13. Other Considerations that Require Follow Up Actions

This Chapter 13 Other Considerations that Require Follow Up Actions of this Procedure Document describes what action is or may be required when a ministry POI limit is exceeded. For example, there are different notification requirements under the Regulation under subsection 25 (9) [Update of ESDM report], section 28 [Notice to provincial officer as a result of modelling or measurements], and section 30[Upper risk thresholds].

Under section 28 of the Regulation, there are notification requirements for exceedences of ministry POI Limits once refinement has been completed. However, if a facility determines that refinement will still likely show an exceedence of a ministry POI Limit, they may choose to focus their efforts on abatement (as opposed to refinement). Subsection 12 (3) of the Regulation says a person can choose to proceed directly to abatement activities. Note that if this option is chosen, the person must notify the ministry of an exceedence under section 28 of the Regulation and submit an abatement plan as per section 29.

For facilities required to update their ESDM report annually (generally facilities in Schedules 4 and 5), after March 31 of the relevant year, if the facility is in the process of refining the ESDM report, notification under subsection 25(9) of the Regulation must be made as soon as practicable. This notification should communicate a facility’s intent to further refine the ESDM report or to proceed to abatement. Upper Risk Thresholds (URTs) (Schedule 6) also have separate and distinct notification requirements under section 30 of the Regulation (see also Chapter 2.3 Update of an ESDM report). The Director must be notified at the earliest stage where there is any reason to believe, based on any relevant information, that discharges of a contaminant may result in an exceedence of an URT listed in Schedule 6 of the Regulation. For more information on notification requirements, see Chapter 2.3 Updates to ESDM Reports, Chapter 12.3 Upper Risk Thresholds, and Chapter 13.1 Notification to a Provincial Officer for more information.

13.1 Providing notice to a provincial officer

Section 28 of the Regulation states:

Notice to Provincial Officer as a result of modelling or measurements

28. (1) A person who discharges or causes or permits the discharge of a contaminant shall, as soon as practicable, notify a provincial officer in writing if,

  1. the person uses an approved dispersion model to predict concentrations of the contaminant that result from the discharges and,
    1. the use of the model indicates that discharges of the contaminant may result in a contravention of section 19 or 20, or
    2. sections 19 and 20 do not apply to discharges of the contaminant and the use of the model indicates that discharges of the contaminant may cause an adverse effect;
  2. measurements of air samples indicate that discharges of the contaminant may result in a contravention of section 19 or 20; or
  3. sections 19 and 20 do not apply to discharges of the contaminant and measurements of air samples indicate that discharges of the contaminant may cause an adverse effect.

(1.1) The Director may give written notice to a person who discharges or causes or permits the discharge of a contaminant requiring the person to notify a provincial officer in writing, at regular intervals specified by the Director, of any circumstances described in clause (1) (a), (b) or (c).

(1.1.1) Before the Director gives a person a notice under subsection (1.1), the Director shall give the person a draft of the notice and an opportunity to make written submissions to the Director during the period that ends 15 days after the draft is given.

(1.2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who complies with a notice given by the Director under subsection (1.1). …

See Chapter 4 of the ministry document, “Guideline for the Implementation of Air Standards in Ontario” (PIBS # 5166e) for guidance on factors to consider when standards are exceeded.

13.1.1 Submission of a written abatement plan

Section 29 of the Regulation states:

Abatement plan

29.

  1. A person who gives a notice to a provincial officer under subsection 28 (1) or (1.1) in respect of a contaminant shall, not later than 30 days after giving the notice, prepare and submit to a provincial officer a written abatement plan for the contaminant that recommends steps that should be taken to prevent discharges of the contaminant from resulting in a contravention of section 19 or 20 or an adverse effect.
  2. Subsection (1) does not apply if,
    1. an abatement plan for the contaminant is already required to be submitted to a provincial officer within the 30-day period referred to in subsection (1);

      (a.1) an abatement plan for the contaminant has previously been submitted to a provincial officer under subsection (1) and the Director is satisfied that another plan is not necessary; or

    2. a plan for the contaminant was submitted to the Ministry before November 30, 2005 and the Director is satisfied that it is not necessary to prepare and submit an abatement plan under subsection (1).

