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Soil Amendment Code of Practice (formerly titled Soil Enhancement Using Wastes Code of Practice)
In many jurisdictions industrial wastes or by-products — such as lime, ash and biosolids — have been recognized and used as soil amendments to improve soil characteristics, and provide nutrients for crop growth in agricultural or forestry applications. The use of industrial residues for soil amendment has the potential of diverting significant quantities of waste from landfills or incineration. However, potential concerns related to the use of soil amendments include: soil contamination with heavy metals, ground water contamination (e.g. by nitrate leaching), deleterious changes to soil chemistry, and soil or water pollution.
The Ministry has established a "code of practice" (Minister's regulation) for the beneficial use of specified industrial by-products on land. This code of practice provides consistent requirements across the province and protects the quality of soil as well as the surface and groundwater on sites where the by-products are applied.
As of September 1, 2007 a discharger must complete and submit a notification form at least 30 days prior to a proposed soil amendment application greater than 5m3.
- Code of Practice for Soil Amendments (PDF/503 KB)
- Notification of Application of Soil Amendments to Land (PDF/336 KB)
Please note: this form is interactive and users with older versions of Adobe Reader may not be able to use the submit functionality (download the latest version of Adobe Reader). If you are still having problems, print and fill out the form, then mail or fax it to the address on the top at the form.
The ministry has developed a guideline document to provide guidance and best management practices to assist the user in complying with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Soil Amendments.
- Land Application Guidelines for the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation and the Soil Amendment Code of Practice (PDF/8.81 MB) NEW MARCH 2009
Background
In 2007, the ministry commenced a pre-scoping jurisdictional review and the scoping phase for the development of the Soil Amendment Code of Practice.
The ministry posted a Policy Intentions Paper for Consultation (PDF/77 KB) with the public.
Comments, responses and submissions regarding development of the new Code of Practice received before October 15th, 2007 were provided in a Consultation Summary Report (PDF/179 KB).
The ministry would like to thank all those who contributed. The information was invaluable with respect to developing the Code of Practice.
Substitution Application Package
A person who has an effective registration under a Code of Practice for discharge of waste to the environment may apply for a substitution of a different requirement to a requirement contained in a Code of Practice. The following link should be used for information and the steps to be followed when making an application:
- Substitution Application Package (PDF/32 KB)
UPDATED: march 2009
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