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7. COMMENTS TO ENVIRONMENT CANADA ON THE PROPOSED WASTEWATER SYSTEMS
EFFLUENT REGULATIONS POSTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT IN THE CANADA GAZETTE, PART 1
ON MARCH 20, 2009 COMMENTAIRES SOUMIS À
ENVIRONNEMENT CANADA SUR LE RÈGLEMENT PROPOSÉ SUR LES EFFLUENTS DES SYSTÈMES
D’ASSAINISSEMENT DES EAUX USÉES AFFICHÉ POUR L’OBTENTION DE COMMENTAIRES DU
PUBLIC À LA GAZETTE DU CANADA, PARTIE 1 DU 20 MARS 2009 |
COMMITTEE
RECOMMENDATION
That
Council endorse the comments submitted to Environment Canada by the General
Manager of Environmental Services (Document 1) as well as comments submitted by
the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Document 2) and the Canadian Water
and Wastewater Association (Document 3) as the City of Ottawa’s official
response to the Federal Government’s proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent
Regulations.
RECOMMANDATION DU COMITÉ
Que le Conseil donne son aval aux commentaires soumis à Environnement
Canada par le directeur général des Services environnementaux (document 1), la
Fédération canadienne des municipalités (FCE) (document 2) et l’Association
canadienne des eaux potables et usées (ACEPU) (document 3) à titre de réponse
officielle de la Ville d’Ottawa au Règlement proposé sur les effluents des
systèmes d’assainissement des eaux usées par le gouvernement fédéral.
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Deputy City Manager’s report, Infrastructure Services and Community
Sustainability, dated 14 June 2010 (ACS2010-ICS-ESD-0026).
2.
Extract of Minutes dated 22 June 2010.
Planning and Environment Committee
Comité de
l'urbanisme et de l'environnement
and Council / et au
Conseil
14 June
2010 /
le 14 juin 2010
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale
adjointe, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability/Services d
'infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Dixon Weir, General Manager /
Directeur général, Environmental Services / Services environnementaux (613)
580-2424 x22002, Dixon.Weir@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2010-ICS-ESD-0026 |
That Planning and Environment
Committee recommend Council endorse the comments submitted to Environment
Canada by the General Manager of Environmental Services (Document 1) as well as
comments submitted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Document 2)
and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (Document 3) as the City of
Ottawa’s official response to the Federal Government’s proposed Wastewater
Systems Effluent Regulations.
Que le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement recommande au Conseil de donner son aval aux commentaires soumis à Environnement Canada par
le directeur général des Services environnementaux (document 1), la Fédération
canadienne des municipalités (FCE) (document 2) et l’Association canadienne des
eaux potables et usées (ACEPU) (document 3) à titre de réponse officielle de la
Ville d’Ottawa au Règlement proposé sur les effluents des systèmes
d’assainissement des eaux usées par le gouvernement fédéral.
The
purpose of this report is to obtain Committee and Council endorsement of the
City of
In
February 2009, the Canadian Council of the Ministers of the Environment[1]
(CCME) endorsed a Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal
Wastewater Effluent.
The CCME undertook public
consultation in developing the Canada-wide Strategy. The City participated in those consultations
and a staff report was submitted to PEC on this matter in January 2008. The 2008 staff report provided a high-level
assessment of the impact of the draft CCME strategy on the City. The staff report noted that Ottawa was well
placed to comply with the strategy and the eventual regulations because of our
modern wastewater treatment plant, our Environmental Effects Monitoring Program
(EEM), our Sewer Use By-law for source control, as well as our progressed plan
to manage combined sewage overflows through real time control.
Environment
Canada has since developed draft Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations
under the Fisheries Act as the principal instrument to implement the
CCME’s Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater
Effluent. The draft
Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part 1 on March 20, 2010 for
a 60-day comment period. Both the
Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) and the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities (FCM) have submitted comments on the draft Regulations to the
federal government. On May 19, 2010, City
staff issued a letter to Environment Canada providing comments. Due to the relatively short consultation period,
it was noted in the letter that these comments would require endorsement by
City Council prior to them being considered final.
Although the CCME Strategy is believed to be the foundation for the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, there are a number of changes to the Regulations that deviate from the CCME Strategy. Unfortunately, Environment Canada did not provide any public information or consultation sessions in support of this complex piece of legislation with significant financial impacts for many Canadian municipalities. Municipalities and industry organizations such as the CWWA and FCM struggled to assess the impact of these regulations within the limited time period provided for public comment. A brief summary of the draft Regulations, as interpreted by City staff, is provided below including a summary of the inconsistencies between the CCME Strategy and the Federal Regulations.
