MOE Hazardous Waste Regulation Changes and Proposals

The Ontario MOE has taken recent steps to toughen the regulation of hazardous waste. New and proposed changes will affect waste processing, recycling, hauling and disposal. Some of the changes will harmonize with U.S. EPA rules and proposed federal regulations. A significant number of industrial substances may be recharacterized as hazardous waste, requiring special treatment and disposal at additional cost. The changes are outlined below. If any of your wastes will be affected, you should discuss your options with us. You may want to use the consultation period to lobby the MOE to incorporate specific exemptions of your wastes into the new amendments. In our experience, once a waste is listed in Reg. 347, the process of delisting is extremely slow, uncertain and frustrating.

Hazardous Waste Definitions - New Proposal

There are two primary ways for waste to be defined as hazardous: lists and tests . On February 3, 2000, Ontario's MOE proposed to amend the definitions by:

a) adding a number of substances to the lists; and b) changing the leachate test to a more universally accepted, more expensive test.

The new test is called the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Used in the U.S. since the late 1980s, and recently adopted in Alberta, the TCLP is proposed for federal use when the amended Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act is finalized, and under CEPA 1999 when it becomes law. According to the MOE, when the U.S. adopted the TCLP, it roughly doubled the amount of waste that was classified as hazardous.

The Mixing Rule - Regulation In Effect

In September 1999 the MOE amended Reg. 347 to add the mixing rule. It applies to certain listed hazardous and severely toxic wastes, as well as pathological and radioactive wastes. Now a mixture made from one of these classes of waste remains hazardous until is formally delisted (or exempted) by the MOE. The amendment also requires compliance with the Registration Guidance Manual for Generators of Liquid Industrial and Hazardous Wastes (1995).

The "Derived-From" Rule - New Proposal

On February 3, 2000 the MOE posted for consultation an amendment to Reg. 347 to introduce a "derived-from" rule corresponding to the U.S. EPA legislation. Any material that is "derived from" hazardous waste by mixing, blending, stablization, processing, treatment or disposal will remain classified as hazardous waste unless:

a) it is de-listed [a difficult, time-consuming process]; or b) it is treated, stabilized, etc. under a qualifying certificate of approval.

There will be some exemptions, such as specified sludges and slags. The MOE says that many treatment residues currently not deemed to be hazardous waste will become listed. Unless they are delisted, they will have to be disposed at higher cost and with more paperwork. Some recycling activities will now be affected. The MOE offers no estimate of how many substances or industries will be affected.

Harmonizing Lists With U.S. EPA

The MOE proposes adding a number of substances to Reg. 347 listed hazardous waste schedules to harmonize with U.S. EPA comparable lists. Listed hazardous industrial wastes will be doubled (Schedule 1). 72 additional hazardous waste chemicals will be added to Schedule 2. Ontario's leachate criteria will grow to 15 inorganic and 73 organic parameters - about twice the size of the current U.S. list. These changes will have a significant impact on handling, recycling and disposal of your waste streams. We recommend that you determine how your organization will be affected, and consider participating in the MOE consultation program. Please call John Willms, Doug Petrie or Marc McAree if you need legal advice or assistance in making representations to the MOE. The amendments, proposals and lists are available on the MOE Web Site - link to them through the Environmental Registry posting.