Category: Uncategorized

An Ontario construction and watermain group are working overtime to have excess soil treated not as waste, but as a resource, and they’ve launched a new awareness video to drive the message home.

The persistent problem according to groups like the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO), is that Ontario’s busy construction market generates almost 26 million cubic metres of excess construction soil every year – enough dirt to fill Toronto’s Rogers Centre 16 times over.

The groups say about $2 billion is spent each year to manage that excess soil, which comes from civil infrastructure projects for transit, roads, bridges, sewers, watermains and other utilities. On average, dumping excess soil can tack on about 14% to the overall cost of an infrastructure project.

“Clean excess soil can be more responsibly managed through better upfront planning,” said Andy Manahan, executive director of the RCCAO, in a statement to media. “That’s why we co-produced a three-part video series to increase awareness that there are alternatives to the ‘dig, haul long distances and dump’ approach,” he added.

Monahan’s team partnered with the Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association to produce the video series to better inform the public, government and industry about the benefits of using best management practices. The video series is called “The Real Dirt on Dirt: Solutions for Construction Soil Management.”

Part One of the excess soil video series

Giovanni Cautillo, executive director of the Greater Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association, says that there are a lot of trucks on the road travelling 60 to 100 kilometres to dump excess soil as a waste material – and that is completely wrong.

“It’s not a waste – it’s a reusable resource,” Cautillo said in a statement to media. “When municipalities provide guidance to contractors about where soil from local infrastructure projects can be reused, the costs of handling and disposing of soil can be dramatically reduced. Wherever possible, soil should be reused onsite, but if this is not possible, having an approved reuse site within a close distance saves taxpayers money,” he added.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is currently reviewing draft regulations to help improve ways to manage soil on building and infrastructure projects across Ontario. Manahan said that “a multi-ministry approach – environment, municipal affairs, transportation, infrastructure and others – will also help to achieve a more coordinated effort.”

An online soil-matching service is available from Supporting Ontario Infrastructure Investments and Lands (SOiiL) to help find reuse sites for excess soil. Visit soiil.com for more information.

We’ve highlighted important topics and developments that were discussed at CANECT 2018 courses. Thank you to Bennett Jones LLP for their help with this summary.

Spill and Release Reporting

Is this a spill? Is this a reportable release? What should you consider when reporting an incident to a regulator?  There are many important questions that have to be considered in the context of an environmental release.  There are multiple reporting obligations under Federal and provincial environmental laws – even municipal bylaws.   As a general rule, spills and releases must be reported to regulators immediately.  Failure to report a reportable release on time can, and often does, result in enforcement from the regulator.  Do you have procedures in place to ensure that environmental incidents are identified and communicated to the appropriate person for reporting to the regulator?  We discussed best practices and potential pitfalls with respect to spill and release reporting.

Excess Soil Developments

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is in the process of overhauling how excess soil is managed in the province. Proposed regulations and guidance documents have been posted to the Environmental Registry.

Excess soil is soil that has excavated as part of a project and removed from the project area. Excess soil would be designated as a “waste” and subject to the EPA’s waste provisions if the excess soil leaves the project area and is not reused in accordance with the new rules, including that the soil complies with the quality and quantity requirements in a site specific instrument or as prescribed by regulation and the soil is to be used for beneficial purpose (i.e., the reuse site is not used primarily for depositing soil).  Expect to see expanded responsibilities for project leaders and qualified persons (QPs), who would be required to prepare excess soil management plans before the soil leaves the project area. The new excess soil regime is expected to come into force between January 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021.

MOECC- What’s next for environmental permissions?

The MOECC’s Business Transformation Branch presented at CANECT to discuss the environmental permissions programs.  This year, the MOECC announced a one year service standard for the review of Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) applications received after 2017.  Last year, O. Reg. 1/17, known as the Air Emissions Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR) Regulation, authorized a large number of facilities in the province to approve their air emissions through the EASR. Together, these modernization processes have been introduced to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses requiring environmental permissions.  The MOECC continues to review opportunities for efficiencies in the delivery of the environmental permissions programs.  Stay tuned for future developments relating to potential EASRs and program enhancements, including short-term water takings EASRs, brownfield service delivery model developments, and e-service delivery for Permits to Take Water (PTTW), Hauled Sewage and Pesticides Licensing.

Stay tuned for more CANECT course summaries and industry news. If you’d like to suggest topics for future CANECT courses, click here to email us.