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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-12-109 - Region of Waterloo Pre-Consultation -Source Protection PlanREPORT TO: Community & Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: August 13, 2012 SUBMITTED BY: Alain Pinard,Director of Planning 519-741-2319 PREPARED BY: Barbara Steiner, Senior Environmental Planner, 519-741-2293 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: August 3, 2012 REPORT NO.: CSD-12-109 SUBJECT: PRE-CONSULTATIONON DRAFT POLICIES FOR THE SOURCE PROTECTION PLAN ONTARIO CLEAN WATER ACT RECOMMENDATION: 1. THAT the City of Kitchener supports efforts by the Province and the Region to protect the drinking water supply; THAT effective andimplementable measures to protect the drinking water supply 2. continue to be strongly pursued by all orders of government; 3. THAT the City of Kitchener continues to monitor, and participate in, ongoing consultation in respect of the Source Protection Plan for the area including the City of Kitchener; and 4. THAT the City of Kitchener forward report CSD 12 109 to the Regional Municipality of Waterloo as -consultation on the Draft Policies for the Source Protection Plan. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Regional Municipality of Waterloo has formally circulated the City of Kitchener for pre- consultation, and requested comment on, the Draft Polices for the Source Protection Plan mandated by the Ontario Clean Water Act. Draft Source Protection Planroad salt application, snow storage, monitoring and maintenance of sanitary wastewater facilities, monitoring and maintenance of stormwater management facilities, inspection of small septic systems, construction standards for sanitary wastewater and stormwater management facilitiesicial Plan, Zoning Bylaw and standard conditions of approval, and the development approvals process. This report discusses these effects and provides the requested comment on the Draft Polices.  ïê ó ï BACKGROUND: The Ontario Clean Water Act, 2006 received royal assent on October 19, 2006. The purpose of the Act is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water throughout the province. The background of this new legislation was outlined in Kitchener staff report DTS 07 031, and presented for information to Kitchener Council in February, 2007. Many of the provisions of the Act will be implemented under the direction of Source Protection Committees that have been established for each source protection area or region. Source Protection Committees are comprised of stakeholders representing a broad range of interests, including municipalities located in a particular region. Kitchener is located in the Lake Erie Source Protection Region that includes all lands under the jurisdiction of the Catfish Creek, Grand River, Kettle Creek and Long Point Region Conservation Authorities. The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) has been appointed as the Source Protection Authority (the lead conservation authority responsible for administering the Source Protection Committee). The City of Kitchener supported the delegation of authority to Regional Council to select the Source Protection Committee member for the Region of Waterloo, including Kitchener, through Council resolution on October 22, 2007 as recommended in Kitchener staff report DTS 07 161 Commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services to sit on the Source Protection Committee. Under the Act,Source Protection Committees are required to develop three (3) pieces of documentation: (1) Terms of Reference; (2) an Assessment Report; and (3) a Source Protection Plan. The Terms of Reference were completed, and the Grand River Watershed Assessment Report was submitted to the Province on December 20, 2010 and has not been given final approval by the Province. The GRCA and Region are now in the final stages of developing the Source Protection Plan. The Source Protection Plan which will affect the City of Kitchener is being developed by the Region of Waterloo for all of the lands located in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The approach that the Region is taking to the development of the risk-reduction policies of their Source Protection Plan was described in staff report CSD 11 135 which was came before Kitchener Council on October 17, 2011. Consistent with the approach described last fall, the Region sent notification to the City of Kitchener in April2012 of pre-consultation on their draft Source Protection Policies. This notification wasprovided pursuant to the requirement of Ontario Regulation 287/07 made under theOntario Clean Water Act, 2006.The Draft Policies and associated maps can be found at the following links (Region's Draft Policies,Maps).  ïê ó î REPORT: The City of Kitchener has been monitoring the development of the Terms of Reference, the Assessment Report and the Draft Policies comprising the Source Protection Plan with an interest in understanding any implications for both our policies and practices. developed, and the Draft Policies have been formally circulated to the area municipalities, specific comment is being sought by the Region on how the Draft Policies will affect the area municipalities in key areas of their operation. Priority Issues for the City of Kitchener The Region has been in consultation with area municipalities throughout the years since 2007, and particularly as they have been developing their Draft Policies for the Source Protection Plan over the last two (2) years. This provided a mechanism to involve staff from various functional areas of the City whose practices and / or policies might be affected by a Source Protection Plan once in place. Accordingly, the City ofhave been and are participating in staff from the Infrastructure Services Department (Engineering, Stormwater Utility, Operations, and during earlier phases, Fleet)and the Community Services Department (Building and Planning). The Draft Policies are numerous (over 300 individual policies) and complex making it challenging to easily understand what parts of the City and specific properties might be affected. To assist Kitchener staff in understanding the extent (i.e. the areas of the City where each policy applies) and the implications for City properties and processes, City of Kitchener staff undertook identify where relevant Draft policies apply. Operations Division 1. Road Salt Application The application of road salt on public roads and parking lots (both City-owned and private) over 2 a certain size (greater than 8 spaces or 200 m) in certain Wellhead Protection Areas will be restricted / managed through the development of new, or modification to existing, Risk for roadways and Smart © About Salt certification for parking lots). The Draft Polices are silent on the salting of other transportation infrastructure such as sidewalks and trails. The City has been working with the Region for over 10 years to mitigate the effects of road salt on the drinking water supply particularly around the Parkway and Greenbrook wellfields, and capital and operational costs are unlikely to change significantly with the implementation of these new policies which largely reflect existing policies and practices with respect to road salting. However, there will be additional costs to amend the existing Salt Management Plan, and develop what is assumed to be the same plan, the Risk Management Plan for the relevant protection areas associated with the Parkway, Greenbrook and Strange Street wellfields. This one-time cost may range from $10,000 to $30,000 depending on the extent to which consultants  ïê ó í are used, and would be undertaken in consultation with our Regional and area municipal counterparts. The application of road salt on City-owned parking lots in affected Wellhead Protection Areas © will require the City to obtain Smart About Salt certification. There will be costs associated with this, both upfront (training and site assessment) and on-going (annual fee and potential additional operating costs). rprise lots will be affected by the policy as they are located exclusively in the downtown which is out of the Wellhead Protection Areas affected by this Draft Policy. However, five to ten (5-10) of parking lots at community centres, parks and other City-owned properties in the affected Wellhead Protection Areas will require certification. Depending on the extent to which consultants are used, estimated costs for certification are: $2,500 for each affected parking lot (one-time site assessment) and $1,000 annually for each of those lots including the annual $250 for site accreditation. The Region has also proposed that area municipalities be responsible for an education program regarding the use of salt as a de-icer on roadways. We believe that any public education program in respect of the protection of the drinking water supply be designed and implemented with the same message Region-wide and by the Region. This consistent messaging is simply a best practice from a community-based social marketing perspective. respect to de-icing on sidewalks and private property may also need to be reviewed to be consistent with Source Protection Plan policies. 2. Snow Storage current snow storage locations are located out of the Wellhead Protection Areas where snow storage is prohibited, or where Risk Management Plans must be developed according to the Draft Policies. Any future approach to City-wide snow management (including storage, natural and mechanical melting, conveying, disposing and site cleanup and maintenance) developed by the City will need to consider the locations in which snow storage areas of certain sizes are prohibited or where a Risk Management Plan will be requiredas specified in the policies ofthe Source Protection Plan. 3. Sanitary Wastewater Facilities (e.g. pipes, pumping stations) Mandatory inspection, maintenance, contingency planning for and possible retrofitting of sanitary sewers are proposed to be required in certain Wellhead Protection Areas by the Draft Policies. The City of Kitchener inspects sanitary sewers on a five-year rotation. The Draft Policies do not specify a timeframe, and whether existing inspections would be adequate, or how this process should be modified to respond to the Draft Policies is not currently known. If the Region pursues this policy, over 50km of sanitary sewer will be subject to the proposed mandatory inspection, primarily in the neighbourhoods surrounding the Greenbrook wellfield.  ïê ó ì being modified to focus more on spills to surface water, rather than leaks to groundwater from sanitary pipe systems. In that regard, we suggest that policies in respect of pumping stations, in particular, and in Wellhead Protection Areas for those wells (GUDI) under the direct influence of surface water, may be the most effective protection of drinking water from threats associated with sanitary wastewater. Stormwater Utility 4. Mandatory Monitoring, Inspection, Maintenance of, and Reporting on, Stormwater Management Facilities tion might be if monitoring results are determined to be unacceptable. If this is required, this could involve the retrofitting of some ponds in certain Wellhead Protection Areas which will be an additional cost. Thirty-three (33) SWM ponds could potentially be required by the Province to be monitored for both surface and ground- water quality. Parameters to be considered are: Provincial Drinking Water Threats in some areas (13 ponds); Nitrates in Wellhead Protection Areas where this is an issue (1 pond); and Sodium and Chloride in Wellhead Protection Areas where this is an issue (19ponds). Theestimated monitoring costs are dependent on the scale and scope of monitoring that will be required. Costs could reach as high as: $165,000 for the one-time, upfront cost to install a groundwater well at all 33 SWM facilities; and $150,000-200,000 per: year to monitor surface and ground- water quality at all 33 SWM facilities. For 2013, it