Guidance material updates

To support the transition of the delivery of hazardous waste digital reporting services to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, we made the following regulatory changes:

• amendments to Regulation 347: General – Waste Management under the Environmental Protection Act
• a new regulation, Regulation 323/22: Subject Waste Program under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016

These changes take effect on January 1, 2023.

As a next step in our modernization work, we are proposing updates to the Registration Guidance Manual for Generators of Liquid Industrial and Hazardous Waste (guidance manual). These updates directly align with the regulatory changes to O. Reg 347 and O. Reg 323/22.

The guidance manual outlines:

• Ontario’s hazardous waste management rules and the requirements for generators, carriers and receivers of subject waste
• obligations that are not specified in Regulation 347 (e.g. the specifics of what information the regulated community must submit to comply with various reporting obligations)

Some key proposed updates to the guidance manual to align with recent regulatory changes include:

• removing references to the existing Hazardous Waste Information Network (HWIN)
• clarifying that report submissions will now be to RPRA through the new Hazardous Waste Program Registry
• outlining factors that may be considered by the ministry when determining whether ‘undue hardship’ exists
• outlining requirements for the written agreement for authorizing delegates to report on behalf of generators of hazardous waste
• reflecting changes made in May 2021 to make it easier for businesses to participate in the Provincial Antigen Screening Program. The changes exempted waste from COVID-19 antigen point-of-care testing from certain regulatory requirements, such as registration, manifesting and specific management requirements that apply to hazardous waste while still requiring that the waste be safely disposed
• outlining updated requirements for short term storage notices as part of the registration process

We will consider feedback we received in the final guidance manual.

Analysis of regulatory impact

As part of our plan to make government work smarter, with processes that are simpler, faster and more cost-effective, we are modernizing hazardous waste reporting by shifting from a primarily paper-based reporting service to a modern digital service.

The proposed changes to the guidance manual in combination with the changes that have been made to Regulation 347, to Regulation 323/22, and combined with the modern digital reporting service with mobile capability, will make it easier and faster for the regulated community to meet their reporting requirements, reducing administrative burden and costs that the regulated community experiences today.