The draft Regulations are divided into three parts:
Part 1 of the draft Regulations dictates national effluent quality standards for the following substances:
· Biochemical oxygen demanding matter (BOD): less than or equal to 25mg/L.
· Suspended solids (SS): less than or equal to 25mg/L.
· Total residual chlorine: less than or equal to 0.02mg/L.
· Un-ionized ammonia: less than or equal to 1.25mg/L.
Part 1 also dictates the following effluent monitoring and reporting requirements:
Monitoring and reporting schedules are specified in the draft Regulations. In summary, BOD, SS, and ammonia are to be sampled three (3) times weekly. Acute lethality testing will be required monthly and the results of all of the above testing shall be sent to the Federal Government on a quarterly basis.
Part 2 of the draft Regulations addresses
transitional and temporary authorizations to deposit wastewater effluent that
exceeds the effluent quality standards specified in Part 1. Transitional authorization will grant
municipalities between 10 to 30 years to bring their effluent discharge into
compliance with Part 1 of the draft Regulations.
Part 3 of the draft Regulations requires owners to prepare a response plan to prevent the deposit of effluent that contains deleterious substances out of the normal course of events from the wastewater system. Owners must update and test the response plan at least once per year, and all deposits out of the normal course of events must be reported to authorities.
In the impact analysis statement provided by the Federal Government to summarize the Regulations, but not within the Regulations itself, CSOs are classified as a “deposit out of the normal course of events” (i.e. a “spill”). Therefore, it appears as though the draft Regulations requires response plans to be prepared to mitigate or remedy the effects of a CSO discharge. The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement and the draft Regulations are unclear whether the mitigation or remedy of a CSO discharge would require the complete elimination of the CSO discharge.
Deviations from the CCME Canada-wide Strategy for the
Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent
As stated previously, the draft Regulations stray from the CCME Strategy. We believe it is critical to highlight and question these deviations since many municipalities, including Ottawa, have set their wastewater effluent priorities based upon the CCME Strategy. The draft Regulations have what appears to be increased performance standards that would have significant planning and cost implications for the City and other municipalities.
The main differences between the draft Regulations and the CCME Strategy are summarized as follows:
· The draft Regulations propose a minimum National Performance Standard to manage effluent discharges. In addition to minimum standards, the CCME Strategy also required that facility owners develop and manage site-specific effluent discharge objectives to address specific substances that are of particular concern to a particular discharge or environment.
· The CCME Strategy proposed that the plant specific ammonia objectives be set based upon the assimilative capacity of the receiving environment. The draft Regulations dictate a minimum National Performance Standard for the discharge of ammonia.
· The draft Regulations appear to require a response plan to mitigate or remedy all CSO discharges while the CCME Strategy recommended that municipalities work toward the National Overflow Standards, which are:
i) No increase in combined sewer overflow frequency due to development or redevelopment unless it occurs as part of an approved combined sewage overflow management plan;
ii) No combined sewer overflow discharge during dry weather except during spring thaw and emergencies; and,
iii) Removal of floatable materials where feasible.
· The CCME Strategy recommended that operators and facility owners deal with a single regulatory agency. Unfortunately, for Ontario municipalities, including Ottawa, under the proposed regulations, it would become necessary to respond to two different levels of government on differing aspects of wastewater services. At this point in time, it is unclear if or how the Provincial and Federal governments will coordinate regulation of wastewater effluent through the draft Regulations.
· The CCME Strategy stated that: “implementation of the National Performance Standards will be based on risk, available funding and financial sustainability of communities”. The CWWA and FCM both argue that the draft Regulations do not adequately respond to this CCME principle. The potential financial impact of becoming compliant with the draft Regulations and the continued monitoring and reporting stipulated in the Regulations cannot be overstated.
How is the City placed to
comply with the draft Wastewater Effluent Systems Regulations?
Generally speaking, the City of Ottawa is well placed to comply with
the Wastewater Effluent Systems Regulations with some notable areas of concern
that are discussed below.
