Source Water Protection Update Presentation to Town of Caledon November 13, 2012 Mark Schiller - Region of Peel 1
Outline Background Peel Threats Source Protection Plans and Policies Regional Comments on draft SPP&Ps Next Steps 2
Ontario Clean Water Act, 2006 Protect Drinking Water Sources Watershed based19 Source Protection Regions (SPRs) in Ontario Region of Peel in 3 SPRs Credit Valley Toronto and Region Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authorities (CTC) South Georgian Bay Lake Simcoe Conservation Authorities (SGBLS) Halton Hamilton Conservation Authorities (H-H) 3
Region of Peel - Source Protection Regions 4
Source Protection Planning Roles/Responsibilities Province/MOE Regulatory and program framework Approves assessment reports and source protection plans Source Protection Committee Prepare Terms of Reference approved Prepare Assessment Reports approved Prepare Source Protection Plans submitted to MOE for approval Public consultation and consultation with implementing bodies Municipalities and Region Implementation 5
Prescribed Threats (O. Reg. 287/07) 1. The establishment, operation or maintenance of a waste disposal site within the meaning of Part V of the Environmental Protection Act. 2. The establishment, operation or maintenance of a system that collects, stores, transmits, treats or disposes of sewage. 3. The application of agricultural source material to land. 4. The storage of agricultural source material. 5. The management of agricultural source material. 6. The application of non-agricultural source material to land. 7. The handling and storage of non-agricultural source material. 8. The application of commercial fertilizer to land. 9. The handling and storage of commercial fertilizer. 10. The application of pesticide to land. 11. The handling and storage of pesticide. 12. The application of road salt. 13. The handling and storage of road salt. 14. The storage of snow. 15. The handling and storage of fuel. 16. The handling and storage of a dense nonaqueous phase liquid. 17. The handling and storage of an organic solvent. 18. The management of runoff that contains chemicals used in the de-icing of aircraft. 19. An activity that takes water from an aquifer or a surface water body without returning the water taken to the same aquifer or surface water body. 20. An activity that reduces the recharge of an aquifer. 21. The use of land as livestock grazing or pasturing land, an outdoor confinement area or a farm-animal yard. 6
Assessment Reports Identified vulnerable areas WHPAs, IPZ, HVA, SGRAs and ICAs Identified significant drinking water threats based on MOE s guidance Under 77 SDWT, identified through AR for RoP 7
Threats Verification Exercise by Region of Peel Threats verification exercise is completed by RoP in 2012 63 threats on 39 parcels Water System No. of SDW Threats Total Parcels with Threats Alton 6 3 Caledon East 11 7 Caledon Village 4 1 Cheltenham 12 5 (two landowners) Inglewood 23 19 Palgrave 7 4 Total 63 39 8
SOURCE PROTECTION PLANS Establish policies that will affect activities and land use planning around wellhead, water intakes, and vulnerable source water areas in order to protect existing and future sources of drinking water One plan for each source protection area CTC Region SGBLS Region H-H Region 9
Policy Tools/Approaches Primary Policy Tools Prescribed Instruments Part IV Clean Water Act (New Tools) s.57 Prohibition s.58 Risk Management Plans s.59 Land Use Restriction Land Use Planning Approaches Other (e.g., Building Code, EFP, Salt Management P, TSSA CODES) Complementary Policy Tools Education/Outreach Incentives Other (e.g., Municipal Act tools, stewardships, BMPs, pilot programs, research) 10
Organization of Policies in CTC Source Protection Plan General and Other Policies Timelines for Implementation Policies for categories: Waste Sewage Agricultural Threats (ASM, NASM, Livestock, Fertilizer, Pesticides) Road Salt, Storage of Snow Fuel DNAPLs and Organic Solvents, Aircraft de-icing agents Lake Ontario Threats Water Quantity Monitoring Policies 11
Summary of Region of Peel Comments on CTC Source Protection Plan - October 2012 Region of Peel Staff Comments CTC and SGBLS Policy inconsistencies should be avoided wherever possible Much improved from previous version but some inconsistencies Use of policy tool (e.g., prescribed instrument vs landuse planning) Policy requirements (prohibit vs manage) Policy formatting, language and style Transition and Timelines Policies have been added to final version of the Plan - Peel s previous comments considered Need to restrict Appeal Rights for OPs & Zoning By-laws Generally support the policy approach for majority of the threats (risk-manage existing and prohibit future activities in WHPA-A in only limited situations) Support policies on small septics Direction to MOE to develop incentives, guidelines, E&O materials Direction to MMAH to amend Building Code Act 12
Summary of Region of Peel Comments on CTC Source Protection Plan- Oct 2012 (Comments Cont.) Agricultural Threats Generally support the policies. Echo the voice of agriculture community to harmonize the policies across the board so that farmers are not dealing with complex legislation Input from agriculture community The policies in place will affect very few existing farmers in the Region of Peel by the present wells Policies are stricter with livestock operations When locating future wells, impacts to existing agricultural operations should be minimized Road Salt Threats Support the requirement of RMP where road salt is a direct SDWT Support the direction to Province to take on a role in salt reduction and management Regional and area municipal staff does not support the policies for low and moderate threats. The requirement of salt management plan for HVAs and SGRAs is not supported Need to refine SGRA and HVA mapping for such policies 13
Summary of Region of Peel Comments on SGBLS Source Protection Plan- Oct 2012 Comments (Same as CTC SPP) CTC and SGBLS Policy inconsistencies should be avoided wherever possible Need for Transition Policies Restricting Appeal Rights for OPs Zoning By-laws Lake Ontario Policies support the policies Direction to Province for more responsibilities 14
Funding Implications No new FTEs Risk Management Officer (RMO) and Risk Management Inspector (RMI) positions are added as additional responsibilities to existing staff New business processes to run RMO office will be developed in-house Region of Peel has budgeted $120,000 annually to support monitoring requirements and any other technical work until 2014 Future small septic system re-inspections (to be negotiated between Region of Peel and Town of Caledon) 15
Next Steps Information Update to Regional Council December 13, 2012 Region of Peel prepares for the Implementation Phase Threats verification for Orangeville Well #10 - ongoing Establish and operate RMO risk management function Establish new business processes to ensure coordination among planning departments, risk management officials, chief building officials, health department etc. Review and amend the Region of Peel Official Plan to conform with the CTC and SGBLS SPPs 16