HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-2022-278 - CLI-ECA Regulations for Sanitary and Stormwater Infrastructure
Infrastructure Services Department www.kitchener.ca
REPORT TO: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: June 8, 2022
SUBMITTED BY: Bu Lam, Director, Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, 519-741-2600 x4212
PREPARED BY: Bu Lam, Director, Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, 519-741-2600 x4212
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All Wards
DATE OF REPORT: May 30, 2022
REPORT NO.: INS-2022-278
SUBJECT: Implementation of new Consolidated Linear Infrastructure
Environmental Compliance Approvals (CLI-ECA) Regulations for
Sanitary and Stormwater Infrastructure
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council approve the addition of 2 FTEs in the Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities to
support the transfer of environmental approvals from the Ministry to the City as part of
the new CLI-ECA regulatory change.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:
The purpose of this report is to seek approval of 2 FTEs to support the mandatory transition
of Environmental Compliance approvals from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and
Parks to the City of Kitchener
This transfer of responsibility is part of a regulatory change that creates new responsibilities
that have not previously been undertaken by the City.
The transfer of responsibility will result in improved ECA review/approval timelines, which
will reduce delays in obtaining ECAs for City-led and Developer-led projects.
It is anticipated that FTE costs will be offset by fees collected by the City for the submission
of ECA applications.
This report supports the delivery of core services.
BACKGROUND:
Starting in 2022, Ontario is adopting a Consolidated Linear Infrastructure Permissions Approach
for Environmental Compliance Approvals (CLI-ECA) for low-risk projects related to sewage
collection and stormwater management. The goal of the new CLI-ECA process is to advance
important, low-risk public infrastructure projects sooner by reducing the time it takes for the
review and approval of applications by the Ministry (and/or Region, through Transfer of Review).
The transition of the ECA review and approvals process to municipalities is required and will
introduce new responsibilities/work that municipalities have not previously undertaken.
Under the proposed CLI-ECA process, a municipality would no longer need to submit individual
-by-s for future alterations, provided they are built in accordance with new
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design criteria and all other Ministry approved conditions. These pre-authorizations will allow
municipalities and/or developers who are constructing infrastructure on behalf of municipalities,
to proceed without first having to obtain an individual Ministry permission.
The CLI-ECA approach will:
Create an efficient review/approval process for low-risk projects
Provide clear, transparent and consistent requirements to obtain an ECA, which can be
administered directly by a Municipality
Improve environmental protection through updated and consolidated terms and
conditions (i.e., implement the most up-to-date design criteria)
The CLI-ECA approach will replace the current approach for lower risk, routine sewage works,
which currently requires direct submissions to the Ministry for approval, or submission to the
Region as part of the Transfer of Review process (i.e., Region performs review/approval
functions on behalf of the Ministry). The CLI-ECA process for sanitary and stormwater works
has been modelled after the current framework for municipal drinking water systems.
All existing and future approvals will be incorporated into two consolidated CLI-ECAs for
Kitchener: one for municipal sanitary collection systems AND one for stormwater management
works.
REPORT:
On January 20, 2022, City of Kitchener submitted an application to the Ministry to implement the
CLI-ECA regulatory changes. The Ministry provided a draft CLI-ECA certificate to Kitchener on
May 25, 2022 and City staff are currently reviewing/discussing the draft certificate with the
Ministry. It is anticipated that the CLI-ECA regulatory changes will fully come into effect for
Kitchener in summer or early fall of this year.
-ECA comes into force, the City will be responsible for receiving, reviewing
and approving all planned low-risk sanitary and stormwater works for City-led and developer-led
applications. In order to effectively implement the new CLI-ECA regulatory requirements, the
City must establish a new business/intake process and have resources assigned to take on this
new work. The scope of work to implement the new CLI-ECA process is not yet fully defined.
Staff continue to work with the Ministry, Region and other stakeholders to better understand
these requirements. However, through initial discussions, it is clear that responsibilities for
implementing the CLI-ECA process cannot be absorbed through existing capacity at the City,
and therefore dedicated resources will be required to take on this added responsibility.
Resources will be required by Q3 2022 at the latest, as this is the anticipated timeline when the
City will take over responsibilities for ECA review and approval. Without resources in place when
the Ministry transfers this responsibility to Kitchener, City-led and developer-led ECA
submissions will not be reviewed/approved (no assigned capacity), resulting in significant project
delays and escalating project costs. Waiting until the 2023 budget cycle to address resourcing
needs is not possible and will put the City approximately 6-8 months behind in implementing the
CLI-ECA process once it comes into force.
