The Ontario Ministry of the Environment recently announced that it is considering more stringent generic soil, groundwater and sediment site condition standards for the assessment and remediation of brownfields.  These generic remediation standards form the backbone of Ontario's brownfields regime and generally determine when remediation is needed before a record of site condition may be filed in Ontario's Environmental Site Registry.  

Under the Ministry's proposal, several key generic remediation standards (e.g., for benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons, trichloroethylene, polychlorinated biphenyls, etc.) would become more stringent.  These new standards may have a significant impact on existing brownfields redevelopment projects.  As a result, the Ministry is proposing that the new standards would not take effect for 18 months to provide time for proponents currently engaged in projects to use the Ministry's existing remediation standards.  Following implementation of the new generic standards, proponents would be required to use the new standards when filing a record of site condition (unless proponents develop their own risk-based standards in accordance with Ontario's brownfields regime).  

The proposal is available at: www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/env_reg/er/documents/2007/TableofStandards.pdf.  Comments may be made until May 22, 2007. 

The foregoing is a summary of a recent development in environmental law.  If you would like additional information about this or any other environmental law topic, please contact Sarah Powell, Alexandria Pike and Katie Goldberg Zwick in the Toronto office at (416) 863-0900.  

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with over 235 lawyers, practices nationally and internationally from offices in Toronto, Montréal, New York and an affiliate in Paris and is consistently at the heart of the largest and most complex commercial and financial matters on behalf of its North American and overseas clients.

The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinions to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstance. For particular applications of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice.