This consultation was open from:
October 17, 2023
to December 1, 2023
Decision summary
Ontario has made amendments to Ontario Regulation 406/19 and the associated Soil Rules to increase soil management flexibility and support greater reuse of excess soil from housing, infrastructure, and other construction projects.
Decision details
We are making it easier for industry to reuse leftover soil from housing and infrastructure sites, while protecting our province’s people and environment and working to stop the illegal dumping of potentially contaminated soil. To reduce burden and increase opportunities for beneficial reuse of excess soil, Ontario has made amendments to Ontario Regulation 406/19 - On-Site and Excess Soil Management (Excess Soil Regulation) and the Rules for Soil Management and Excess Soil Quality Standards document (Soil Rules).
Summary of amendments
-
Soil Management at Temporary Storage Sites and Depots:
- The maximum amount of soil allowed at temporary storage sites (Class 2 soil management) and soil depots that are exempt from a waste environmental compliance approval has increased from 10,000 to 25,000 cubic metres, and many rules have been aligned across these sites and local waste transfer facilities for ease of implementation.
- Public bodies operating a Class 2 site or a local waste transfer facility do not have quantity limits for managing dry excess soil.
- Class 2 sites can now be controlled by public bodies, not just owned by them
-
Salt-Impacted Soil Reuse Opportunities:
- Subject to setbacks from potable wells and waterbodies, salt-impact soil can now be placed:
- Anywhere on industrial or commercial properties.
- 1.5 metres or more below the soil surface at residential, parkland, institutional, or community properties to be protective of vegetation, or if within 1.5 metres of the surface, in accordance with a landscape plan prepared by an expert or with a policy prepared by a public body for their properties.
- 1.5 metres or more below the soil surface at agricultural or other use properties, or if within 1.5 metres of the surface, it is reused in an undertaking for a specified built use (e.g., fill for buildings, driveways, barns), and is not in an area used for growing crops or pasturing livestock.
- Reuse site owners or operators must acknowledge receiving salt-impacted soil in writing.
- Subject to setbacks from potable wells and waterbodies, salt-impact soil can now be placed:
-
Hauling Record Amendments:
- Small quantities of soil (i.e., up to 5 cubic metres) and soil packaged as a landscaping or gardening product are exempt from needing a hauling record.
- Source sites must verify information in hauling records before moving excess soil off-site.
-
Reuse Planning Requirements Exemption:
- Landscaping projects excavating 100 cubic metres or less at enhanced investigation project areas are exempt from reuse planning requirements if the excavation area has been assessed by a qualified person and is not likely to be contaminated.
-
Temporary Storage Near Waterbodies:
- When excavating soil near a waterbody, temporary storage of that sediment and soil is allowed within 30 metres of the waterbody.
- Steps must be taken to prevent adverse effects to the water body.
-
Sampling Clarifications:
- If an area of environmental concern is identified solely because of salt application, sampling for all mandatory parameters or meeting the minimum sampling frequencies is not required.
- For tunneling projects, a modified in-situ sampling approach can be used to combine both in-situ samples and representative samples of excavated material to meet in-situ sampling frequencies.
- When sampling sediment from a stormwater management pond, requirements are based on the entire pond, not each zone, to avoid over-sampling.
-
Responsibilities for Using Soil Processing Substances:
- When using substances such as polymers to solidify liquid soil, the qualified person’s role has been clarified. Instead of providing a guarantee that there will be no adverse effect from the use of these substances, the qualified person must undertake specified steps to obtain information, indicate whether there is any basis to conclude that a substance would result in an adverse impact, and in certain circumstances develop instructions on the storage and placement of soil including to prevent adverse impacts.
-
Other Amendments:
- The Excess Soil Regulation and Soil Rules have been clarified for better understanding and consistent implementation of requirements.
Implementation and Guidance
These amendments came into effect upon filing on April 23, 2024.
Links to guidance to help in understand these requirements can be found on Ontario’s Handling Excess Soil website. The ministry will also be providing additional educational opportunities to learn about the amendments.
For further assistance understanding the Excess Soil Regulation and Soil Rules, you can contact your local MECP district office or e-mail mecp.landpolicy@ontario.ca.
Effects of consultation
We received a total of 74 submissions commenting on the proposal. Comments were received from industry, municipalities, consultants, professional organizations, agricultural organizations, and individuals.
Overall, comments suggested support for enhanced opportunities for soil management activities exempt from a waste approval and greater opportunities to reuse salt-impacted soil. Comments were also supportive of greater clarifications for sampling requirements, and for the qualified person’s obligations when using substances such as polymers to process liquid soil.
Some comments raised concerns around the lack of ministry oversight for proposed exemptions from waste approvals, and the potential for adverse effects from the reuse of salt-impacted soil at agricultural properties or from storage of soil within 30 metres of a waterbody.
We considered all comments when finalizing the amendments, and in some situations revised what was proposed based on the comments. Below is a summary of key comments and our response:
-
Exempting depots from waste approvals
The original proposal included exemptions for additional types of soil management sites (aggregate reuse depots and small liquid soil depots) from requiring a waste approval from the ministry and revising requirements for the retail landscaping depots to enable greater topsoil management. We also proposed utilizing the Excess Soil Registry (Registry) to file notices for the proposed depots and other existing sites that currently require a written director’s notice (Class 2 soil management sites and local waste transfer facilities).
The feedback received on these aspects of the proposal suggested that greater discussion was needed on the operational details of the proposed new types of depots to ensure they do not prohibit beneficial reuse while still remaining protective of the environment, as well as consideration for the development and implementation of new notices on the Registry.
Response: Based on the comments received, a decision on these proposed amendments has been delayed, to be made at a later date after further consideration. The ministry continues to refine the proposal based on feedback received and will continue to work with stakeholders and the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) regarding the Registry.
