Regulation for the nickel smelting and refining industry

ERO number
019-1107
Notice type
Regulation
Act
Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Notice stage
Decision
Decision posted
Comment period
January 20, 2021 - March 6, 2021 (45 days) Closed
Last updated

This consultation was open from:
January 20, 2021
to March 6, 2021

Decision summary

We are moving forward with an industry sector-based regulation to address sulphur dioxide air emissions from the nickel smelting and refining industry in the Sudbury area that will replace certain requirements under the Local Air Quality Regulation.

Decision details

Overview

Two nickel smelting and refining companies located in Sudbury, Glencore and Vale, have made significant investments in technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at their facilities in order to meet requirements set out in ministry approved site-specific standards. These investments have resulted in:

  • reduced sulphur dioxide emissions, and
  • improved ambient air concentrations of sulphur dioxide in the community.

While improvements have been made to reduce emissions, the two companies will not meet the new, more stringent air standards for sulphur dioxide coming into effect in 2023.

Following a 45-day public consultation period, the ministry is now moving forward with a new regulation that will support these nickel smelting and refining facilities in Sudbury to plan for further action to reduce their sulphur dioxide emissions and improve air quality management within their plants.

These regulations will allow the facilities to plan for the investments needed to create further emissions reductions, while at the same time taking steps to improve air quality reporting.

The approach also includes additional actions to support this regulation including updates to the existing environmental compliance approvals, with improved monitoring, health risk interpretation and public communication to enhance transparency in the local community, which are described in this decision notice. Those changes will be posted on the Environmental Registry for consultation after this decision on the regulation.

We will continue to work with the public, municipalities, Indigenous Communities, environmental groups and industry to drive strategies that better protect air quality and address unique challenges in communities by creating tailored solutions.

Decision details

The new sector specific regulation for sulphur dioxide air emissions from nickel smelting and refining facilities in the Sudbury area will apply to one smelter operated by Glencore on January 1, 2022, before its current site-specific standard expires. Vale’s two facilities, a smelter and a refinery, will be required to comply with the regulation on July 1, 2023 when the new sulphur dioxide air standards come into effect.

The new requirements will help bring facilities into compliance while allowing them to continue operations at their Sudbury locations.

Key requirements of the new sector specific regulation include:

  • install the best available sulphur dioxide emissions control technology identified in the regulation within two to three years of the regulation applying, or
  • submit a plan within two years for equivalent methods to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions that considers cost effectiveness and implement these methods within 8 years of the regulation applying.

Facilities will also be required to:

  • maintain and optimise current air pollution controls and management methods to further reduce sulphur dioxide emissions
  • assess how well equipment captures sulphur dioxide emissions
  • perform root cause analyses to determine the cause of peak concentrations measured at air monitors in the community and develop a plan for corrective and preventive actions

Other actions

In addition to the new regulation, the ministry amended the Air Pollution – Local Air Quality Regulation O. Reg. 419/05 to exempt these facilities from the sulphur dioxide air standards and other requirements associated with those standards when the new regulation applies to each of the facilities.

The ministry and the companies will undertake the additional work to support continuous improvement that was detailed in the original proposal, including:

  • the ministry will conduct new air dispersion modelling of the three facilities
  • the ministry will update the companies’ environmental compliance approvals

Proposed amendments to each site’s environmental compliance approval will be posted separately on the Environmental Registry for public comment at a later date.

Final Analysis of Regulatory Impact

Facilities are expected to incur new administrative and compliance costs to implement the requirements in the regulation. This can be considered to be offset by savings resulting from not having to meet the new sulphur dioxide air standards by July 1, 2023.

Ontarians are also expected to benefit from these changes because of anticipated emission reductions from facilities implementing the technology-based requirements. The emission reductions are expected to contribute to health and environmental benefits from better air quality locally and across the province.

The net health and environmental effects will depend on which approach each facility takes to comply with the regulation.

