The Town of Whitchurch…

The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville (The Town) has reviewed the proposed changes to Ontario Regulation 244/97 entitled Proposed Regulatory Changes for The Beneficial Reuse Of Excess Soil At Pits And Quarries In Ontario. https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-4801

The Town is home to a significant number of active and closed aggregate pits and has over a century of successful relationships with our local aggregate industry.

The Town supports the Provinces efforts to ensure excess soils can be reused responsibly in pits and quarries. It is the Town’s understanding that the proposed regulation would align the terminology of this backfill material with Ontario Regulation 406/19. The Town sees this as environmentally protective, and it supports that component of the regulatory changes. The Town strongly suggests that the Province implement the following recommendations to ensure that municipalities and the public are protected from the proposed changes to the Aggregate Resources Act:

1) The proposal should be amended to allow municipalities, that have their own established site alteration or fill by-laws, to regulate how excess soil will be brought into their jurisdictions. If such a by-law is not available in a municipality, then the MNDMNRF’s proposal should be the instrument that would regulate how pits and quarries will allow the importation of excess soil. This will allow municipalities to manage site alteration oversight, and quality assurance, at the level and detail that the above-mentioned municipalities already have in place. The province must also allow affected municipalities to continue to regulate, monitor and enforce those activities, to ensure protection of the environment, their infrastructure (roads etc.) and the public.

Alternatively, the amendment to the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) may require municipalities to enact by-laws which have suitable sites for excess soil as defined in OPA 406/19. In this regard, the Province should provide municipalities with resources (model by-laws and Provincial guidance) to assist them in implementing these types of site alterations.

2) The province should provide municipalities with the authority to impose fill site operators or aggregate pit license holders to make infrastructure improvements (roads, drainage, intersections, etc.) to ensure that the municipalities and the public are not burdened by maintenance or infrastructure upgrades associated with fill sites allowed because of the ARA amendment.

3) The amendment to the ARA should allow municipalities to collect fees for oversight associated with stakeholder complaints, compliance monitoring, by-law enforcement and maintenance / improvements of municipal infrastructure. Currently the Town receives a very minor payment from the resource extraction from licenced pits but there is no contemplation for a similar payment for the commercial and economic activity of excess soil disposal in the void space in the pits. Although the backfilling of pits is identified as a “beneficial reuse” of excess soil the void space of these pits has commercial value and is a “resource” in commercial demand in southern Ontario.

4) The amendment to the ARA should have punitive damages and / or removal of importation approvals if the operators / licence holders:
a) Do not keep the roadways clean of mud and dust.
b) Damage the roadways.
c) Cause traffic congestion.
d) Allows their truck operators to operate at unsafe speeds or make unsafe vehicle maneuvers.
e) Import polluted soils.
f) Do not comply with municipal noise by-laws.

5) Soil importation licenses should be renewed on an annual basis to ensure that fill site operators / aggregate pit licence holders comply with all the above noted requirements.

6) The proposal as it is presented will negate the need for pit and quarry operators from entering into agreements with the Town, thereby removing the Town’s involvement and its ability to: police the various activities associated with these types of fill operations, address public concerns, maintain / rehabilitate over-utilized roads, and monitor ground water and soil quality. These activities need to remain within the purview of the Town. Pit and quarry operations directly impact the Town and the public and as such removing the Town’s involvement will weaken the Town’s ability to provide the current level of customer service and enforcement expected by the public.

7) The proposal recommends that a Qualified Person (QP) will only be required if excess soil volumes exceed 10,000 m3. This section of the proposal should be amended to require receiving sites to retain a QP for all excess soils brought into all pits and quarries regardless of the volume imported into the site.

8) The Town currently has several excess soil receiving sites operating under Town Permits in accordance with associated Town By-laws. The Town currently has a process to ensure that environmental protection and public consultation are incorporated into any changes to the operation of a licenced pit that would allow it to operate in a similar fashion. The proposal recommends that existing licence holders would be able to “make specified changes to their site plan without the need for ministry review.” This essentially allows pit operators to undertake fill activities without oversight, municipal / agency review, and public involvement. The Town is deeply concerned with any change to the pit closure details that would involve the importation of excess soil and/or fill in addition to what is currently approved by the licence. The Town would like the regulation to clearly state that any changes to an existing licence that would involve the importation of excess soil and/or fill in addition to the volume already approved automatically be deemed a Significant Amendment (formerly termed a Major Amendment) to the licence and trigger the requirement for municipal, public and agency consultation and input. The importation of excess soil and/or fill in quantities beyond the minimum needed, and currently approved, as part of a Closure Plan was accepted by the Town and public when the licence was first issued. Any change that would involve extending the operational activities to include additional importation not originally contemplated or approved should trigger a Significant Amendment. This wording should be amended to “existing licence holders will be required to amend their rehabilitation plan and the associated site plan to the satisfaction of the Province, local municipality, the public and all other significant stakeholders that will (or may) be impacted by the importation of excess soils into the site.”

9) The proposal suggests that the reuse sites “must not exceed the quantity necessary for the beneficial purpose and the primary use of the site.” This section of the proposal should be amended to ensure that the quantity of excess soil must not exceed historic elevations of the site and shall not exceed the elevations of the surrounding properties. The amendment should also speak to how historic drainage will be respected to allow drainage on the site to flow freely to the downstream lands as they did prior to the extraction activity.

10) This proposal has not made any mention of oversight that would be offered by the Province. The Province has neither the staff resources nor the ability to provide the attention that these types of operations need. It will not be a successful endeavor for the Province to attempt to install a policy that negates municipal involvement and the ability to control how fill operations will be managed within their jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Province must reconsider obstructing the Town’s well-established processes regarding excess soil management within its jurisdiction.

11) The intent of these comments are to reiterate to the Province that while we agree that a provincial policy must be in place to facilitate the safe placement of excess soil to appropriate sites, the province must require those municipalities which have suitable sites to make them available to operators wishing to utilize them as such, without unnecessary and overbearing municipal regulations that make it impossible for operators to do so.

12) The Town draws its drinking water from groundwater aquifers and recognizes that most of the above water table aggregate extraction is of limited risk to groundwater the importation of excess soil and/or fill carries significantly more risk that has been well documented across the province and was one of the reasons for the creation of Ontario Regulation 406/19. The Province needs to be extremely protective of any situation that could impact the natural environment, particularly groundwater. The Town is also sensitive to any changes to a licence that would impact the public through additional traffic, dust, noise etc. Therefore, the Town and public need to be active participants to any change that would involve the increase in excess soil and/or fill importation.

In summary, while the Town supports the environmental protections and benefits of aligning the importation of fill to licenced aggregate pits with Ontario Regulation 406/19, the Town must be assured that any importation beyond what is currently approved in the Closure Plan will be open to effective Town and Public consultation through the Significant Amendment process.