1 / 45

CONTAMINATED SITES LEGISLATION AND POLICY

CONTAMINATED SITES LEGISLATION AND POLICY. September 28, 2004 Vancouver, BC. AGENDA - MORNING. Introductory Remarks Charles Porter, Director, Environmental Management Branch Overview of Contaminated Sites Program Alan McCammon, Assistant Director, Contaminated Sites Program

libby-goff
Download Presentation

CONTAMINATED SITES LEGISLATION AND POLICY

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CONTAMINATED SITESLEGISLATION AND POLICY September 28, 2004 Vancouver, BC

  2. AGENDA - MORNING Introductory Remarks Charles Porter, Director, Environmental Management Branch Overview of Contaminated Sites Program Alan McCammon, Assistant Director, Contaminated Sites Program Evolution of Contaminated Sites Legislation Mike Macfarlane, Manager, Contaminated Sites Legislative Review ------------------------------------------------------------ Review of Recent Legislation and Policy Changes Mike Macfarlane Role of Approved Professionals Glyn Fox, Head, Science and Standards, Contaminated Sites Program

  3. AGENDA - AFTERNOON Introduction to Roster Steering Committee andScience Advisory Board Glyn Fox Development of a Framework for LicensedEnvironmental Professionals Alan Walker, LEP Development Subcommittee Science Advisory Board Projects Paul West, A/Chair Science Advisory Board ------------------------------------------------------------ Future Work and Consultation Opportunities Mike Macfarlane Closing Remarks Alan McCammon

  4. Introductory Remarks Charles Porter Director, Environmental Management Branch

  5. Overview of Contaminated Sites Program Alan McCammon Assistant Director, Contaminated Sites Program

  6. Provincial Responsibility for Contaminated Sites in BC Regulation of Contaminated Sites Investigation and Clean Up Management of contaminated provincial lands and Crown contaminated sites

  7. Evolution of Contaminated Sites Legislation Mike Macfarlane Manager, Contaminated Sites Legislative Review

  8. Evolution of Legislation Bill creating or amending a statute (act) is read three times and debated in Legislature Bill receives royal assent from Lieutenant Governor Regulations approved by Cabinet bring statute into force

  9. Evolution of Legislation • May 14, 2002 - Minister’s Advisory Panel appointed • May 13, 2003 - Panel’s final report released • May 12, 2003 – Bill 57 (EMA) passed first reading • April 19, 2004 – Bill 13 (EMA amendments) passed • July 8, 2004 – CSR amended bringing EMA into force • Additional legislative and regulatory changes are anticipated over the next 5 years

  10. Evolution of Legislation Annotated Legislation

  11. Review of Recent Legislation and Policy Changes Mike Macfarlane Manager, Contaminated Sites Legislative Review

  12. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes

  13. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes • Elimination of further action if standards change • increased certainty for land owners and operators • Elimination of conditional certificates • Single instrument for numerical and risk-based approaches

  14. Line break Recent Legislation and Policy Changes A Contaminated Site is defined as… “…an area of the land in which the soil or any groundwater lying beneath it, or the water or the underlying sediment, contains (a) a hazardous waste, or (b) another prescribed substance in quantities or concentrations exceeding prescribed risk based or numerical criteria or standards or conditions;”

  15. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes • Site Profiles • No legal changes • Approved Professionals • New name for “rostered experts” • Access to Lands • Can now be part of remediation order

  16. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes • Regulation of Mining and Petroleum Sector • Mines and upstream oil industry • Separated provisions, developed MOUs • Linkages to Hazardous Waste Regulation • Former Special Waste Regulation • Rules for the identification, registration, transportation and management of hazardous waste

  17. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes Director’s Criteria for Managing Contaminated Sediment in British Columbia Contaminated Sites Regulation Schedule 9 — Generic Numerical Sediment Criteria Schedule 10 — Generic Numerical Soil and Water Standards Director’s Nonscheduled Toxic Substances Standards Changes to Standards and Criteria…

  18. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes Changes to Standards… Matrix Soil Standards for Inorganic Mercury

