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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-08-044 - Proposed Province of Ontario Revisions to Brownfield RegulationsI L REPORT 74 Report To: Finance and Corporate Services Committee Date of Meeting: January 19, 2009 Submitted By: Kathy Weiss, Director of Business Development Prepared By: Terry Boutilier, Senior Business Development Officer and Brownfield Co-ordinator Wards Involved: City Wide Date of Report: December 31, 2008 Report No.: CAO-08-044 Subject: Proposed Province of Ontario Revisions to Brownfield Regulations � nv*iilll� 1111 111' 111 1 1 111 1111�, 1. That Kitchener City Council advise the Ministry of the Environment of its concern that the proposed revisions to the Province's Brownfield Regulations 153/04 may significantly increase the cost of remediation projects in our municipality; 2. That since the City of Kitchener and the Region of Waterloo jointly fund remediation activity through grants from our existing Brownfield Remediation Community Improvement Plan; the City of Kitchener is concerned that the proposed revisions to the Province's Brownfield Regulations 153/04 will increase the municipal cost for the funding of the Brownfield Program; and 3. That the Province of Ontario be requested to review and revise the Ontario Brownfield Tax Incentive Program (BFTIP) to allow for easier integration with municipal Community Improvement Plans under Section 28 of the Planning Act, and to make it more useable for Brownfield projects where the end land use involves a Plan of Condominium or Plan of Subdivision. � --n U11 4q irl"Cell nuemm On October 6, 2008 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment posted on the EBR Website, for 120 day review, new regulations for Brownfield renewal. The proposed amendments to Ontario Regulation 153/04 are intended to implement the balance of legislative reforms to the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act of 2007. The proposed amendments include provisions for: • Enhanced Record of Site Condition (RSC) —new, clear rules for completion of the Phase One and Phase Two environmental site assessments for brownfield redevelopment. • Liability Protection and Off-Site Migration from the RSC Property. • A Streamlined Risk Assessment Approach • Strengthened Soil and Ground Water Site Conditions Standards • Complementary Technical Regulatory Amendments • Transition Provisions To understand the Ministry rationale and determine the impact of the proposals, Staff attended the following information sessions: • Ministry of the Environment Preview of the proposed Regulations on October 1, 2007; • Region of Waterloo Brownfields Steering Committee on November 7, 2008; • Stantec Engineering Presentation on December 12, 2008; • Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Brownfields Committee met a number of times to discuss and clarify the proposals (November 12, 2008). • Ministry of the Environment Presentation (planned fro January 15, 2009) �014 oil In response to our question: "Why do we need new Standards?" The Province indicates that the current Brownfield chemical concentration standards have not been updated in more than 10 years. Since that time, much advancement in science has taken place worldwide. MOE has compared Ontario's current standards to a number of other jurisdictions in North America and in Europe. More specifically, the Ministry examined the standards in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, the Netherlands and a number of state jurisdictions in the United States. Overall, • 80% of the new Ontario standards would be similar to the group examined; • 5% of the new standards would be less stringent than the group examined; and • 15% of the standards would be more stringent than the group examined. In response to our question: "What will be the financial impact of the new Standards?" The Province replies that they are not certain what the precise impact of the new Standards would be. They are not prepared to conduct a financial impact; however, they did indicate that they have reviewed the previously submitted RSCs. Their conclusion is that 53% of submitted RSCs would conform to the new Standards and 47% would not. Through our discussion with municipal colleagues at AMO, we have the following shared concerns. These concerns are outlined in the attached letter which was sent to the Minster of the Environment on December 3, 2008. 1. Financial Impact not fully understood — As municipalities do not have soil scientists on staff, we recommend a stakeholder and peer review be undertaken and the results published in "clear languagell style. P) 2. 30 Day RSC Response — The Ministry proposes a 30 business day response to the initial administrative check of an RSC prior to posting on the Environmental Sites Registry. Cities are suggesting 30 calendar days. 3. Transition Rules — What is the implications for sites which were previously remediated, but do not meet the new standards? 4. Modified Risk Assessment Process — Clarification of process needed to see if it would be of any benefit in Waterloo Region due to the presence of Ground Water Protection Areas. 5. Impact on Places to Grow— Higher or more stringent standards for Brownfield clean up may become an obstacle which delays or prevents Ontario cities from reaching their respective P2G Intensification Targets by taking away significant infilling opportunities. To date, Staff have not received complete answers to the above questions. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The Region of Waterloo and the City of Kitchener have established in 2008 a new Brownfield Remediation Program whereby the Region and the City shares the cost of remediation (upon successful completion) through a Tax Incremental Grant Program. Discussions with local MOE Qualified Persons and amongst municipal staff indicate that the implementation of the new standards will: 1. Increase the cost of brownfield remediation generally in Kitchener; 2. Remediation projects will consist of fewer Generic (dig and dump) clean ups and more site specific Risk Assessments. Risk Assessments must be approved by the Ministry of the Environment and typically take significantly longer in processing time. The Ministry of the Environment has advised the public, through publishing the Draft new Regulations on the EBR (Environmental Bill of Rights) Website, of its intentions to revise Regulations 153/04. Further public communications is not required. Several professional and public organizations will be submitting comments including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario; Ontario Bar Association; Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Professional Engineers of Ontario, Professional Geo Scientist of Ontario, etc. The preliminary findings of Staff are that the new, more stringent Regulations will result in increased cost to clean up contaminated lands, and because of Kitchener's geographic situation, most clean up strategies will need to be in the form of Site Specific Risk Assessments. _91J Terry Boutilier Senior Business Development Officer & Brownfield Co-ordinator Rod Regier Executive Director of Economic Development ATTACHMENTS: Kathy Weiss Director of Business Development Appendix "A" - AMO Member Communication - Proposed Amendments to Facilitate Brownfield Redevelopment, October 15, 2008 Appendix "B"- Letter from AMO President, Peter Hume to The Honourable John Gerretsen,, Minister of the Environment, December 3, 2008 V