Comments received

Through the registry

3

By email

1

By mail

0
View comments submitted through the registry

Effects of consultation

We received a total of four submissions from stakeholders and the public, including:

  • industry associations (1)
  • professional association (1)
  • an environmental non-governmental organization (1)
  • a public health unit (1)

Some comments were supportive while others raised concerns about the health and environmental effects of the regulation and the need for continual improvement and public transparency.

Health and environmental effects

Some respondents were concerned that the proposal would exempt the companies from meeting certain requirements in the Local Air Quality Regulation, such as the sulphur dioxide air standard.

The Sudbury area nickel smelting and refining facilities have recently made significant investments in technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at their facilities to meet the requirements set out in their ministry approved site-specific standards.

While improvements have been made to reduce emissions, the two companies will not meet the new, more stringent air standards for sulphur dioxide coming into effect in 2023.

The new regulation replaces certain requirements in the Local Air Quality Regulation with technical requirements. Under the new regulation facilities are required to maintain current requirements and assess what more they can do, while also planning for needed investments. At the same time, the ministry is taking steps to improve air quality monitoring and enhance transparency in the local community.

Public transparency

Several comments emphasized the importance of maintaining and improving public transparency on local air quality.

In response to these comments, the ministry added a requirement to the new regulation that requires facilities to report monitored concentrations of 250 parts per billion and greater as soon as practicable to both the ministry and the local public health unit.

The regulation also addresses these comments in the facilities’ environmental compliance approvals by requiring companies to improve public access to data and health risk information on their monitoring websites in consultation with the ministry and the local public health unit.

Continual improvement

Some comments raised concerns that the regulation will not lead to further improvement after facilities implement the required actions, including the required capital investments in emission control technology.

In response to these comments, the ministry revised the regulation to require companies to assess the effectiveness of their actions after the installation of specified air pollution controls and implementation of alternative equivalent methods plans. This information could help inform the ministry if the more action is needed, and if amendments to the regulation are required.

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Original proposal

ERO number
019-1107
Notice type
Regulation
Act
Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Proposal posted

Comment period

January 20, 2021 - March 6, 2021 (45 days)

Proposal details

Proposal overview

Two nickel smelting and refining companies located in Sudbury, Glencore and Vale, have made significant investments in technology to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions at their facilities in order to meet requirements set out in ministry approved site-specific standards. These investments have resulted in:

  • reduced sulphur dioxide emissions, and
  • improved ambient air concentrations of sulphur dioxide in the community.

While improvements have been made to reduce emissions, the two facilities will not meet the new, more stringent air standards for sulphur dioxide coming into effect in 2023. These facilities need to assess what more they can do to reduce risks to the local community.

To help bring these two companies into compliance while allowing them to continue operations at their Sudbury locations, the ministry is proposing regulatory changes that will support the facilities and allow them to plan for further action to reduce their sulphur dioxide emissions and improve air quality management within their plants.

The proposed regulation will allow the companies to plan for further action and improve air quality management while supporting Ontario’s industry and local jobs, as outlined in our Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan.

The proposed approach will build on what’s already been done under the site-specific standards and drive improvement while providing the facilities regulatory certainty while they assess what more they can do to reduce emissions.

The proposal also includes additional actions to support this regulation including updates to the existing environmental compliance approvals, with improved monitoring, health risk interpretation and public communication, which are described in this proposal. Those changes will be posted on the Environmental Registry after the decision on the regulation.

Proposed industry regulation

Key requirements of the proposed sector specific regulation include:

  • maintaining and optimising the recent air pollution controls and management methods to further reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.
  • performing assessments on how well emission controls capture sulphur dioxide emissions.
  • performing root cause analysis to determine the cause of monitored peaks in the community and requiring a plan for corrective and preventive actions.
  • requirement to either:
    • install best available control technology within two years of the regulation coming into effect for a facility; or
    • submit within two years a plan for equivalent methods to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions that considers cost effectiveness and implement these methods within 8 years of the regulation applying to the facility.

