The following is a list of…

The following is a list of highlighted concerns identified by OSRTF during our technical review of the Draft Excess Soil Regulations. Please refer to our technical review, dated June 11, 2017, for a complete list of concerns to date. We believe that the MOECC must address these items moving forward in this process.

•What is being proposed fundamentally fails to protect sensitive areas like the Oak Ridges Moraine from large scale fill operations. As citizens who have lobbied for strong protection of the Niagara Escarpment, (NE) Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM), and the creation of Ontario’s Greenbelt (GB), we implore you to provide visionary leadership and uphold the integrity and environmental values in your policies. We recommend that you direct large scale fill sites away from ecologically sensitive places such as the NE, ORM and GB.

•The draft regulation is still unclear with regards to when soils with elevated levels of contaminants are a waste and when the MOECC will step in to regulate the waste when it is deposited at a municipality where a site-alteration permit has been issued. The polluters need to be held accountable and we feel the MOECC is the proper authority in this regard.

•The MOECC must provide more direction to receiving sites. Many municipalities refer to the 2014 MOECC Best Management Practices when defending conditions in their by-law. These BMPs need to be updated and strengthened in terms of recommendations for receiving sites, and this should be done in concert with the draft regulations

•We recognize that science has informed the introduction of proposed new Table standards that make standards proportional to the volume of fill at the receiving site. We are concerned that municipalities can by-pass these scientific standards and use their own, and that this will lead to further inconsistency across the province. We recommend minimum standards tables with a provision that municipalities may require stricter standards if they so choose.

•While we agree that the source site for excess soil should be completing an Excess Soil Management Plan as defined in the proposed regulations, we have concerns about the quality of these reports and enforcement of the conditions when there is no requirement to post the report on the proposed registry that would allow for quick reference, review and spot checks by the MOECC. Posting of ESMPs on the proposed registry should be a requirement under the proposed regulations.

•Provisions listed in the draft regulation regarding Soil Processing Sites do not address the issues of concern with these sites. This section needs much more work in order to effect change and address the reality of what is happening now. Inappropriate materials and unacceptable contaminant levels in soil are still leaving these types of sites and being deposited at receiving sites that are not landfills and which are designated as environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs). We recommend the regulations include language that specifically prohibits deposition of these soils in environmentally sensitive areas. We also recommend that you amend the current definition of ESAs in the draft regulations to include High Aquifer Vulnerability Areas, Well Head Protection Areas and prime farmland areas.

•We see it as imperative that MOECC take “airport” out of the definition of “infrastructure project”. As citizens who have been monitoring the loopholes surrounding fill and privately operated aerodromes (Earthworx, Greenbank, Burlington, New Tecumseth), we see this as a crucial step to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

•We feel strongly that the fees from the registry, or some portion thereof, should go towards funding enforcement of the new regulations and of ESMPs by MOECC. Without proper enforcement, the proposed regulations will not adequately protect the environment and rural communities.

OSRTF is the Ontario Soil Regulation Task Force - an association of over 20 community groups concerned about the dumping of excess soil.

[Original Comment ID: 209855]