b'UPDATEOSWCA ADVOCACY AND INITIATIVES UPDATEOSWCA ADVOCACY AND INITIATIVESISSUES ON THE MOVEOSWCAS ADVOCACY WORK ON BEHALF OF OUR MEMBERSBY KRISHA RUCHLEWICZSproponent to conduct the activity without obtaining ince March 2020, much of the Associations advocacy work has beena PTTW or registering on the EASR. The OSWCA centred around COVID-19 and addressingexpressed its support, via submission, for exemptions issues which have arisen as a result of therelating to ground water, diversions, and registering pandemic (i.e., contract, employment,specific excavations rather than entire sites that are of legislative, regulatory, OH&S, etc.). Thereparticular importance. was a brief, and slow, shift away from primarily COVID-19-related activities towards initia- MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, tives outside of the scope of COVID-19; however, the new COVID framework and resultant policies adoptedCONSERVATION AND PARKSEXCESS SOILS by the Province once again resurrected the topic andREGULATORY AMENDMENTSCOVID-19, once again, dominated the AssociationsIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide advocacy efforts.further clarity and flexibility to support appropriate beneficial reuse of excess soil, the Ministry has The following article will outline the governmentamended O. Reg. 406/19 and O. Reg. 153/04 under the relations activities related to COVID-19, as well asEnvironmental Protection Act. The changes include:initiatives and advocacy unrelated to COVID-19.Extending the date applicable to the grandfathering provisions by which construction projects must be MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT,entered into by one year, from January 1, 2021 to CONSERVATION AND PARKSPERMIT TO January 1, 2022, to accommodate projects that are close TAKE WATER (PTTW) to starting construction but delayed due to COVID-19.Ontario is proposing changes that would move Clarifying the scope of grandfathering provisions low-risk, short-term water taking activities, such asto include geotechnical studies completed by pumping tests, to a more flexible approval processJanuary 1, 2022, to ensure these studies do not have to allow businesses to begin operations faster andto be repeated.ensure that Ontarios water resources continue to be safeguarded in accordance with the Provinces strictReplacing waste-related Environmental Compliance environmental standards. Approvals with standard rules for operations More specifically, the Ministry is proposing to modifyprocessing excess soil for resale as a garden product, existing Environmental Activity and Sector Registryand operations managing clean soils for residential (EASR) requirements related to construction site dewa- development projects.tering and road construction to remove certain restric- Providing added flexibility to soil management tions that do not further environmental outcomes andrules such as those for soil storage and reuse of soil create undue burden for businesses and individuals.impacted by salt.Additionally, the Ministry is proposing amendments to Ontario Regulation 387/04 - Water Taking andEnabling Environmental Compliance Approvals to Transfer, to remove current restrictions on diversionspecify alternative soil management requirements to exemptions. These proposed exemptions allow theprovide project-specific flexibility.36 H 2 OSWCAWinter 2020/2021'