Review to assess opportunities for modernizing compliance practices including for responding to low risk nuisance complaints and incidents

MECP follows a risk-based approach to assessing and responding to incidents and complaints to ensure resources are focused on higher risk incidents with known or potential health or environmental impacts.

With consideration of Ontario’s Open for Business Plan and the guiding principles of the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan (Clear Rules and Strong Enforcement, Trust and Transparency, and Resilient Communities and Local Solutions), the ministry is undertaking a review focused on modernizing compliance practices related to incident response.

Incompatible land uses may result in nuisance types of impacts on those who reside close to industrial or commercial facilities. Nuisance impacts include those that may result in or have the potential to cause, minor or localized loss of enjoyment of property or minor or localized interference with the normal conduct of business.

The ministry classifies lower risk incidents as those of an administrative nature or causing only localized nuisance impacts. Consistent with MECP’s risk-based approach to compliance, these types of incidents are of a lower priority for the ministry. Municipalities have the authority under the Municipal Act to pass by-laws regulating these types of lower risk incidents.

Starting from the date of this posting, MECP will be implementing an interim compliance approach which will further focus compliance resources on higher-risk occurrences as defined in the ministry’s Compliance Policy.

This interim compliance approach will be in place while MECP together with partner ministries, undertakes a review of policies, roles and responsibilities related to modernization of practices for incident response including for low risk incidents.

The review will also assess policies related to ministry approvals instruments and whether additional low risk activities can be identified and added to the current list of exempted activities.

This review is expected to be completed and available for public consultation by the end of 2019. The purpose of this review is to ensure the ministry continues to be a modern regulator that focuses resources on higher risk matters so these are addressed in a timely and effective manner.

The ministry will also be reviewing MECP policies which support Ontario’s land use planning framework to assess opportunities for enhancements to further promote compatible land use decision making,and to avoid future nuisance situations.

If the results of the review recommend changes to legislation or policies, these recommendations would be the subject of a future posting on the EBR Registry.

This review is being undertaken to support MECP’s commitment to address environmental challenges in a responsible, effective, and balanced way by ensuring polluters are held accountable -- while reducing regulatory burden for responsible businesses.