If the proposed regulation is made, one nickel smelting facility operated by Glencore would be required to comply in 2021 before their site-specific standard expires. Vale’s facilities would be required to comply with the regulation in 2023 when the new air standards come into effect.

The proposed regulation will help bring the companies into compliance and provide greater certainty for the industry so they can plan for needed investments. As with other compliance options available under the Local Air Quality Regulation, this regulation would provide an alternative to meeting the sulphur dioxide air standard.

Other actions

In addition to regulatory changes, both the ministry and the companies will be undertaking other work to support continuous improvement.

Assessing environmental performance

The ministry will be conducting new air dispersion modelling of the three facilities to further evaluate how the investments to date have changed ambient air quality in the community. This information will be used to update the ambient monitoring network, which will be used to assess the local air quality and the environmental performance of the facilities moving forward.

Environmental compliance approval requirements to support the proposed regulation

The ministry is also proposing to update each company’s environmental compliance approvals. These amendments will focus more on how companies will monitor, whereas the regulation will set out how the measurements are used to demonstrate performance and how they can be used to inform future investments.

Notice of proposed environmental compliance approval updates will be given in the Environmental Registry. Amendments would include requirements to:

  • improve the ambient air monitoring network using the results of the air dispersion modelling by the ministry.
  • improve the public accessibility of monitoring data and the interpretation of associated health risks.
  • add new continuous emissions monitors to improve the understanding of the magnitude, duration and frequency of peak emissions.
  • update requirements for annual reporting to the ministry on sulphur dioxide peaks measured at the air monitors.

Facilities must meet the specific operating conditions to limit sulphur dioxide emissions set out in their environmental compliance approval. The ministry inspects operations to ensure that these conditions are met. Proposed amendments to each site’s environmental compliance approval will be posted on the Environmental Registry for public comment.

Analysis of regulatory impact

The proposal would require the facilities to incur regulatory compliance costs related to:

  • studies to confirm the effectiveness of current controls.
  • studies and reports to confirm the cause of peak emissions and how they will be resolved.
  • updating the ambient air monitoring network.
  • a plan to install best available technology within 2 years or submit and implement a plan for equivalent actions to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions that consider cost effectiveness within 8 years of the regulation applying.

Background

The Ontario government takes sulphur dioxide emissions seriously. We know that short-term exposure to sulphur dioxide may cause respiratory distress, especially in sensitive individuals such as those with asthma, and may cause difficulty breathing and increased asthma symptoms, especially during exercise. In some cases, sulphur dioxide exposure can cause effects on the heart, which may result in hospital admissions or, in severe cases, premature death.

The current air standards for sulphur dioxide were updated in March 2018 and new air standards will come into effect on July 1, 2023. These standards apply to the nickel smelting and refining sector in the Sudbury area and many other Ontario-based industries.

When new, more stringent air standards are introduced, some facilities are not able to meet these air standards due to technical and economic challenges. In this case the ministry reviews which facilities may need to do more to reduce their emissions. Since the Local Air Quality Regulation came into effect, companies have been required to do more through site specific standards or technical standards, which have taken years to develop. With this regulation, Ontario is introducing a new way to drive faster investments to improve Ontario’s air quality.

We have seen positive changes with the actions taken to date, with a decrease in total sulphur dioxide emissions. However, the data also shows that for 2018-2020 there were still peak (i.e., short-term) ambient sulphur dioxide concentration occurrences due to smelting activities that are high enough to cause adverse health effects to sensitive individuals, such as asthmatics, and in some cases to the general public.

The ministry will continue to take appropriate action in respect of these occurrences. The proposed industry regulation and updates to facilities’ environmental compliance approvals will allow us to:

  • continue to monitor how changes will impact concentrations of sulphur dioxide and associated health risks; and
  • install additional best available technology within 2 years or submit and implement a plan outlining what other actions are necessary within eight years of the regulation applying.

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Comment

Commenting is now closed.

This consultation was open from January 20, 2021
to March 6, 2021

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