Proposed Amendments to Ontario’s Excess Soil Laws

  • February 05, 2024
  • Matthew Gardner, partner at Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP

On October 17, 2023, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (“MECP”) posted proposed regulatory amendments to Ontario Regulation 406/19 - On-Site and Excess Soil Management (“O. Reg. 406/19”) and the Rules for Soil Management and Excess Soil Quality Standards (“Soil Rules”) on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The MECP’s objective in proposing these amendments is “to encourage greater reuse of low-risk excess soils as part of a circular economy and to prevent usable soil from being disposed of in landfill.”[1]