RE: Environmental Registry…

RE: Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO# 019-5203) and Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks - O.Reg. 406/19 (EPA, R.S.O. 1990). Comments on the Proposed Implementation Pause of Excess Soil Requirements

This submission is written in response to Ontario’s proposal to temporarily pause the implementation of provisions in the Excess and On-site Soil Management Regulation (O.Reg.406/19) that came into effect January 1, 2022. The City of Greater Sudbury has made necessary adjustments to our business processes, specifications, and contract documents to adhere to the Regulation’s phased implementation approach.

The City of Greater Sudbury supports the proposed pause and offers the following comments:

a. Our construction tenders and engineering specifications have been revised and updated to reference the November 2021 update to OPSS.MUNI 180 (General Specification for the Management of Excess Materials). If the proposed pause is carried out, will an updated version of this specification that reflects the pause to certain provisions be included in this specification?

b. It is our experience that there is minimal awareness in the development community to the requirements of the Regulation, and there may be additional financial burden on the housing industry who are already facing significant challenges such as supply chain and inflation, potentially creating even further challenges for accessibility of housing. We recommend the Province use this time to provide additional information and education on the regulation to the development community. We would further recommend these sessions be geared to the development community to help them better understand the requirements of the Regulation.

c. There are currently a lack of appropriate alternate sites for disposal of material deemed acceptable for re-use. This will put pressure on municipal landfill sites to accept material deemed contaminated that may otherwise be suitable for re-use. The proposed delay would assist stakeholders to continue to work with qualified professionals to identify soil remediation or re-use strategies.

d. Subsequent to the completion of the Sudbury Soils Study (2009), exceedances of certain contaminants in soils in Sudbury were found to be common and deemed safe for certain re-use or to be left in place. The Regulation does not contemplate local conditions. A pause would provide the City an opportunity to work with the MECP local office to establish appropriate exemption strategies and modify what would otherwise be deemed contaminated in the City’s baseline soil composition.

e. Crushed Rock was clarified in December 2020 to be included in the Regulation. Bedrock outcrops at or close to the surface is very common to the geography of Greater Sudbury. Much of this rock is blasted and crushed onsite for infrastructure rehabilitation and expansion projects as well as development projects. Including Crushed Rock in the Regulation unnecessarily burdens those projects for what is essentially virgin aggregate. The proposed pause provides additional time for municipalities to work with the MECP to determine a more appropriate strategy for blasted bedrock.

f. The proposed pause will provide additional time to clarify whether aggregate used in municipal construction projects constitutes “waste” under the Regulation.

g. It is unclear to us what steps the local MECP office will be taking to enforce the Excess Soils Regulation. The proposed delay would provide additional time for the local MECP office to provide local stakeholders information on how the enforcement of the regulation will occur (ex. Proactive enforcement, complaint driven, etc).

Yours truly,

Tony Cecutti, P.Eng.
General Manager of Growth & Infrastructure
City of Greater Sudbury
tony.cecutti@greatersudbury.ca
1-705-674-4455 x2523