Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change District Overview Sandra Thomas September 30, 2014 Outline 2 • Ministry Overview • Key District Office Functions • Compliance - Durham York Energy Centre What We Do The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change is responsible for protecting clean and safe air, land and water to ensure healthy communities, ecological protection and sustainable development for present and future generations. . MOECC Organizational Chart Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Communications Branch Legal Services Branch Land & Resources Cluster Audit Cluster Drinking Water Management Division Environmental Programs Division Corporate Management Division Environmental Sciences & Standards Division Operations Division Integrated Environmental Policy Division 4 Operations Division Delivers ministry programs and services • • • • • • • 5 5 Regional Offices Environmental Approvals Access and Service Integration Branch Environmental Approvals Branch Northern Development Initiatives Investigations and Enforcement Branch Operations Integration/Spills Action Centre Sector Compliance Branch Operations Division (cont’d) • Administers approvals, compliance and enforcement related to environmental statutes and regulations • • • • • 6 Waste management Air quality Ground and surface water Pesticides Contaminated sites Central Region Organizational Chart Central Region Director Regional Communications Advisor Regional Assistant Issues Manager Assistant Director Barrie District Technical Support Section 7 York-Durham District Ajax/Newmarket Toronto District Halton-Peel District Burlington Geographical Boundaries • York Durham District Office is one of four district offices in Central Region • York Durham District has two offices – Ajax (main) 905 427 5626 1 800 376 4547 – Newmarket (sub-office) 8 District Office Functions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 9 Inspections, Abatement and Enforcement Review of Approvals/Permits Environmental Response Assessments Outreach Inspections, Abatement and Enforcement • Inspections: – Planned – Responsive • • • • • 10 Abatement Plans Notice of Violation/Provincial Offences Act Control Documents Program Approvals Referrals to Investigations and Enforcement Branch Review of Approvals/Permits • Environmental Compliance Approval • • • • • • • 11 Air Waste Sewage Permits to Take Water Pesticide Permits Biosolids Sites Brownfields Environmental Response • • • • • 12 Site visits Complaint resolution Spill reports Notifications from regulated community Report submission Assessments • • • • 13 Conduct proactive inspections Conduct impact surveys and monitoring Review reports and self-monitoring data Conduct program or sector reviews Outreach • • • • 14 Advice and assistance to the regulated community and general public Presentations Education and training sessions for external clients Open House events Other Responsibilities 15 • Respond to information requests • Review submissions • Record and resolve non-compliance District Office Role Durham York Energy Centre Inspections/Assessments • Conduct frequent unannounced site inspections to review the operations and onsite records to ensure the facility is operating in compliance • Comprehensive inspections will be conducted annually (at a minimum) during operation to ensure compliance and protection of the environment • Request impact surveys and assessments • • 16 Air monitoring Phytotoxicological assessments District Office Role – Durham York Energy Centre Review of Plans/Reports • 17 Ensure compliance with the conditions of the Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) and the Notice of Approval to Proceed with the Undertaking • As per the conditions of the ECA, a proponent is required to submit reports to the ministry that demonstrate ongoing compliance at the facility – Annual Report (summarizes operations from the previous calendar year) – Third Party Audit (includes recommendations to improve the facility operations) – Air emissions and ambient air monitoring data – Soil Testing Report (includes procedures and results of soil testing) • District staff will review these reports to ensure the proponent has met the conditions of the ECA and the facility is operating as required District Office Role – Durham York Energy Centre Environmental Response 18 • Respond to and resolve complaints in the community • Spills response • Notifications from regulated community • Report submission • Attend Energy-from-Waste Advisory Committee meetings Determining the Compliance Approach • • • 19 A step-by-step process assists in selecting the most appropriate abatement and enforcement tools used when responding to an incident or noncompliance. In many instances, the response may involve a combination of tools. This process (see Decision Tree) guides ministry staff through an evaluation of the incident by using an Informed Judgement Matrix to classify the severity of the incident. We then apply case-specific considerations to determine the appropriate compliance approach and/or enforcement tools. Decision Tree STAGE 1 Is this incident a violation or a potential for adverse health/ environmental impacts? No Start Yes STAGE 2 Use Judgement Matrix Document Decision No further action required Case Specific Considerations STAGE 3 Determine Compliance Category and select & apply the appropriate abatement & enforcement toll Yes STAGE 4 Monitor follow-up Compliance attained? Resolved in timelines given? No Case-Specific Considerations 20 • A case-by-case approach to select the most appropriate compliance approach and/or enforcement tool requires an assessment of how the responsible person(s) is likely to deal with the incident and other incident specific factors. • The goal is always to protect the environment and human health. It is recognized that there may be more than one way to achieve this goal. • Where appropriate, we take the time to educate the facility/responsible person and help them understand their responsibilities and how they can better protect the environment. • We will take stronger action with responsible persons who have a history of disregarding ministry legislation or who commit violations deliberately or with negligence, as necessary. Informed Judgement Matrix (IJM) • The IJM is a decisionmaking tool • It requires ministry staff to find the decision point within the IJM and determine the most appropriate compliance category, keeping in mind the case-specific considerations. 21 Thank you Questions? 22