Currently the Pickard Centre meets the BOD, suspended solids, and ammonia effluent performance treatment plant standards specified in the Regulations. Upon implementation of the dechlorination facility, effluent from the Pickard Centre will comply with the total residual chlorine performance standard. A transitional or temporary authorization to meet the wastewater effluent quality standards, as specified in Part 2, would not be required.
The following notable areas of concern are raised at this time:
1. Combined Sewer Overflows:
a. The City has recently completed a comprehensive assessment of the impact of CSOs and other discharges on the Ottawa River. This resulted in the adoption of the Ottawa River Action Plan (ORAP), which focuses attention on the protection and preservation of Ottawa River water quality in a cost-effective manner, with significant improvements in the near term. If the Regulations require complete sewer separation (and this is unclear to ourselves, CWWA and the FCM), then very significant additional capital funds and a much longer term will be required to achieve a similar level of protection from the impact of wastewater. As set out in ORAP, full sewer separation would do little or nothing to protect the Ottawa River stormwater, which exerts a significant impact on the River. For this reason, the City has offered to work with the Federal Government to develop National Overflow Standards as originally proposed by the CCME.
b. The draft Regulations appear to classify CSOs as a “deposit of effluent out of the normal course of events” from the wastewater system. The draft Regulations specify that a response plan must be created to mitigate or remedy the effects of a deposit out of the normal course of events, and that owners must update and test their response plan at least once per year. All deposits out of the normal course of events must be reported to authorities.
i) It is unclear whether the City’s Ottawa River Action Plan would satisfy Part 3 of the Regulations as a response plan that mitigates the effects of CSO discharges. It could be argued that ORAP, which includes real-time control, combined sewage overflow storage for the Ultimate Combined Sewer Area, and the on-going separation of combined sewers within the Ultimate Combined Sewer Area, is a response or plan that mitigates the effects of current CSO discharges, and therefore would satisfy the draft Regulations.
ii) In their comments to the draft Regulations, the CWWA stated: “it is also unreasonable to treat discharges from combined sewers as if they were “spills”, as proposed in Part 3. Discharges from combined sewers are not out of the normal course of events. CSO discharges are intended to occur, and do occur as a direct result of certain weather conditions.” Clarification from the Federal Government is required on this point.
2. Environmental effects
monitoring is required under the draft Regulations if the effluent from the
Pickard Centre makes up more than 10% of the Ottawa River flow 100m downstream
of the discharge point. At this time, we
believe that the Pickard Centre effluent makes up more than 10% of the Ottawa
River flow 100m downstream of the discharge point, and as a result we believe
environmental effects monitoring will be required. As per the draft Regulations, the
environmental effects monitoring must include the monitoring of specific
substances in the water and the biological monitoring of fish and benthic
invertebrate communities. The City of
Ottawa currently completes environmental effects monitoring in the Ottawa
River, therefore the existing environmental effects monitoring program could be
expanded to comply with the draft Regulations.
3. The draft Regulations require the City to complete monthly acute lethality testing of ROPEC effluent and to take appropriate action based on the test results. The City currently completes lethality testing on a monthly basis for six months of the year. The Regulations would require the existing program to be expanded to meet the 12-month testing requirement identified in the draft Regulations.
4. The draft Regulations require owners to submit quarterly monitoring reports to the federal government that describe effluent volume and characteristics during the reporting period. The City would also be required to prepare and submit a report that identifies the location of the final effluent discharge point and all combined sewer and sanitary sewer overflow locations; a summary of the geophysical characteristics and the water use (e.g. recreational water use) at the effluent discharge point and each overflow location. As the City is not currently required to submit any wastewater reports to the Federal Government, the preparation and submittal of reports will necessitate additional resources and costs not currently available.
5. As stated in the City’s staff comments to Environment Canada dated May 19, 2010, the cost, value for money and wise use of taxpayers’ dollars are fundamental issues for all ratepayers in the City of Ottawa. The determination of whether or not the complete separation of the City’s combined sewer area is a requirement of the proposed Regulations will significantly alter our assessment of the financial impact for the City. Beyond this very significant impact, other cost and resources will mostly be incurred in the monitoring and reporting requirements identified in the draft Regulations.
As a result, staff recommends that Council endorse the comments submitted to Environment Canada by the General Manager of Environmental Services (Document 1) as well as comments submitted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (Document 2) and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (Document 3) as the City of Ottawa’s official response to the Federal Government’s proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations.
There are no rural implications.
Consultation on this report was not undertaken.
This is a city-wide issue.
Legal Services was not available to comment.