At a minimum, the submission of a pollution abatement plan should be of sufficient detail to initiate a substantive discussion, with representatives of the ministry, on the options to fully address the contravention or adverse effect. The final abatement plan must demonstrate that the proposed mitigation is certain to result in compliance with the ministry POI Limits. If compliance is not certain, a facility may be able to consider a request for a site-specific standard under section 32 of the Regulation. Alternatively, where available, the facility may choose to register to a Technical Standard under the Regulation.

For more information on site-specific or Technical Standard, please visit the ministry website (under Industrial Air emissions).

13.2 Assessing concentrations and frequency at specified POIs

There are two types of ESDM reports that automatically require this information to be included in the ESDM report; namely, ESDM reports required under section 30 (upper risk thresholds) and section 33 (request for a site-specific standard). The Regulation (see subsection 30 (8)) requires the frequency of exceedences to be determined for the following places:

  1. A health care facility.
  2. A senior citizens’ residence or long-term care facility.
  3. A child care facility.
  4. An educational facility.
  5. A dwelling.
  6. A place specified by the Director in a notice under subsection 30 (9) as a place where discharges of a contaminant may cause a risk to human health.

In making a decision regarding a request for a site-specific standard, information regarding these specific POIs and frequency of exceedences is required to enable the Director to make a decision as per subclause 35(1) (b) (iii) as well as subsection 35 (2) of the Regulation.

The Regulation requires that the frequency of exceedences at specified POIs may also be required in some ESDM reports. A Director may require this information by issuing various notices under sections 24, 25, and 28 of the Regulation. This would be information submitted in addition to the maximum POI concentration.

Assessment of the frequency of exceedences based on any monitoring data must also be included in the ESDM report in addition to the modelled frequency results. The ministry may request more information on frequency and magnitude.

If a facility is required to notify the ministry of an exceedence of an air standard (or ministry POI Limit) under section 28 of the Regulation, then it may also be useful for ESDM reports to include an assessment of emission rates and POI concentrations for different operating conditions (in addition to the assessment at operating conditions that result in the maximum POI concentration). It would also be useful to include a discussion of the frequency and duration of maximum POI concentration at the various operating conditions assessed. This additional information will be particularly useful in assessing the significance of any exceedences of a ministry POI Limit or Assessment Values (linked to annual standards).

Any information on the frequency and magnitude of exceedences should be in a separate appendix that can be provided to ministry toxicologists for their review.

For more information on how to assess the frequency and magnitude of an exceedence, see also see Chapters 2.2.1 and 4 of GIASO and Chapter 3.5 of “Guide to Requesting a Site-Specific Standard” (PIBS # 6322e) dated September 2016 (as amended) (formerly called the Guide to Requesting an Alternative Air Standard).

13.3 Site-Specific standards compliance approach

Section 32 of the Regulation allows for site-specific standards to be requested during specific periods of time. A facility is eligible to request a site-specific standard as a result of the phase-in of new or updated air standards; the phase-in of the screen3, AERMOD and ASHRAE; the use of specific models as required by a ministry Director; or as part of an abatement order issued by ministry.

See sections 32 to 37.1 of the Regulation for more detail. The ministry document, “Guideline for the Implementation of Air Standards in Ontario” (PIBS # 5166e) (as amended) also provides guidance on these requests. Further information is also available in the “Guide to Requesting a Site-Specific Standard” (PIBS # 6322e), dated July 2016 (as amended).

13.4 Technical standards compliance approach

Section 38 of the Regulation allows for a person to register for a technical standard for certain contaminants, as identified in the Technical Standards publication document “Technical Standards to Manage Air Pollution” dated March 5, 2015, as amended from time to time. Registering for and complying with a technical standard is a compliance approach recognized in the Regulation.

For more information, please refer to sections 38 to 44 of the Regulation and the “Guide to Applying for Registration to the Technical Standards Registry - Air Pollution” dated July 2016 (as amended) (PIBS # 7804e).

Note: Under the Regulation, the Director may still issue a notice under section 24 to request a facility registered to one or more technical standard(s) to submit an ESDM report for assessment purposes only.