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Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (SOR/2012-139)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06 and last amended on 2015-01-01. Previous Versions

PART 2Transitional and Temporary Authorizations to Deposit (continued)

Transitional Authorization (continued)

Conditions of Issuance

Marginal note:Required information

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (3), the authorization officer must issue the transitional authorization if

    • (a) the application contains the information required by subsection 25(1) or (2), as the case may be;

    • (b) the information referred to in paragraph 25(1)(e) can reasonably be regarded as establishing that at the time of the application

      • (i) the condition for the authorization set out in paragraph 6(1)(a) or (b) was not met,

      • (ii) that condition was not met because of the design of the wastewater system, and

      • (iii) it was not technically or economically feasible before the time of the application to have modified the wastewater system, including its processes, in order to meet that condition; and

    • (c) the schedule to implement the plan referred to in paragraph 25(1)(f) or subsection 4(1), as the case may be, and, if applicable, paragraph 25(1)(s) can reasonably be regarded as feasible for the purpose of meeting the requirements, as the case may be, referred to in paragraph 25(1)(f) or paragraph 4(3)(a) and, if applicable, achieve the reduction referred to in paragraph 25(1)(s).

  • Marginal note:Duration of transitional authorization

    (2) The transitional authorization must be issued for the following period:

    • (a) from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020, if the final discharge point is, under the table to Schedule 2, allocated 70 or more points and, if the wastewater system has combined sewer overflow points for which points are allocated under Schedule 3, each combined sewer overflow point of the wastewater system is allocated less points than the number of points allocated under the table to Schedule 2 to the final discharge point;

    • (b) from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2030, if the final discharge point is, under the table to Schedule 2, allocated 50 or more points but less than 70 points and, if the wastewater system has combined sewer overflow points for which points are allocated under Schedule 3, each combined sewer overflow point of the wastewater system is allocated less points than the number of points allocated under the table to Schedule 2 to the final discharge point; and

    • (c) from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2040,

      • (i) if the final discharge point is, under the table to Schedule 2, allocated less than 50 points, or

      • (ii) if the final discharge point is, under the table to Schedule 2, allocated 50 or more points and the wastewater system has combined sewer overflow points for which points are allocated under Schedule 3, there is at least one combined sewer overflow point that is, under Schedule 3, allocated a number of points that is greater than or equal to the number of points allocated under the table to Schedule 2 to the final discharge point.

  • Marginal note:Refusal

    (3) The authorization officer must refuse to issue the transitional authorization if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the information contained in, or provided in support of, the application is false or misleading in a material respect.

Marginal note:Change of plan

  •  (1) A holder of a transitional authorization who changes a plan referred in paragraph 25(1)(f), subsection 4(1) or paragraph 25(1)(s) must, without delay, provide the authorization officer with the changed plan, along with a schedule to implement it.

  • Marginal note:Approval of changed plan

    (2) The authorization officer must approve the changed plan and the schedule to implement it, if the requirements referred to in paragraph 26(1)(c) are satisfied. With that approval, the transitional authorization, based on that changed plan and that schedule, continues to be in force.

  • Marginal note:Original plan if no approval

    (3) If that changed plan and that schedule are not approved, the transitional authorization continues to be in force only if the holder respects the original plan and the original schedule for its implementation.

Conditions on Transitional Authorizations

Marginal note:Authorized deposits — transitional authorization

  •  (1) A holder of a transitional authorization in respect of a wastewater system is authorized — during a given calendar year, quarter or month, determined in accordance with subsection 6(2), in the period of authorization — to deposit effluent that contains any of the deleterious substances prescribed in section 5 via the final discharge point if — during the previous calendar year, previous quarter or previous month — the effluent met the following conditions:

    • (a) the average carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand due to the quantity of CBOD matter in the effluent referred to in paragraph 6(1)(a), determined in accordance with subsections 6(2) and (3), did not exceed

      • (i) 1.25 times the average determined for the carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand due to the quantity of CBOD matter referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(k)(i) or the greatest of those averages referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(k)(ii), as the case may be, if the product resulting from that multiplication is greater than 25 mg/L, and

      • (ii) 25 mg/L, in any other case;

    • (b) the average concentration of suspended solids in the effluent referred to in paragraph 6(1)(b), determined in accordance with subsections 6(2) and (3), did not exceed

      • (i) 1.25 times the average concentration of suspended solids referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(k)(i) or the greatest of those averages referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(k)(ii), as the case may be, if the product resulting from that multiplication is greater than 25 mg/L, and

      • (ii) 25 mg/L, in any other case;

