Section 3: The proposed…

Section 3:
The proposed amendment would give the ministry director the authority to quickly extend an operator or water quality analyst’s certificate without the need for an application to be submitted.
Comment: How is the operator notified about the extension? Is a new Certificate provided with an extended date?

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4. Allow owners and operating authorities to temporarily employ certain knowledgeable, experienced, but non-certified personnel to operate a drinking water subsystem to help ensure its continuity of operations in emergency situations
Owners and operating authorities would only be able to use this power if:
a. an emergency is declared under the EMCPA or if Emergency Orders made under the EMCPA have been continued in successor legislation (as set out in situations 2(1) and 2(2) above)
b. the nature of that emergency is such that it could adversely affect the operation of the subsystem and thereby result in a drinking water health hazard or pose a significant risk to human health or the natural environment
Comment: Do both conditions a and b described above need to be met to be able to employ ‘certain knowledgeable, experienced, but non-certified personnel to operate a drinking water subsystem’?

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Allowing these specified kinds of substitute personnel to temporarily operate a drinking water subsystem would:
• provide staffing flexibility to subsystem owners and operating authorities by allowing them to access a greater pool of potential workers during an emergency
Comment: In emergency situations, when operators and managers are focusing on the operations of the system or may not be available, would be useful for the Operating Authority to have access to a roster of knowledgeable, experienced, but non-certified personnel.

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Other public consultation opportunities
Comments:
a. Consider only Professional Engineers that have related experience in drinking water, wastewater, stormwater construction/maintenance/operations.
b. Chemical Engineers registered with Association of the Chemical Profession of Ontario that have experience in drinking water/wastewater/stormwater should be considered as substitute personnel for DW testing.
c. Is Ministry helping with a list of people that previously held an operator’s certificate within the last 5 years?
d. The number of training hours for wastewater licence renewal should be based on the operator’s certificate class.