On October 17, 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) proposed amendments to the Excess Soil Regulations, Ontario Regulation 406/19.
These proposed changes to the excess soil regulations are part of the “Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act 2023,” which includes 32 new measures. These measures “will improve services for people and reduce costs for businesses, while making it easier to work with government.” The Ontario Government estimates that if the measures are adopted, they will save businesses up to 100,000 hours of time each year.
On October 17, 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) proposed amendments to the Excess Soil Regulations, Ontario Regulation 406/19 (Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay).
The proposed amendments to the excess soil regulations are, “In response to specific concerns related to the implementation of the regulation, the need for clarification of certain regulatory requirements and the need to further remove barriers to reuse of low-risk soils.”
According to the announcement, the amendments include the following:
- Remove requirements for waste Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs) for third-party storage and processing of readily usable low-risk dry soils and small liquid soil sites (class 1 sites), and enhance usability of project leader owned storage sites (class 2 sites).
- Increase opportunities for reuse of salt-impacted soil in low-risk circumstances
- Exempt specified small projects from physical or electronic hauling records, and add clarifications related to required information and responsibility for confirming information in hauling records.
- Exempt landscaping projects at low-risk portions of enhanced investigation project areas from reuse planning requirements.
- Clarify the responsibility of the qualified person when substances such as polymers are used for dewatering or solidification of liquid soil.
- Enable storage of sediment and soil near waterbodies for projects excavating in or adjacent to that waterbody.
- Additional clarifications and corrections to assist with a better understanding of requirements.
Details on each of the above bullet points can be found in the “Proposed regulatory amendments to encourage greater reuse of excess soil.”
The comment period is open until December 1, 2023.
We will continue to monitor these amendments and provide updates once we receive additional information from the MECP.
If you have any questions about managing excess soils on your project, please contact Christopher Paré, P.Geo, Q.P. at 519-979-7300, Ext.114.
Dragun Corporation does not use artificial intelligence in drafting our blogs or any other material.
Alan Hahn drafted this blog. Alan earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and completed a graduate program in Environmental Management. He has worked in environmental management for 45 years. He has written hundreds of blogs and articles. His published work includes HazMat Magazine, BizX Magazine, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, GreenStone Partners, Manure Manager Magazine, and Progressive Dairy.
Christopher Paré, P.Geo, reviewed this blog. Chris is a senior geoscientist and manager of Dragun’s Windsor, Ontario, office. Chris has more than 30 years of experience on projects ranging from environmental site assessments (Phase One/Two ESA), excess soils, remedial investigations, soil and groundwater remediation, Permits to Take Water, Records of Site Conditions, vapour intrusion, and site decommissioning. Chris is a frequent speaker, author, and expert witness. See Chris’ bio.
Follow Dragun Corporation on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), or Facebook.
Sign up for our monthly environmental newsletters.
Principled Foundation | Thoughtful Advice | Smart Solutions
Celebrating our 35th Year 1988-2023