is anticipated that some surface water quality monitoring will be undertaken at a number of the identified threat SWM facilities as part of the annual stormwater monitoring program the City has been conducting since 2001. This will allow the City to begin collecting some baseline data to compare future results in order to determine if the water quality is improving or worsening. Starting this monitoring in 2013 will allow the City to identify and prioritize the assessment of identified SWM facilities in 2014, and beyond, where there is a significant drinking water threat. This initial monitoring can be accomplished with existing funding sources from the Stormwater Utility and is anticipated to cost approximately $20,000. The key issues for the City with respect to this additional monitoring are: uncertainty that the data collectedwill help the City and Region better protect the drinking water supply; whether all ponds noted above are subject to mandatory monitoring, or only those ponds the Region long term cost associated with this level of monitoring. The Draft Policies the Region has proposed include incentive programs to encourage property owners to reduce the amount of pollutants leaving their property and entering the groundwater. There are currently four (4) components identified in the incentive program: farming operations  ïê ó ë and secondary containment in case of a spill; salt and snow management such as the Smart © About Salt certification; and, abandoning transport pathways such as decommissioning old wells. In the Fall of 2012, the City will be implementing the stormwater credit policy which © includes a credit to non-residential property owners that are Smart About Salt certified. The stormwater credit policy therefore supports the principles of sourcewater protection and provides an additional incentive to encourage property owners to properly manage the runoff and pollutants coming from their property, with the intent to assist the municipality in meeting existing and future legislated requirements under the Ontario Clean Water Act, 2006. Building Division 5. Mandatory Inspection of Private, Small Septic Systems The Ontario Clean Water Act has amended the Ontario Building Code Act to require mandatory inspections of small septic systems by the principal authority (City of Kitchener in our jurisdiction) in certain Wellhead Protection Areas. Building Division staff has been tracking this proposed provincial initiative through the Ontario Building Officials Association (OBOA), and will continue to be involved in discussions with the Province through this association. The City of Kitchener has only been responsible for the inspection and permitting of such septic systems since 1998; before that the and, prior to that, the Ontario Ministry of Environment. For this reason, the City of Kitchener cannot be entirely confident that it knows where every septic system in the municipality is located, and will need to rely on Regional staff to indicate where septic systems were constructed prior to 1998. Using other types of data we do have, however, GIS staff was able to assess which properties were likely to still be on septic services. Using this methodology, it is estimated that in Kitchener there are 20-50 properties on septic in the particular Wellhead Protection Areas associated with this Threat. At this point in time, no direction has been given by the Province or Region as to what will constitute an acceptable inspection; the level of detail required in the inspection will determine the cost to the City, and ultimately to the landowner. Costs associated with the mandatory inspection will include: title searches; staff time for initial contact and education; inspection; and reporting. Property owners will be charged an inspection fee that will be set at a level to recover the costs incurred to the City. Engineering Division 6. New Design Standards and/or Conditions for Sanitary Wastewater and Stormwater Facilities Th sewers (including but not limited to high quality piping, pipe joint sealing and zero-leak testing  ïê ó ê for sub-surface piping). The Draft Policies may also require the lining of stormwater management facilities to prevent the infiltration of salt-laden surface water to the subsurface. new subsurface infrastructure in vulnerable wellhead areas, specifically the policy requiring supporting groundwater impact studies where enhanced construction techniques might be identified as mitigation. As these policies and practices are relatively new, City staff has limited experience with longer-term maintenance and monitoring implications of these new design standards. Private landowners / developers have become familiar with some of the new design standards requested by the Region in support of source water protection, but it is also fairly new to them as well. There will however undoubtedly be increased construction costs to either private landowners / developers in the case of new development, or to the City itself in the case of capital projects when infrastructure is required to be constructed or repaired / retrofitted in vulnerable Wellhead Protection Areas. Planning Division 7.Policies,Zoning Bylaw, and Standard Conditions of Approval Ch policies, regulations and procedures will be required to comply it is amended to restrict uses that constitute a threat to source water. This is not unexpected as changes to these documents are required from time to time in order to bring plans and policies into compliance with those of the Region. Development Approvals Process 8. City of Kitchener staffespecially those in the Planning and Building Divisionsprovide a great deal of information to landowners or prospective purchasers regarding the appropriateness of their development plans for a particular property, including those within certain Wellhead Protection Areas. This happens from even before a property is purchased and through the entire application and approvals process. The information provided