The
intent of the proposed Regulations is consistent with fulfilling the goals of Ottawa 20/20
and the City’s Environmental Strategy to reduce the impact of discharges in the Ottawa River and for the protection
of the water environment.
Additional effluent monitoring in accordance with the draft Regulations, which includes:
This report has no financial implications as it only provides comments on the proposed regulations. Potential cost implications to the City will be determined once regulations become final and various operational, monitoring and reporting requirements are identified.
Document 2: Letter response by the Federation of
Canadian Municipalities, dated May 19, 2010
Environmental Services Department will submit Council’s endorsed comments to Environment Canada.
COMMENTS TO ENVIRONMENT CANADA ON
THE PROPOSED WASTEWATER SYSTEMS EFFLUENT REGULATIONS POSTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
IN THE CANADA GAZETTE, PART 1 ON MARCH 20, 2009
COMMENTAIRES SOUMIS À ENVIRONNEMENT CANADA SUR
LE RÈGLEMENT PROPOSÉ SUR LES EFFLUENTS DES SYSTÈMES D’ASSAINISSEMENT DES EAUX
USÉES AFFICHÉ POUR L’OBTENTION DE COMMENTAIRES DU PUBLIC À LA GAZETTE DU
CANADA, PARTIE 1 DU 20 MARS 2009
ACS2010-ICS-ESD-0026 City Wide/À l'échelle de la Ville
In response to questions from the Chair,
Dixon Weir, General Manager of Environmental Services explained that he had
been contacted informally by Environment Canada as a result of this item
appearing on the agenda. He explained
that they had indicated that it was not their intent to insist upon complete
sewer separation for communities like Ottawa to insist upon complete separation. They also recognized that the complexity of
the regulation as it exists today made it difficult for communities across Canada
to understand the intent. He indicated
that Environment Canada had acknowledged major revisions would be necessary and
the City has offered its assistance to do so.
In response to questions from Councillor
Doucet, Mr. Weir indicated that staff was pleased to see that the federal
government was moving forward, and was very supportive of the intent in the
goals of the regulation; however, staff does have some concerns and questions
as outlined in their comments. He noted
that the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) had developed
a consensus opinion on this regulation back in 2009, and in bring forward the regulation
in 2010 one of the areas of particular concern and confusion to the City was
how the Federal government was directing municipalities to deal with combined
sewer overflows. Staff’s comments in the
report suggest that this area of regulation needs to be improved
significantly. He indicated that staff
was hopeful that the next iteration of the regulation would be clearer in this
regard.
Councillor Doucet suggested that the reason
the City’s infrastructure costs were running higher than other Canadian cities
was due to sprawl. Mr. Weir noted that
the issue around combined sewer overflows concerned the older core of the City,
rather than the areas outside the Greenbelt that is serviced by separated
sewers and by a collection system and trunk system that deals with that.
With respect to the issue of storm water
overflow into sanitary sewers, Mr. Weir noted there was a series of problems
that contributed to storm water gaining access to the sanitary system and the
solution lies in large part upon preventing storm water from getting into the
sanitary system. The combined sewer overflow issue pertains to older parts of
the City where those systems are combined by intent.
Mr. Weir referenced Council’s approved Ottawa
River Action Plan, which he suggested was a continuation of the significant
progress being made with respect to combined sewer overflows. He noted that
they would be reporting that combined sewer overflows in 2009 were the lowest
in four years of record, largely due to the progress the City has made in
implementing real time control. With
respect to this report and staff’s comments on the federal regulation, staff
wanted to ensure that the City’s progress would not be affected by an
unintended consequence of the federal regulation, and ensure the federal
government understood that there are cost effective solutions to address the
issues while protecting the environment and the fisheries.
In response to questions from Councillor
Monette, Mr. Weir estimated that the capital costs for complete sewer
separation would be $1.5 to 2 billion, and it would take the City 30 to 50
years to complete that program.
Committee then approved the report
recommendations, as presented.
That
Planning and Environment Committee recommend Council endorse the comments
submitted to Environment Canada by the General Manager of Environmental
Services (Document 1) as well as comments submitted by the Federation of
Canadian Municipalities (Document 2) and the Canadian Water and Wastewater
Association (Document 3) as the City of Ottawa’s official response to the
Federal Government’s proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations.
CARRIED
[1] The CCME is an intergovernmental body comprised of Environment Ministers from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.