Environment: How much do you know about the Clean Water Act?

Friday, August 8, 2008

Below are a list of milestones as this complex and little-understood piece of legislation wends its way towards implementation

by SAM BRADSHAW

The aim of Drinking Water Source Protection in Ontario, according to the environment ministry website, is to protect the quality and quantity of municipal drinking water sources, both surface water and groundwater – now and for future generations. Yet, although the Clean Water Act was passed in 2006, many people are unaware of its passage or of its implications.  

The Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC), a coalition of over 40 farm organizations has been involved in this issue since its inception and has been working to represent farming interests, since this Act contains policies which may restrict or limit certain activities on properties located in designated wellhead protection and surface water intake zones.

Chris Attema, a water quality specialist working for Ontario Pork, the Ontario Cattleman's Association and the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency, compiled the following summary outlining Clean Water Act milestones.

The Act's passage on Oct. 19, 2006, has set a six-step Source Water Protection planning process in motion. The Clean Water Act is enabling legislation.  Additional regulations, guidance documents and directors director's rules will be developed and released as the process moves forward.

The first phase of the regulations was released on July 3, 2007, and covered the formation of source protection committees in 19 source protection areas across the province. These committees are charged with generating:

1. A 'Terms of Reference' which covers the Rules of Operation – a list of drinking water systems in each source water area, a work plan for the Assessment and the Source Protection Plan Reports. This work needs to be completed and submitted to the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) by September 2008.

2. An assessment report covering completion of a groundwater and surface water vulnerability analysis (how much land and where?) and a hazard assessment for existing and future drinking water threats. This work needs to be in the hands of the MOE by 2009.

3. The Committee's next job involves generating a source water protection report by 2010-2012 which develops policies to address activities that are or could be a significant drinking water threat. Following this exercise, municipalities will be charged with enforcing these regulations.                                              

An approved Source Protection Plan may contain policies which restrict or limit certain activities on properties located in designated wellhead protection and surface water intake zones. The scope and power of the Source Water Protection Plan could result in restrictions on normal practices and additional production costs for livestock agriculture.

The development and approval process for the Source Protection Reports presents a capacity and lobby resource challenge for agriculture and the livestock commodity organizations. The province will continue to develop additional regulations and will develop guidance documents and director's rules to guide the Source Protection Planning process. The province also holds final approval authority over Source Protection Plans and will determine the budget and policy for the Provincial Source Protection Stewardship Fund.

The 19 Source Protection Authorities will develop and obtain municipal approval for the locally developed Source Protection Plan. It will be necessary to communicate the livestock agriculture position effectively and consistently to all levels of government as this process moves forward.

Ontario Pork is working with other farm organizations under the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC) to meet the challenges presented by the Clean Water Act legislation.

Below are the actions we have completed:

February 2007.  OFEC secured $180,000 in funding support from the Agricultural Adaptation Council to provide ongoing training and support for agricultural representative appointed to local Source Protection Committees. This source of funding will expire in February 2009.  (Note: OFEC anticipates securing additional financial support from the MOE Drinking Water Stewardship Fund.)

July-September 2007. The regulation clearly indicates that the Source Protection Chair and the Source Protection Authority have the mandate and authority to name the agricultural representatives on the committee. Livestock groups favour a process where the local agricultural community democratically selects a directly accountable agricultural representative member. OFEC co-ordinated an election process with the understanding that the Source Protection Authorities will recognize the OFEC agricultural representative selection process.

October 2007. Of the 36 elected agricultural representatives, 33 are appointed to their local Source Protection Committee. Three of the elected are replaced with appointments from the Source Protection Chair and Source Protection Authority.

November 2007.  OFEC developed and released a Source Water Protection Draft Principles document for comment and review. Guiding principles are useful when dealing with government on difficult issues and generally reflect consensus positions amongst OFEC members. Establishing principles subject to periodic review also provides a way to measure the effectiveness of ongoing lobby efforts. 

Cost uncertainty remains the primary and core concern. The province has cost certainty as its commitment is otherwise defined by the initial allocation of funds to the Source Protection Authorities (Conservation Authorities) and the Stewardship Fund. Municipal implementation cost is uncertain since the final scope of what is included is not yet defined. The potential cost to individual business owners is uncertain as the scope of Source Water Protection and policies related to compensation and appropriate financial support for implementation cost are not defined.

December 2007. The first OFEC Source Water Protection Training Session was held. Session highlights included presentations on technical and legal details in the Clean Water Act, the OFEC Source Water Principles, rules of order procedures and other technical details.

February 2008. The MOE released proposed building code regulation changes for mandatory septic system maintenance inspection programs for Source Protection Areas.

March 2008. The second OFEC Source Water Protection Training Session was held. Session highlights included the opportunity to discuss and compare notes on local committee challenges and focused on developing a consistent agricultural position on key terms of reference issues. Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller was the keynote speaker for the session.

April-May 2008. The Clean Water Act specified a maximum 12-month time interval between naming the Source Protection Chair and the release of the Terms of Reference to the MOE.  Due to MOE delays in releasing the director's rules and other guidance documents, two Source Protection Authorities requested extensions. Almost all the other Source Protection Authorities released terms of reference with disclaimers stating that the proposed draft terms of reference document is subject to amendment on release of the provincial regulations, director's rules, and/or updated versions of the draft guidance documents. It was difficult to provide meaningful comment or input with the absence of specific detail in the proposed draft terms of reference.

April-May 2008. The OFEC-team reviewed the draft proposed terms of reference based on the following criteria:

• The inclusion of non-municipal drinking water systems by Minister or Municipal/Band Resolution.
• The inclusion of Great Lakes agreements which could expand the scope beyond municipal drinking water to include broader ecological and nutrient load objectives.
• The inclusion of Source Protection policy evaluation criteria, including an impact analysis.

Consideration of funding and compensation programs to support implementation of proposed land use policies.
Most of the released terms of reference require additional detail and/or amendments in specific areas.

May-June 2008. The Source Protection Authorities hosted a series of public meetings on the proposed draft terms of reference. The OFEC team co-ordinated local communication efforts through the local agricultural representatives.

June 20, 2008. The Ministry of the Environment posted the proposed assessment reports regulations made under the Clean Water Act, 2006, to the Environmental Registry, covering the following titles:

• Clean Water Act, 2006 Technical Rules: Assessment Report;
• Summary of Clean Water Act, 2006 Technical Rules: Assessment Report;
• Tables of Drinking Water Threats;
• Mapping Symbology for the Clean Water Act, Version 3.0;
• Draft Assessment Reports Regulation;
• Draft Definitions of Words and Expressions Used in the Act Regulation

We are currently reviewing these materials in order to make comment prior to the Aug. 4 deadline. BP

Sam Bradshaw is Environmental Communications Specialist with Ontario Pork.