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Policy Id:

SPR/SPA:

Risk:

F4EF-PI

Nickel District

Low, Moderate

Implementing Body

Legal Effect

Policy Tool

Threat Type

Status

Comment

MECP – MRDWS – Fuel Handling & Storage

Have Regard to

Prescribed Instruments

Future & Existing

In progress/some progress made

All municipal drinking water permissions where fuel storage and handling has been identified as a significant threat contain conditions to manage the threat and typically require the Owner to undertake an annual TSSA inspection of their fuel-oil system. To better manage ongoing alterations to fuel oil systems at municipal drinking water systems, during this round of renewals (occurring between 2024 and 2027), updated standard source protection conditions are being rolled out to all municipal drinking water permissions to address fuel storage and handling significant drinking water threats and ensure they reflect the most current version of the Directors Technical Rules under the Clean Water Act. The updated conditions will preauthorize alterations to fuel storage and handing at municipal drinking water systems under the condition the owner assesses all new and existing fuel storage and handling against the most current Technical Rules to identify if fuel storage and handling associated with the drinking water system is a significant drinking water threat. The conditions require documentation of the fuel storage assessment, implementation of annual TSSA inspections for any identified fuel storage significant threats, and require the owner to implement any additional source protection policies identified by their local source protection plan. The fuel storage assessments are to be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain up to date and conform to current policies. To date, 287 municipal drinking water licences have been renewed throughout the province, and contain these updated conditions. For those permissions that have not yet been renewed, alterations to fuel storage and handling are not yet preauthorized and still require an application to the ministry before they can proceed. These applications will continue to be reviewed by the ministry to determine if fuel storage or handling activities are being proposed and if these activities present a significant threat based on the most current Technical Rules. Where a significant threat is identified, conditions are added to the prescribed instrument (Drinking Water Works Permit or Municipal Drinking Water Licence) to address source protection plan policies, and typically include the requirement for the owner to undertake an annual TSSA inspection of the their fuel-oil system.

Policy Text:

Where the handling and storage of fuel (existing and future) could be a moderate or low threat, the approving director under Part V of the Safe Drinking Water Act should require the drinking water system owner to manage the fuel threat so that it does not become a significant threat. This may include, but is not limited to, the following alterations of the works and operating procedures:

Secondary containment;
Spill/leak detection and spill response procedures as per Condition 16 of the license;
Collision protection; and
Protection of oil lines from physical damage.

The director should require the owner to amend their Drinking Water Works Permit / Municipal Drinking Water License to include the required alterations/operations procedures and apply to the Ministry within 90 ninety days of receiving the Director's notification. The MOE review of the license should ensure that the spills response procedures prepared by the owner as per item b above include the required reporting to the MOE Spills Action Centre.

Monitoring policy M17 applies.

Monitoring Text:

M17: By February 1 of each year, the Ministry of the Environment should report to the Source Protection Authority on the steps it has taken in the previous calendar year to implement the policies that are set out in the Source Protection Plan.