Excess Soil Management…

Excess Soil Management Regulatory Proposal - ERO No. 013-2774
Municipal Corporation of the County of Renfrew Response
The County of Renfrew has serious concerns regarding the applicability and the associated costs of the proposed Excess Soil Management Regulations.
The proposed regulations have determined that an Excess Soil Management Plan (ESMP) would be required for projects which generate greater than 2000 Cubic Metres of material which is to be removed from the site. This translates to approximately 200 tandem truck loads of soil. To put this in a different context the reconstruction of approximately 250 linear metres of rural road would require an ESMP. Roadway ditch cleanout, culvert replacements and other routine rural road maintenance activities also would quickly generate soil quantities which are in excess of 2000 cubic metres. In many instances the excavated soils are reused on other municipal projects and properties that are not part of the specific project which generates the material. As an example municipal parking areas at community facilities frequently benefit from the excavated soils that are generated from municipal road construction projects. Much of this material is very suitable for other purposes even though it is not acceptable as road building material. In many locations the option of retaining the excess material on site is not realistic due to the existing topographic constraints.
It is the opinion of the County that the additional investigations, reports and ongoing monitoring proposed within the new regulations will add significant costs to municipal projects in an area that this predominantly rural in nature. Many rural municipalities already struggle with the number of, and costs associated with, the various investigations and reports which must be prepared and submitted to the Province of Ontario. The additional burden associated with the new regulations will make many rural municipal projects that much more costly and unaffordable. It is also the County’s opinion that there are already sufficient regulations and safeguards in place to control the location, quality and quantity of excavated soil management placement. In particular there are federal and provincial regulations and controls in place to prevent the placement of unsuitable material in and around water and in other areas which may be environmentally sensitive. Further, local municipalities have the ability, under Section 142 of the Municipal Act, to enact and enforce by-laws that prohibit or regulate the placing or dumping of fill and the alteration of the grade of land. These various regulations and by-laws provide the opportunity to control how excavated material from private property is disposed of.
It is the County of Renfrew's position that municipal construction projects should be exempted from the proposed regulations.