By Steve Davey,
Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine
Vince Nazareth (left) with PWO conference chair,
Eldon Wallis from the City of Orillia.
Ontario’s government will
introduce legislation with
tough new standards to
protect the province’s
drinking water and it will take immediate
action on Justice O’Connor’s recommendations
on water source protection.
The announcement was made by
Ontario’s Premier Ernie Eves, and
Chris Stockwell, Minister of the Environment,
on October 29, 2002.
The government has consulted with
the public and stakeholders on the proposed
components of the Safe Drinking
Water Act. More consultations are
planned when the bill is sent to committee
in the fall. The proposed legislation builds on a private
member’s bill introduced by NDP MPP Marilyn
Churley.
Highlights of the proposed Safe Drinking Water Act include:
Mandatory licensing and accreditation of all laboratories
that test drinking water;
New standards for drinking-water treatment, distribution,
quality and testing;
Mandatory certification of all operators of drinking-water
Ontario introduces tough new Drinking Water Act
systems, including those who have
been “grandparented” into the role;
Mandatory licenses for all municipal
owners of drinking-water systems;
A “standard of care” for municipalities,
requiring that they act honestly,
competently and with integrity to protect
citizens;
Stronger enforcement and compliance
provisions, including a provincial
Chief Inspector to oversee inspection
policies, training of Ministry inspectors,
frequency of inspections and
annual reporting.
Tough wastewater regulations are
sure to follow the drinking water
standards.
At the recent Central Region Professional Wastewater
Operators’ fall conference in Barrie, Vince Nazareth, of R.V.
Anderson & Associates, told delegates that Ontario’s
wastewater industry can expect similar measures in the near
future. This inevitability, he added, is based on the undeniable
fact that water source protection must be part of any
safe drinking water strategy.
The Ontario government also announced the first steps
of a plan to develop a watershed-based source protection
framework in Ontario. Justice O’Connor - in recommendation
# 68 in Part Two of the Report of the Walkerton Inquiry
- said that source protection should be acted upon in legislation
other than the Safe Drinking Water Act, specifically by
amending the Environmental Protection Act. The government
has said that it will follow this advice and will establish
an advisory committee to help develop a watershed
framework to carry out the recommendations on source-protection
planning.
Ontario has already taken action on a number of Justice
O’Connor’s key recommendations by introducing the Nutrient
Management Act and proposing the new Sustainable
Water and Sewage Systems Act.
The first stage of the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems
Act would see the government working closely with
municipalities to assess the full cost of water and sewage
services. During the second stage, the government would
continue working with municipalities, which would use the
information from the assessments to develop full-cost recovery
plans in a way that makes sense for them.
The proposed Safe Drinking Water Act would provide
legislative authority to implement 50 of the 93 recommendations
made by Commissioner O’Connor in Part Two of
the Report of the Walkerton Inquiry. Another 20 Part Two
recommendations are underway, with the remaining being
addressed or requiring federal involvement and cooperation.
The proposed Safe Drinking Water Act will be posted to
the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry at: www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/019012ea.htm (the Environmental
Bill of Rights Registry posting number is AA02E0002).
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