1.The regulatory proposal…

1.The regulatory proposal indicates: “A plan [ESMP] would be required to be prepared, certified by a qualified person (QP) and registered on an online excess soil reuse registry prior to excess soil leaving a project area”. Will the MOECC review ESMPs? Will an acknowledgement or some other form of approval from the MOECC be required before excess soil can leave a project area?

2.Schedule B says: “A phase one environmental site assessment in respect of a project area is not required to be carried out as part of the preparation of a soil management plan if less than 1,000 m3 of excess soil will be removed from the project area” (p. 44). The excess soil management plan requirement section says “a proponent be required to prepare an ESMP if either of the following two criteria is met: 1. If 1,000 m3 or more of excess soil is being removed from the project area; or 2. If excess soil is being removed from an area associated with a potentially contaminating activity” (p. 9). This would seem to indicate that a phase one ESA has to be prepared regardless of the amount of excess soil generated, to identify if any PCAs are present. Also, it would be more appropriate to say an ESMP is required if “an area associated with an Area of Potential Environmental Concern” is identified in the project area, since PCAs leading to APECs can occur both on and off-property. The way it currently reads, it may be misinterpreted as that an ESMP is only required if an on-site PCA is identified.

3.Schedule B says: “When preparing the sampling and analysis plan the QP will be required to ensure the requirements set out in Section 3 of Schedule E to Ontario Regulation 153/04 are satisfied (excluding any requirements related to groundwater)” (p. 50). Given that O. Reg. 153/04 groundwater standards can be an order of magnitude lower than soil standards, and given different physical properties of various contaminants, it is possible that ‘un-impacted’ soil can contain impacted groundwater in pore spaces. There’s no mention in the proposed regulation of this situation, or how a QP is to make decisions as to how excess soil containing impacted groundwater is to be managed.

[Original Comment ID: 209254]