  19. Recent Legislation and Policy Changes Changes to Standards… • Radioactive Substances removed from Regulation • Under Ministry of Health jurisdiction • Substances categories rearranged • for consistency and clarity

  20. Role of Approved Professionals Dr. Glyn Fox Head, Science and Standards, Contaminated Sites Program

  21. History of Roster of Approved Professionals • Roster established in 1999 • Roster has processed 200 sites • Number and scope of submissions has increased • Roster membership has increased to 40 • 85-90% of roster members are practicing

  22. Transitional changes to Role of Approved Professionals • Ministry responsibilities • Appointment to / removal from roster • Non-voting membership on RSC • RSC responsibilities • Qualify/recommend candidates • Set/mark examinations • Performance assessments (audits)

  23. Transitional changes to Role of Approved Professionals • Focus of performance assessments moving from disciplinary to educational • opportunity to meet performance assessors early in the assessment process • increase transparency of performance assessments • random and targeted assessments • disciplinary action only where work is grossly negligent or incompetent

  24. Transitional changes to Role of Approved Professionals • Appointment period extended from 3 to 5 years • Director appointed four risk assessment specialists • Membership in College of Applied Biology meets eligibility requirement to join roster

  25. Backlog Reduction Policy • For years Ministry has encouraged clients to use roster process • Minister’s Service Plan sets performance target • “eliminate 95% of the backlog of non-high risk applications by March 31, 2006” • Effective November 1, 2004, low-moderate risk applications must use approved professionals • Will allow Ministry staff to focus on high risk sites

  26. Introduction toRoster Steering Committee andScience Advisory Board Dr. Glyn Fox Head, Science and Standards, Contaminated Sites Program

  27. Introduction to Roster Steering Committee and Science Advisory Board

  28. Development of a Framework forLicensed EnvironmentalProfessionals Alan Walker Alan Walker, LEP Development Subcommittee

  29. Science Advisory BoardProjects Dr. Paul West A/Chair, Science Advisory Board

  30. Future Work andConsultation Opportunities Mike Macfarlane Manager, Contaminated Sites Legislative Review

  31. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Improve Relationship between EMA and CSR • Flow of law from statute to regulation • Work already started eg determinations • Streamline regulation of treatment and discharges at contaminated sites

  32. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Changes to Standards • Apply consistent risk threshold • Review CCME derivation methods • Assess mandatory site-specific factors • New standards for wild land and multi-family residences

  33. CSR Numerical Standards Schedule 4 – Generic Soil Standards Schedule 9 – Generic Numerical Sediment Criteria Schedule 5 – Soil Matrix Standards Schedule 10 – Generic Numerical Soil and Water Standards Schedule 6 – Groundwater Standards

  34. Wildlands Use Scenario

  35. What RL Standards Contemplate

  36. What Most RL Site Are

  37. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Site Investigation Triggers (Site Profiles) • Fall 2003 discussion paper on the conditions that trigger the need for a site investigation in BC • Feedback from stakeholders indicated broad spectrum of understanding of existing legislation • Further education and clarification of existing process required • UBCM will assist with disseminating information to local governments

  38. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Site Classification, Investigation and Remediation Process • 2003 Discussion paper on site classification, investigation and remediation process • Process to be further refined • Science Advisory Board will recommend tools to support this process • Work on “Summary of Site Condition” started

  39. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Brownfields Strategy • Ministry working with CCME on national brownfield strategy • Co-ordinating efforts with the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management • EMA contains enabling provisions for a Land Remediation Fund • Commissioned economic analysis of the brownfields business case (Lime Kiln Inc., 2004) • Working with United States counterparts in the Pacific North West

  40. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Liability Review and Dispute Resolution • Exploring options for capping liability for approved professionals • General review of the liability provisions in EMA to be completed before April 2005

  41. Future Work and Consultation Opportunities • Communication with Stakeholders • Workshops in other areas of province • Practitioner forum on Oct 6 • Program web site • CS elink • Online discussion forum

  42. Closing Remarks Alan McCammon Assistant Director, Contaminated Sites Program

More Related