    • (c) the average concentration of total residual chlorine in the effluent referred to in paragraph 6(1)(c), determined in accordance with subsections 6(2) and (3), did not exceed 0.02 mg/L, if chlorine, or one of its compounds, was used in the treatment of wastewater; and

    • (d) the maximum concentration of un-ionized ammonia in the effluent referred to in paragraph 6(1)(d), determined in accordance with subsections 6(2) and (3), was less than

      • (i) 1.25 times the maximum concentration referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(o)(i) or the greatest of those maximum concentrations referred to in subparagraph 25(1)(o)(ii), as the case may be, if the product resulting from that multiplication is greater than or equal to 1.25 mg/L, expressed as nitrogen (N), at 15°C ± 1°C, and

      • (ii) 1.25 mg/L, expressed as nitrogen (N), at 15°C ± 1°C, in any other case.

  • Marginal note:Authorized deposits — fictional consolidated wastewater system

    (2) A holder of a transitional authorization in respect of a fictional consolidated wastewater system is, in addition, authorized, during the given calendar year, quarter or month referred to in subsection (1), to deposit effluent that contains any of the deleterious substances prescribed in section 5 via the final discharge point of each of the original wastewater systems that constitute the fictional consolidated wastewater system — other than the final discharge point for the fictional consolidated wastewater system referred to in subsection 4(2) — if the effluent deposited via the final discharge point of each of those original wastewater systems — during the previous calendar year, previous quarter or previous month — met the conditions set out in subsection (1).

Compliance Obligations

Marginal note:General requirements

  •  (1) A holder of a transitional authorization in respect of a wastewater system must, during the period of authorization,

    • (a) comply with sections 7 to 10, 12 to 14, 16 to 22 and 48; and

    • (b) respect the plan referred to in, as the case may be, subsection 4(1) or paragraph 25(1)(f) and, if applicable, paragraph 25(1)(s) — or, if applicable, that plan as approved with changes under subsection 27(2) — and respect its schedule for implementation.

  • Marginal note:Progress reports

    (2) The holder of a transitional authorization must, within 90 days before the following dates, send to the authorization officer a progress report on the steps taken to implement the plan referred to in, as the case may be, subsection 4(1) or paragraph 25(1)(f) and, if applicable, paragraph 25(1)(s) — or, if applicable, that plan as approved with changes under subsection 27(2):

    • (a) July 1, 2017, if the period of authorization ends on December 31, 2020;

    • (b) July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2025, if the period of authorization ends on December 31, 2030; and

    • (c) July 1, 2020, July 1, 2025, July 1, 2030 and July 1, 2035, if the period of authorization ends on December 31, 2040.

Scope of Transitional Authorization and Revocation

Marginal note:Content of transitional authorization

 A transitional authorization must be in the form set out in Schedule 4 and contain the following information:

  • (a) the information referred to in paragraphs 25(1)(a) and (c);

  • (b) the latitude and longitude of the final discharge point;

  • (c) the date of issuance;

  • (d) the period of authorization; and

  • (e) the following averages and maximum concentration of the deleterious substances prescribed in section 5 that are authorized to be contained in effluent that is deposited via the final discharge point during a given calendar year, quarter or month referred to in subsection 28(1):

    • (i) for the average carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand due to the quantity of CBOD matter, the average referred to in, as the case may be, subparagraph 28(1)(a)(i) or (ii),

    • (ii) for the average concentration of suspended solids, the average referred to in, as the case may be, subparagraph 28(1)(b)(i) or (ii),

    • (iii) for the average concentration of total residual chlorine, the average referred to in paragraph 28(1)(c), and

    • (iv) for the maximum concentration of un-ionized ammonia, the maximum concentration referred to in, as the case may be, subparagraph 28(1)(d)(i) or (ii).

Marginal note:Correction of information

  •  (1) If the owner or operator becomes aware that the information provided in an application for a transitional authorization contains errors, they must, without delay, send a notice to the authorization officer, which indicates the reason for the errors and provides corrections, and make the certification under paragraph 25(1)(t) with respect to the corrected application.

  • Marginal note:Corrected transitional authorization

    (2) On receipt of a notice that provides corrections that, if provided with the application, would have affected the scope of the information referred to in section 30 contained in the transitional authorization, the authorization officer must issue a corrected transitional authorization as if the corrections together with the remaining information originally provided in the application were an application under section 25.