There are significant benefits to the new CLI-ECA process, the most significant of which is
streamlining the review and approvals process. The current process is run through the Ministry
and can take between 6 to 12+ months before approvals are granted (average wait times
currently exceed 8 months per submission, and the Ministry mandated service standard for
complex applications is one year). Even through the transfer of review process administered by
the Region, review and approval of ECAs could take over 3 months. Through the new CLI-ECA
process, municipalities will take ownership of the review and approval of low-risk sanitary and
stormwater projects. Depending on resourcing, this could drastically reduce wait times for
Kitchener and Developers to obtain ECA approvals and will result in better planning of
construction due to the improved reliability of the approvals timeline, including earlier issuance
of tenders for bidding, which reliably results in better pricing.
Gaining the full benefits of an accelerated ECA review and approvals process is dependent on
the resources available at the City to conduct the administration, coordination and technical
review. Furthermore, annual compliance requirements, including system-wide monitoring and
operations ad maintenance (O&M) compliance for the CLI-ECA, which were not previously a
reporting requirement for the City, must now be met in order to maintain good-standing with the
Ministry and receive license renewal. These additional responsibilities will produce a significant
amount of new workload for City staff. A list of new responsibilities (not exhaustive) anticipated
to administer the new CLI-ECA program at Kitchener are listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Anticipated new responsibilities for the administration of the CLI-ECA program at
Kitchener
Develop new business and intake process Add new projects (e.g., road reconstruction,
for ECA applications received by the City new developments, etc.) into the CLI ECA.
Develop Level of Service standard for ECA Ensure GIS asset database for all sanitary
review process and stormwater infrastructure remains
current
Develop ECA fee structure Prepare and submit annual
performance/compliance report for sanitary
and stormwater systems
Review and approve all ECA submissions Facilitate continuous improvement of sanitary
(City and Developer-led) for sanitary and and stormwater asset management
stormwater works (~40-50 / year)
Ensure system-wide monitoring complies Ensure O&M activities are in compliance on
with MECP requirements all sanitary and stormwater assets
On average, Kitchener typically submits 40-50 ECA applications a year to the Ministry/Region
(total includes City-led and Developer-led submissions). We anticipate a large majority of these
annual ECA applications will be diverted through -ECA process. Staff estimate
that a 2 to 4 week review and approval timeline is feasible on most standard applications, with
the exception of complex submissions, which may take several weeks longer depending on their
complexity (e.g., full subdivision review, pumping stations, complex stormwater management
design, LID, etc.).
Resources/capacity needed:
To undertake and implement the new CLI-ECA process and achieve the benefits of a
streamlined approach, the City needs sufficient resourcing. In discussion with the Region and
Ministry staff and reviewing current resource allocations between these organizations, the City
of Kitchener requires 2 FTEs initially to support the implementation of the new CLI-ECA process.
These two resources are needed to manage the volume of applications anticipated annually for
review/approvals, the significant administrative oversight of the CLI-ECA program, annual
compliance monitoring/reporting, the development of new business/intake processes, and to
support the streamlining of the review/approval process to 2-4 weeks (a reduction of ~2 to 12+
months of wait time under the existing processes).
Note: at this time, there is still uncertainty as to the full program requirements as the Ministry has
yet to provide the full terms of the CLI-ECA certificate to the City. Should requirements of the
CLI-ECA program be more onerous than currently anticipated, or should application volumes
exceed expectations, staff may, at a future date, return to request additional resources as
needed; or where appropriate, will address capacity needs using temporary resources.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This report supports the delivery of core services.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Capital Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Capital Budget.
Operating Budget It is anticipated that the staff resource costs will be offset by fees collected
by the City for the submission of ECA applications.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM This report has
council / committee meeting.
CONSULT Internal stakeholders at the City (i.e., Engineering, Planning, Gas and Water) were
consulted on this report. Further, on May 13, 2022 a presentation was provided to the Kitchener
Development Liaison Committee explaining the regulatory changes.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
There are no previous reports/authorities related to this matter.
APPROVED BY:
Denise McGoldrick, GM Infrastructure Services