includes how polices of other orders of governmentpoliciesmay affect their proposed development. In addition, the City has traditionally been the sole source of this information in more minor development applications such as site plan applications and revisions. The sheer number and complexity of the Source Protection Plan policies may have the effect of requiring landowners to seek complex pre- Management Official, as well as having this source protection aspect of an application considered throughout the approvals process. This will have the very possible effect of adding time and costs to an approvals process. Also to do with the number and complexity of the polices, the City is concerned that staff who are at the first point of contact with a landowner will be required to interpret how these many s  ïê ó é to provide this information to landowners, much more comprehensible and simpler tools (e.g. to be developed and implemented by the Region. 9. Snow Storage as a Use The City of Kitchener defines snow disposal site in our Zoning Bylaw (amended by Bylaw 2002- amendment to the Kitchener Zoning Bylaw was not undertaken with source protection in mind. Rather, it was intended to control the ad hoc establishment of private snow storage with its attendant nuisance and safety risks throughout the city. The bylaw prohibits this use outside of the Downtown One (D-1) and Two (D-2) zones. As with other bylaws, the City would enforce this bylaw on a complaint basis only. In addition, snow storage would tend to be an ephemeral use, with locations changing from year to year. The City has had very limited experience enforcing this bylaw. However, it seems clear that the City would only become aware of an illegal snow disposal site if a complaint were made. Therefore, relying heavily on the zoning bylaw to regulate the locations of certain sizes of snow storage in certain Wellhead Protection Areas and to protect source water may not be effective. Next Steps and Milestones Regulations under the Clean Water Act require the Source Protection Plan (SPP) to be submitted to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment by August 2012. However, the Source Protection Committee (SPC) has recently been granted an extension to this deadline to December 31, 2012. 13Aug 2012 14Aug 2012 tailed Policies 16Aug 2012 Draft Source Protection Plan submitted to SPC by Region 17 Aug 2012 48-day consultation begins on Draft Source Protection Plan (SPP) 10-21 Sept 2012 SPC holds Public Meetings on Draft SPP 3 Oct 2012 48-day consultation ends on Draft SPP 1 Nov 2012 SPC considers comments received on Draft SPP 6 Dec 2012 SPC endorses Final SPP 7 Dec 2012- 30-day consultation on Final SPP (comments sent directly to Province) 14 Jan 2013 15 Jan 2013 Source Protection Plan submitted to Province  ïê ó è ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Community Priorities Environment Clean Water Act will help achieve the Community Vision for the environment, in which our community focuses significant energy and resources on becoming more environmentally friendly. Foundation Efficient and Effective Government Understanding the effect of Clean Water Act initiatives on the City of Kitchener is consistent with our financial management goal to strive to ensure long-term corporate financial stability and fiscal accountability to our taxpayers. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The scope of policies and programs currently being modified by the Region to respond to the comments being received from area municipalities and other stakeholders. As part of this current review of the Draft Policies of the plan, financial implications for the City of Kitchener arising from the plan have been considered and estimated by appropriate City of Kitchener staff. Significant ThreatEstimated CostEstimated CostOther Workload (Initial, One-time)(Annually)Implications Road Salt Application$10-30,000 for Risk -Changes to contracts (Roads)Management Plan-Negotiating Risk (updated Salt Management Plans Management Plan)-Winter tracking -Annual reporting Road Salt Application$2,500 per lot$1,000 per lot-Training, fees ($250) (5-10City-owned Parking (if consultants are used; (if consultants are and staff time Lots)self-assessment is used for annual permitted)reporting) $250 for annual accreditation Snow Storage$0$0-Risk Management Plan required if locations moved to vulnerable Wellhead Protection Areas Sanitary Wastewater Inspectionsof pipes Facilitieslikely no longer required by Region Stormwater Management $165,000 (up to)$150-200,000(up -Administering Ponds(up to 33 ponds,to)consultants conducting likely less)monitoring -Annual reporting  ïê ó ç COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The City of Kitchener is not the lead organization in this initiative and, as such, no corporate communications have emanated from the City of Kitchener. Rather, the GRCA and Region have, as required by provincial legislation, been informing, engaging and seeking input from the public on the various initiatives required by the Clean Water Act such as the Terms of Reference, the Assessment Report, and the Draft Policies that comprise the Source Protection Plan.Further public consultation will be undertaken by the Lake Erie Source Protection Region as outlined above under Next Steps. REVIEWED BY: Brandon Sloan Manager of Long Range and Policy Planning Community Services Department Nick Gollan Manager of Kitchener Stormwater Utility Infrastructure Services Department Hans Gross Interim Director of Engineering Infrastructure Services Department Alain Pinard Director of Planning Community Services Department Mike Seiling Director of Building Community Services Department Jim Witmer Director of Operations Infrastructure Services Department ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Alain Pinard,Acting Deputy CAO Community Services Department Attachments: Appendix A: Comments on Specific Draft Policies  ïê ó ïð ïê ó ïï ïê ó ïî ïê ó ïí ïê ó ïì ïê ó ïë ïê ó ïê