The Ontario Waste Management Association’s (OWMA) recommendations to the Ontario government on boosting investment and employment in Ontario’s Waste Management Sector by modernizing key regulatory and legislative provisions include the following:
1. Establish an exemption from waste management approvals for facilities that received source separated recyclable materials, by clarifying and amending section 5 of O. Reg 101/94, and Regulation 347 under the Environmental Protection Act.
2. Create a new unique waste class code for hazardous waste debris under R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 347, under the Environmental Protection Act, and establish a standardized form for waste transfer facilities to utilize for the annual reporting of the inbound and outbound volumes of hazardous waste materials under the new digital hazardous waste registry.
3. Repeal the Schedule 6 development approval requirements in Bill 197, The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, referencing adjacent municipalities, and maintain that only a ‘host’ municipality be empowered to approve landfills within their jurisdiction.
4. Reform Ontario’s outdated Financial Assurance Guideline (under Part XII of the Environmental Protection Act) to recognize the low-level of environmental risk of waste facilities, and reduce costs for waste operators who have provided over $500 million in financial assurance funds to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks.