REGULATIONS AND POLICY

Canadian PCB Regulations and Policy

Overview | Federal | Ontario | Quebec | Federal-Provincial

EPA and OWRA | Regulation 347 - General-Waste Management | Regulation 362 - Waste Management-PCBs | Regulation 352 - Mobile PCB Destruction Facilities

Ontario: EPA and OWRA

The principal environmental law in Ontario is the Environmental Protection Act (EPA). The EPA is founded upon a general prohibition against polluting (s. 6 prohibits "discharging" a "contaminant" "into the natural environment"), and gives the Minister of the Environment various powers (usually delegated to various officials referred to in the Act as "the Director") to enforce the prohibition, such as the power to issue stop orders and control orders.

Section 9 of the EPA provides for the issuance or amendment of a Certificate of Approval ("C of A") by the Director, allowing for the construction, alteration, extension or replacement of a plant or equipment that may discharge a contaminant into the environment (other than water), or change the rate of such a discharge from a facility. A similar provision, s. 52 of the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA) requires an approval for the operation of a "water works". Sections 30 and following of the OWRA regulate both water quantity and quality through a general prohibition against discharging "material that may impair the quality of the water" (s. 30 ) and related powers.

Part V of the EPA: Parts V and X of the EPA deal with "Waste Management" and "Spills", respectively. Part V of the EPA provides that a waste disposal site or waste management system cannot be established without the owner or operator first obtaining a Certificate of Approval (see section 27). Certificates of Approval can thus be seen generally as officially-sanctioned exemptions from the general prohibition against discharging contaminants.

("PCB waste disposal sites", as defined in s. 5 of Regulation 362, the "Waste Management - PCBs" regulation, are exempt from s. 27 of the EPA, as long as the site operator complies with the reporting requirements in Regulation 362. See the description of Regulation 362 for the definition of "PCB wastes." At the same time, section 3 of Regulation 362 classifies "every site containing PCB waste and PCB related waste but not containing other wastes" as a "PCB waste disposal site". This appears to mean that a site managing PCB waste in addition to other forms of waste is subject to Reg. 347 rather than to Reg. 362. A Certificate of Approval issued under Reg. 347 will therefore have to account for the fact that PCB wastes are among the wastes held on site, and Regulation 362 will apply only to sites storing exclusively PCB wastes.)

The section 27 Approval sets out the specific conditions and requirements for operating the particular site for which it is issued. Section 40 prohibits the deposit of waste at a site that does not have a Certificate of Approval for that purpose. The Director also has residual powers to implement Part V generally, for example to order the removal of waste from a site, or to bring a site into compliance with the Act.

Part X of the EPA: Part X of the EPA dealing with "spills" obliges persons in control of a pollutant to notify the authorities in case of a spill, and allows the Minister to give directions for clean-up of spills. The Minister and the Director also have powers to give further orders to control or stop pollution. All these powers apply to sites containing PCBs.