1. Excess Soil Management in Ontario
MEA AGM,
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Nov. 22, 2018
Al Durand
Project Manager, SOiiL
Supporting Ontario Infrastructure Investments & Lands

2. About RCCAO Our Mission Our Research
To address major challenges related to infrastructure investment and renewal in Ontario
To offer solutions to governments and others with one voice
Our Research
47 commissioned reports since 2006
Visit rccao.com/research for access to reports discussed today and the full archive on multiple topics

3. Outline • Background • A little History on Inert Fill
• Current Developments in Ontario
• What is SOiiL?
• Where We Are – New Regulations
• Raising Awareness
• Municipal Challenges and Opportunities
• Actions to Take
• What Stakeholders are Doing

4. Remember “Clean Fill Wanted” Signs?
Until 1990s, this seemed like a good solution

5. Background Environmental awareness, community concerns
► Property rights and legal liability
Media coverage escalated
► Mix of clean and contaminated soil
► Midnight dumping

7. Background Municipalities responded with:
► Site alteration by-law tools
► Local permitting
Provincial powers limited to Environmental Protection Act
► Federal jurisdiction legal issues

8. A Little History on Inert Fill
Early 1990s: No definition of clean fill
► No standards or protocols (Dutch A, B, C Criteria)
Industry under the Ontario EPA had legal and societal obligations
► Regulatory (waste) compliance and due diligence defence
Province and industry developed contaminated site guidelines (1994)
Provincial / industry effort on new provincial brownfield regulations
► NRTEE approach: different provincial solutions
► Ontario Brownfield Act (’04) and O.Reg.153/04 – Soil Tables
Excess (clean soil) referenced as “inert fill” became Table 1 by default

9. Current Developments in Ontario
Excess construction soil disposal primarily to landfill or “other” sites
► “Dig & Dump” not environmentally sustainable
in the long term
RCCAO hosted workshops, roundtables to seek solutions
In 2014, Ministry of the Environment, in conjunction with stakeholders released “Management of Excess Soil – A Guide for Best Management Practices”
The Minister of the Environment also accepted an EBR application for review in 2014 which resulted in a more detailed policy review

10. https://www. ontario.ca/page/management-excess-soil-guide-best-management-practices

11. Current Developments in Ontario
Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) developed construction industry “Best Management Practices” – beneficial reuse
Adoption of BMPs faltered because no implementation plan and minimal municipal outreach by the province
RCCAO developed electronic soil-matching website called SOiiL (Supporting Ontario Infrastructure Investments and Lands)
In 2016, Ministry released excess soil management framework with 21 action items

12. An Online Soil Database
What is SOiiL?
An Online Soil Database
provides a forum to facilitate the matching of excess construction soil from donor sites with those sites requiring soil
Benefits include:
lower transport and disposal costs
preservation of landfill capacity
less truck traffic

13. Where We Are – New Regulations
Province has had 2 EBR postings with significant stakeholder input
Most recently, on April 16, 2018: EBR Posting :
► New regulation “harmonized” with waste and brownfield regulations
► Excess soil management plans (ESMP) requirements
► Beneficial reuse assessment tool (BRAT) – Risk-based approach
Industry continues to promote the adoption of BMP approaches:
► Special studies on excess soil management (OSPE, GTSWCA)
► Promotion of pilot testing – truck tracking (e.g., SoilFlo)

15. Raising Awareness
Local outreach – soil symposiums: next one on Nov. 28th in Ajax, Ont.
Industry outreach and awareness (videos)

16. Benefits of Best Practices

17. Municipal Challenges and Opportunities
Provincial Long-Term Infrastructure Plan ► $190 billion / 13 years (could be amended by Ford gov’t)
Municipal and infrastructure projects generate annually over 40% of the estimated 26 million m3 of construction soils In Ontario
Beneficial reuse of excess “clean” soils a multi-ministry challenge
Complex regulatory package – proposed Jan. 1, 2020 implementation

18. Actions to Take
Implement soil by-laws and permitting processes to support new regulatory changes
Focus on beneficial soil reuse
Create a soil bank for temporary storage
Prepare new registry and managing systems
Adopt new tender documents which encourage upfront planning and reuse

19. What Stakeholders are Doing
Renew consultation meetings with province (MECP)
Emphasize sustainable, beneficial reuse of excess soils
► Learn from practices in other jurisdictions (e.g., CL:AIRE in U.K.)
► Qualified Person training, certification, ESMP registration
Focus on outreach and BMP training (in the interim)
Continue special studies, truck tracking pilot testing (SoilFLO)

20. A Contractor’s Words of Wisdom

21. Thank You! Questions?
Contact Al Durand: