More stringent cleanup standards for contaminated sites will come into effect July 1, 2011, under 2009 amendments to Regulation 153/04. Some property owners with ongoing cleanups may prefer to use the old numbers, i.e. the “March 9, 2004 Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards” (“2004 standards”) to obtain a record of site condition after July 1, 2011. If they do, they must file a notice, which is now available.
Section 21.1 of the Regulation allows such owners to extend the use of the 2004 standards and certain associated provisions if the owner:
- meets the requirements of section 21.1;
- chooses to use the 2004 standards;
- submits a Record of Site Condition for filing after July 1, 2011 but before January 1, 2013.
For an owner to be eligible to use the 2004 standards, a Notice must be completed and submitted via email to the Ministry of Environment between July 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010 along with the necessary supporting documents.
The Notice under Section 21.1 has been posted on the ministry’s website along with additional instructions at the following link: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/brownfields/amendments.php. However, many owners of contaminated sites are finding that it makes limited financial sense to extend the use of the 2004 numbers, given the requirement to prepare new Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments for any Record of Site Condition filed after July 1, 2011.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Confusion reigns! As consultants, we are having to explain to our clients the old versus the new Reg 153/04 and try to get them to decide which version best suits their purposes before we begin our site investigation but I am very uncomfortable with this since the issue is more of a legal one than an environmental one. Recent discussions with an MOE lawyer seems to indicate Reg 153/04 applies only to sites seeking a Record of Site Condition but not to other sites. However, since there is no other Ontario yardstick for estimating the condition of soils and waters, it looksto me like the consultant would be held civilly liable if he/she didn't apply the Reg to the results of the analyses. This leaves us telling the client, "There's no law says you must clean up this site simply because you exceed the Reg 153 limits, but clean it up anyway or you may not be able to buy/sell it and I may get sued. Am I way off base here or what?