-
Class 2 soil management sites and local waste transfer facilities
Some comments received on the proposal flagged concerns around limiting maximum soil quantity at local waste transfer facilities, which are currently used for soil management for some large infrastructure projects.
Response: Based on this feedback, a decision was made to have no limit on maximum quantity for dry excess soil at both Class 2 soil management sites and local waste transfer facilities for public bodies, to ensure infrastructure projects managed by public bodies are not affected by the changes and to have alignment in rules for these sites. Other regulatory requirements such as soil storage rules would continue to apply, to prevent any adverse effects. For Class 2 soil management sites and local waste transfer facilities that are not owned or controlled by a public body, the maximum quantity of excess soil that may be managed at a site is 25,000 cubic metres.
-
Reuse rules for salt-impacted soil
While some comments were generally supportive of the amendments for salt-impacted soil reuse rules, other comments raised concerns around potential impacts to agricultural lands, with requests to provide more specific restrictions for these areas. Comments from some municipalities also requested whether policies for reuse of salt-impacted soil can be used instead of a new landscape plan prepared by an expert.
Response: Based on the comments, we clarified that for agricultural lands, salt-impacted soil shall either be placed 1.5 metres below the surface (which is currently allowed) or can be placed within 1.5 metres of the surface if the soil only if reused for specified built undertakings. In response to comments from municipalities, an exemption from a landscape plan was provided for public bodies that have a policy related to use of salt-impacted soil at reuse sites they own or control.
-
Storage within 30 metres of a water body
We heard some concerns that while allowing for storage within 30 metres of a waterbody made sense for practical reasons, there may be potential impacts to the waterbody itself from storage.
Response: Based on the comments, we identified clear storage rules to prevent adverse impacts to waterbodies, including having a time limit for how long soil may be stored and ensuring a sediment and erosion control plan is in place for this activity.
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.
40 St. Clair Ave West
10th floor
Toronto,
ON
M4V 1M2
Canada
Connect with us
Contact
Reema Kureishy
40 St Clair Avenue West
10th Floor
Toronto,
ON
M4V 1M2
Canada
Original proposal
Proposal details
Introduction
The ministry is considering potential amendments to the Excess Soil Regulation and the Rules for Soil Management and Excess Soil Quality Standards (Soil Rules) document to ensure the regulation can be more easily implemented and clearly understood. The proposed amendments also aim to reduce requirements on lower risk activities to achieve greater reuse of readily usable excess soils as part of a circular economy.
In 2019, we made a new Excess Soil Regulation (Ontario Regulation 406/19: On-Site and Excess Soil Management, under the Environmental Protection Act), supported by a Soil Rules document and risk-based soil reuse standards, to provide clear rules supporting the reuse of excess soil and to help stop illegal dumping of excess soil. The Excess Soil Regulation is now largely in effect.
Proposed amendments
In response to specific concerns related to the implementation of the regulation, the need for clarification of certain regulatory requirements and the need to further remove barriers to reuse of low-risk soils, we are proposing amendments that include the following:
- remove requirements for waste Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs) for third-party storage and processing of readily usable low-risk dry soils and small liquid soil sites (class 1 sites), and enhance usability of project leader owned storage sites (class 2 sites)
- increase opportunities for reuse of salt-impacted soil in low-risk circumstances
- exempt specified small projects from physical or electronic hauling records, and add clarifications related to required information and responsibility for confirming information in hauling records
- exempt landscaping projects at low-risk portions of enhanced investigation project areas from reuse planning requirements
- clarify the responsibility of the qualified person when substances such as polymers are used for dewatering or solidification of liquid soil
- enable storage of sediment and soil near waterbodies for projects excavating in or adjacent to that waterbody
- additional clarifications and corrections to assist with better understanding of requirements.
Please refer to the attached document under “Supporting Materials” for a more complete and detailed description of the proposed amendments.
These amendments are proposed to come into effect on January 1, 2024. The need for transition provisions may be considered, including in respect of provisions that may require updates to the Excess Soils Registry.
We may also consider other administrative / consequential amendments or non-substantial clarifications (e.g., grammatical corrections).
We will continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders, and Indigenous communities and organizations to ensure the regulation continues to be implemented effectively.
Regulatory impact statement
The proposed amendments would not provide additional compliance costs to developers, municipalities, infrastructure companies or others, as they would reduce burden or provide flexibility in relation to requirements that are already in the Excess Soil Regulation.
Proposed amendments for exemptions from a waste ECA, hauling record, and excess soil reuse planning requirements, would save cost and time, particularly for smaller operations such as landscaping.
Amendments for increased ability to manage soil at interim sites and enhancing flexibility for the reuse of salt-impacted soil would also result in cost savings, as well as environmental and social benefits from greater local reuse without needing to haul soil to further locations for storage or reuse (less truck traffic and fewer greenhouse gas emissions).
Other amendments provide clarifications of existing requirements to either increase flexibility or enable better understanding for the regulated community.
This proposal would not have a significant environmental impact as important rules regarding the management of excess soil remain in place or are clarified. For example, exemptions from waste ECAs are accompanied by regulatory rules to ensure there is no adverse effect to human health or the environment. Reuse options for salt-impacted soil retain setback distances to limit potential impacts to ground and surface water, and remain protective of more sensitive use sites, such as agricultural areas used for growing crops or pasture.
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.
40 St. Clair Ave West
10th floor
Toronto,
ON
M4V 1M2
Canada
Comment
Commenting is now closed.
This consultation was open from October 17, 2023
to December 1, 2023
Connect with us
Contact
Reema Kureishy
40 St Clair Avenue West
10th Floor
Toronto,
ON
M4V 1M2
Canada
Comments received
Through the registry
61By email
13By mail
0