Marginal note:Revocation

  •  (1) The authorization officer may revoke a transitional authorization if

    • (a) the information referred to in subsection 25(1) or (2), as the case may be, contained in the application or the information provided in a progress report referred to in subsection 29(2) is false or misleading in a material respect;

    • (b) the holder has, during the period of authorization, failed to comply with any condition set out in section 28 or any provision referred to in subsection 29(1);

    • (c) new information indicates that a deposit authorized under section 28 has had or is likely to have an effect on fish, fish habitat or the use by man of fish that is more adverse than the worst of the effects that were anticipated when that authorization was issued;

    • (d) the holder has not sent a progress report in accordance with subsection 29(2); or

    • (e) the authorization officer, based on a progress report referred to in subsection 29(2), has reasonable grounds to believe that the plan — referred to in, as the case may be, subsection 4(1) or paragraph 25(1)(f) and, if applicable, paragraph 25(1)(s) — or, if applicable, that plan as approved with changes under subsection 27(2) — cannot be fully implemented before the end of the period of authorization.

  • Marginal note:Considerations

    (2) When determining whether to revoke a transitional authorization, the authorization officer must consider, as applicable, whether the holder of a transitional authorization

    • (a) has a history of non-compliance with any condition or provision referred to in paragraph (1)(b);

    • (b) has provided a reasonable justification for not sending a progress report in accordance with subsection 29(2); or

    • (c) has carried out, or signed an undertaking to carry out, specified corrective measures to ensure compliance with any condition or provision referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or to prevent or mitigate a more adverse effect referred to in paragraph (1)(c).

  • Marginal note:Representations

    (3) The authorization officer is not permitted to revoke a transitional authorization unless they have provided the holder with

    • (a) written reasons for the proposed revocation; and

    • (b) an opportunity to be heard, by written representation, in respect of the proposed revocation.

Marginal note:Early expiry

 Despite subsections 24(2) and 26(2), a transitional authorization expires at the end of a given calendar year, quarter or month determined in accordance with subsection 6(2), if the effluent deposited via the final discharge point of the wastewater system was not acutely lethal and met the conditions for the authorization set out in paragraphs 6(1)(a) and (b) during

  • (a) that given calendar year;

  • (b) that given quarter and the three quarters immediately before that given quarter during which effluent was deposited via the final discharge point; or

  • (c) that given month and each of the 11 months immediately before that given month during which effluent was deposited via the final discharge point.

Temporary Authorization to Deposit Un-ionized Ammonia

Requirements and Duration

Marginal note:Requirements

  •  (1) The owner or operator of a wastewater system whose effluent deposited via its final discharge point is acutely lethal because of the concentration of un-ionized ammonia in it may apply to an authorization officer for a temporary authorization to deposit effluent that contains un-ionized ammonia via the final discharge point if the concentration of un-ionized ammonia in the water, determined in accordance with subsection (3), at any point that is 100 m from the point of entry where effluent is deposited in that water via the final discharge point is less than or equal to 0.016 mg/L, expressed as nitrogen (N), and if

    • (a) the acute lethality of the effluent — as determined in accordance with Reference Method EPS 1/RM/13 using the procedure set out in section 6 of that Method and the Procedure for pH Stabilization EPS 1/RM/50 — is primarily because of the concentration of un-ionized ammonia in the effluent; or

    • (b) the effluent is acutely lethal because the concentration of un-ionized ammonia in the effluent deposited via the final discharge point is greater than or equal to 1.25 mg/L, expressed as nitrogen (N) at 15°C ± 1°C, determined in accordance with section 14.

  • Marginal note:Samples

    (2) The determination referred to in paragraph (1)(b) must

    • (a) for an intermittent wastewater system, be based on at least one sample of effluent; and

    • (b) for a continuous wastewater system, be based on at least two samples of effluent taken 7 days apart.

  • Marginal note:Determination of NH3 concentration in water

    (3) The concentration of un-ionized ammonia in the water referred to in subsection (1) must be determined in accordance with the following formula:

    total ammonia × 1 ÷ (1 +10pKa – pH)

    where

    total ammonia
    is the concentration of total ammonia in that water — namely, un-ionized ammonia (NH3) plus ionized ammonia (NH4+) — determined in accordance with subsection (4), expressed in mg/L as nitrogen (N);
    pKa
    is 0.09018 + 2729.92/T, where T is the ambient water temperature in kelvin; and
    pH
    is the pH of that water.
  • Marginal note:Determination of concentration of total ammonia in water

    (4) The concentration of total ammonia in the water referred to in subsection (3) must be determined

    • (a) using a total ammonia test; or

    • (b) using a method of estimation that is based on generally accepted engineering practices.

  • Marginal note:Periods for application

    (5) An initial application for a temporary authorization to deposit effluent that contains un-ionized ammonia must be made within 30 days after, as the case may be, the determination referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) has been made. Applications to extend the temporary authorization must be made at least 90 days before the expiry of the authorization.

 

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