This continues the work that the Ministry undertook in 2019 to finalize a new Excess Soil Regulation to make it easier and to reuse more excess soil locally.
To support infrastructure development and further encourage the beneficial reuse of excess soils, the Ministry is now proposing the following amendments and changes:
- changing the in-effect date of the restriction on landfilling cleaner soils, from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2027, and clarifying exceptions from the restriction, to allow more time to understand and apply the restriction with minimal confusion and disruption
- removing requirements for waste environmental compliance approvals for third-party storage and processing of excess soil at lower-risk aggregate and small liquid soil operations, with regulatory rules to be followed instead
- enabling greater reuse of aggregate and stormwater management pond sediment by providing some flexibility related to meeting applicable excess soil quality standards, in respect of asphalt-related contaminants if the excess soil is reused in an asphalt-related project, and naturally occurring exceedances of the excess soil quality standards
- flexibility for soil moved between project areas and reuse sites of infrastructure projects of the same type and project leader to enable more efficient management of excess soil from these projects
- adding exemptions from reuse planning requirements (other than filing a notice on the Excess Soil Registry) for soil moving between infrastructure project areas and reuse sites with different project leaders and operators
- where sampling and analysis is required, allowing in-situ sampling of SWMP sediment to reduce time and cost associated with its characterization
- considering the use of regional mapping of areas that naturally exceed the excess soil quality standards for certain parameters as a basis for enabling greater reuse of excess soil with such exceedances
- other clarifications and corrections that would not change policy intent, including clarifying the delineation of a project area that is planned to be contiguous upon completion, the management of soil that is temporarily removed from and will be returned to a project area, and sampling clarifications for substances added to soil to facilitate excavation
The full proposal can be found here and deadline to provide comments is November 21, 2024.
MECP hosted a webinar on Tuesday, October 29 to provide information on the proposed amendments. A copy of the presentation can be found here.