Ontario Municipal News

Vigilance Required for Land Re-zoning Applications

Recent incidents highlight the need for vigilance in re-zoning applications for nearby lands.

Municipalities zone lands according to permitted uses (e.g., residential or industrial) and allow only specific development on those lands.  Municipalities must make public re-zoning applications from developers and inform other land owners within a specific distance of the subject lands.  Existing landowners may object to the re-zoning based on “incompatibility” of land uses most commonly due to potential nuisance emissions from industrial activities (e.g., dust/noise) on nearby residences or “sensitive receptors.”  These may be a problem for existing or proposed residences, for example, from the proposed or existing industries.

Existing landowners have the right to object to re-zoning if there is an incompatibility that may lead to problems.  For example, an existing industry, that emits dust or noise in its normal operation, may object to the re-zoning and subsequent development of adjacent lands for residential use since future homeowners may complain about noise or dust levels and require tighter emission controls than they would otherwise have needed had no homes been built.

City of Toronto Environmental Reporting, Disclosure and Innovation Program

In December 2008, the City of Toronto adopted a new bylaw to require City businesses to publically report the use and release of 25 chemicals: Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Benzene, 1,3-Butadiene, Cadmium, Carbon tetrachloride, Chromium, Lead, Manganese, Mercury, Nickel, Chloroform, 1,2-Dibromo ethane, Nitrogen Oxides, Particulate Matter 2.5, Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Vinyl chloride, Dichloromethane, 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, Trichloroethylene, Formaldehyde, Tetrachloroethylene, and Volatile Organic Compounds.

The bylaw, to be phased-in over four years, comes into effect Jan 1, 2010.  The program will focus on small-to-medium sized businesses and require reporting by June 30, 2011 for calendar year 2010 on usages and emissions to air, water and land.  Reporting protocols are expected to be similar to those for the Federal National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) but have lower usage reporting thresholds to capture SMEs.

Ontario Provincial News

Permitting Standards and Background Concentrations

The MOE continues to consult with stakeholders on incorporating background air concentrations into the air emissions permitting (Certificate of Approval, CofA) process.  The Air and Waste Management Association Practitioners Committee provided MOE staff with concepts and ideas to consider in April (presentation by F. DiGiovanni) including a review of methods used in other jurisdictions.

Technical Notes for CofA Compliance

We provide a brief discussion of two technical issues that are often misunderstood when compiling CofA applications.

When dealing with fugitive dust emissions from on-site roadways and storage piles the MOE’s exemption from air dispersion assessment only applies when there are no significant quantities of contaminants in the dust that may cause a health effect.  Many road and aggregate dusts may lead to emissions of crystalline silica (for example), a known carcinogen, and would therefore not exempt these sources from an air dispersion assessment as part of CofA applications.  Furthermore, most natural geological dusts contain potentially harmful substances such as crystalline silica and mica.

AP-42 emission factors (EFs) for estimating emissions from certain activities reflect simple averages of data collected by the US EPA.  AP-42 EFs were developed to estimate emissions over large areas and long time periods and not with worst-case emissions predictions in-mind.  In contrast, Reg. 419 requires worst-case emissions to be estimated; this is not consistent with the use of AP-42 average emission factors.  However, in some cases, where the resultant off-site concentrations of pollutants are predicted to be very low, it may still be acceptable to use the average EF.  In other cases, alternative EFs or emission estimation techniques must be sought.

Sector-based Approaches to Managing Air Pollution

Pollutant emitters can apply for temporary “alternate standards” (AS’s) as part of the phase-in of Reg. 419 if they cannot meet the new air quality standards (to be fully phased-in by 2020).  These AS’s are site-specific and require some effort to obtain from the MOE.  Because many facilities within an industrial sector face the same challenges in pollution prevention, the MOE allows a sector-based approach as an alternative to site-specific AS’s.

This approach involves the specification of common technical standards to control air emissions within an industrial sector.  It is likely that industry associations would propose such sector-based standards (such as those submitted by the Foundry and Forestry Products industries) for MOE review and public comment.

Toxics Reduction Act

This new Act (passed in June) establishes a framework for the reduction in use of toxic substances by industry in Ontario.  Regulations will be developed to require: tracking and quantifying the substances used and created; development of plans to identify ways to reduce toxics; making summaries of the plans available to the public; and, reporting on progress.

Additional details will be specified in the regulations, including the substances of concern, facilities to be covered, and timelines for planning and reporting.  These regulations will be developed in consultation with stakeholders.