Ontario: Government proposing to expand EASR regulation for low-risk water takings, simplify rules for operating engineers; and revoke MISA regulations

Cumulative changes recently announced under Bill 66: Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018; Bill 57, Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018; and Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, are squarely aimed at reducing the regulatory burden in specific sectors. A number of specific initiatives likely to impact environmental management have recently been highlighted by the government, among these:

•  expanding the Environmental Activity and System Registry (EASR) regulation to encompass low-risk water takings - such as "ones in which water is removed for a short time and then returned to a nearby point, with no significant change to water quantity or quality”;
• revoking nine Municipal Industrial Strategy for Abatement (MISA) regulations and inserting these requirements into Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECAs) - an initiative that will impact 113 facilities currently subject to both sector-specific industrial wastewater regulations, as well as site-specific ECAs; and
• amending the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 in order to simplify rules for operating engineers who operate boiler and pressure vessel plants.

Canadian Water and Wastewater Association