed each country to specific SO2 and NOx emission reductions (Government of Canada and Government of the United States of America, 1991, 2002).