September 10th, 2024

In August, the Provincial Government released the following amendments to Protocols 6, 19 & 22 affecting contaminated sites: 

Revisions to Protocol 6: Applications with Approved Professional Recommendations and Pre-approvals were completed to: 

• Allow all applications for Approvals in Principle of a remediation plan for non-high-risk sites to be submitted with the recommendation of an Approved Professional, not just those that can be completed in 5 years. 
• This means a pre-approval is no longer needed to accommodate a longer remediation schedule. 
• Not allow sites under Order to submit applications with the recommendation of an Approved Professional. 
• These sites are typically high-risk, and oversight should remain with the ministry until the Order requirements are met. 
• Clarify requirements, including those for delineation of contamination in relation to Approval in Principle applications.  

Revisions to Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting were completed to: 

• 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. 
• Incorporate exemptions for sites that do not require investigation before soil relocation (for example, source site with a Final Determination the site is not contaminated). 
• Reduce the metal leaching and acid rock drainage (ML/ARD) sampling frequency and add ML/ARD tests for better informed decisions. 
• Clarify some of the requirements.   

Additional information can be found in the Protocol 19 – Phase 1: Summary of Comments 2023/2024.    

Revisions to Protocol 22: Application of Vapour Attenuation Factors to Characterize Vapour Contamination were completed to: 

• Remove one sentence that excluded the use of vapour attenuation factors for vapour investigation for soil relocation aligning with the Protocol 19 phase 1 amendments. 

April 9, 2024

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, Land Remediation Section is seeking input on the proposed changes to Phase 1 of Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting.

To share your feedback on the changes to Protocol 19, provide comments directly through the online forms also posted on the Legislation and protocols web page.

All feedback must be submitted by 4:00pm PST on April 26, 2024.

March 12th, 2024

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is hosting engagement sessions on proposed changes to Phase 1 of Protocol 19 for Site Investigating and Reporting. During these sessions, Ministry staff will provide an overview of the changes, with an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the changes.

Interested members can register for the engagement sessions below:

• Monday, March 25th, 2024 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm PST;
• Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 from 11:00am to 12:00pm PST.

In response to government initiatives to streamline development processes, the Ministry is also changing the Protocol 6 preapproval process. These changes will allow certain applications to be submitted with the recommendation of an Approved Professional, without a preapproval. The changes to situations requiring preapproval will allow for more professional judgement in contaminated sites remediation, and streamline service application processes by reducing decision points for non-high risk sites.

The Ministry will be hosting a webinar to provide information about the changes under consideration for Protocol 6, and the approved changes to the preapprovals web page. The new web page will be posted on April 1st, 2024.

Interested members can register for the webinar below:

• Wednesday, March 20th, 2024 from 11:00am to 12:00pm PST.