The BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy (ENV) issued Protocol 19 – Site Investigation and Reporting on February 1, 2023 and issued revisions to the Protocol on August 12, 2024. The Protocol details site investigation and reporting requirements related to relocation of non-waste soil from sites that have had, or have, Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR) Schedule 2 activities.

As a result of unintended consequences of Protocol 19 and based on the feedback received from industry and consultants, ENV has made the following revisions to Protocol 19 offering a bit of relief to soil movers:

• Allow more professional judgement for qualified professionals when selecting sampling parameters, frequencies and densities when Potential Contaminants of Concern (PCOCs) are known.
• Address increased costs to people using Protocol 19 by creating a more flexible process for soil sampling/analysis on source sites.
• Allow the use of a 0.02 vapour attenuation factor and vapour modelling to estimate vapour concentrations so that more soil is reused and less goes to landfills.
• Reduce the metal leaching and acid rock drainage (ML/ARD) sampling frequency and add additional ML/ARD tests for better informed decisions.
• Incorporate four exemptions for sites that do not require investigation before soil relocation:
  1. Sites with a Final Determination that the site is not contaminated or a numerical-based Certificate of Compliance if the soil is to be relocated from the site:
     a.  has no new contamination caused since the certification document was issued; and
     b.  has no soil and vapour at concentrations exceeding the current CSR land use standards applicable to the receiving site (including soil at depths greater than 3 m).
  2. Soil leaving sites that are authorized soil treatment facilities if:
     a.  these facilities have soil sampling, analysis, and storage requirements that are consistent with soil relocation requirements in an Environmental Management Act (EMA) waste discharge authorization; and
     b.  the EMA waste discharge authorization requirements have been met.
  3. Quarries with a CSR Schedule 2 use if:
     a.  the site has a Mines Act Permit; and
     b.  the CSR Schedule 2 use has not contaminated the quarried material leaving the site.
  4. Transitory sites with a CSR Schedule 2 use that store soil if:
     a.  the soil stored onsite was already sampled at and analyzed from the CSR Schedule 2 use site of origin, or the soil stored onsite did not originate from a CSR Schedule 2 use site; and
     b.  the soil has not been contaminated by the CSR Schedule 2 use on the transitory site.

However, notably, the soil relocation notice requirements in EMA and the CSR still apply for sites that are exempt from this Protocol. Copies of certification documents (i.e., numerical-based Certificate of Compliance and Final Determination the site is not contaminated) and qualified professional assurance with respect to the above exemptions must be provided with the Soil Relocation Notification form. See the full details in the updated Protocol 19.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please don’t hesitate to contact Active Earth.