Toronto, Ontario — September 7, 2016 — The Ontario government has given sites that manage end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) until the end of the month to comply with new provincial regulations.
Back in March, the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change ushered in changes to its registration policy for all facilities that manage ELVs throughout the province. Following a five-month grace period, the ministry is starting to crack down and has given sites until September 30 to comply with the new guidelines.
The province considers the management of ELVs to include collecting, handling, storing, processing or disposing of vehicles and has presented sites with two registration options – enlist their site on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR) or obtain an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA).
The EASR is an online self-registration system. To register, sites must meet the eligibility criteria set out in Ontario Regulation 85/16. Click here for more information on the criteria. All sites managing ELVs must meet operational requirements, including depollution, spills prevention, proper waste storage, training, record-keeping and mitigating air/noise emissions.
Should a site not meet the EASR criteria they are required to obtain an ECA, which is a site-specific system that involved a more complex application process. This process requires site managers to submit documents to the ministry detailing information about their business and activities. Managers are encouraged to contact the Ministry to begin the process well in advance of the September 30 deadline to ensure they meet the compliance date.
There is one exception to the new rule – in the event that a site meets the EASR eligibility criteria and already has an existing ECA, it will have until March 31, 2018 to enlist itself on the new registry.
Beginning October 1 the ministry will begin its follow-up with non-registered sites and could potentially take enforcement action against sites such as orders, investigations and prosecutions.
The province developed an online survey in an effort to help those affected understand the new regulatory requirements and determine what action they must take. You can access the survey here.
For further information on the EASR registration process, click here.
For more information on the ECA application process, click here.
If you have any questions relating to the new requirements, contact the Environmental Approvals Access and Service Integration Branch by calling 1-800-461-6260 or emailing eaasibgen@ontario.ca.
