Ministry of Environment

A report "Liability Protection for Approved Professionals in British Columbia" has been written for the ministry by the legal firm Birchall Northey. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to John Ward.

We invite qualified consultants to apply before the closing date of June 16, 2006, at 14:00.

Alan McCammon
Manager, Brownfields / Olympics
Land Remediation Section

We have recently clarified the Site Information Request Application form to make it simpler for clients to use. If you apply for site information using this form, it would be appreciated if you would use this new version, which can be downloaded.

Please contact Chris Dalley if you have any questions or comments.

For contaminated sites regulatory purposes, the equivalency of extractable petroleum hydrocarbon (EPH) data with light extractable petroleum hydrocarbon (LEPH) and heavy extractable petroleum hydrocarbon (HEPH) data has been extended to July 1, 2006 by the Director, Environmental Management Act.

Ministry guidance on this matter is contained in the May 23, 2003 Update regarding Clarification on Hydrocarbon Analytical Methods and Standards.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Katherine O'Leary

Water Quality Standard for Cobalt amended March 8, 2005

By minister's order, the Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR) Schedule 6 water quality standard for cobalt to protect aquatic life has been amended from 9 µg/l to 40 µg/l. This change in standard is effective immediately.

The CSR Schedule 6 water quality standard for cobalt to protect aquatic life has been changed to reflect recent updating of the ministry's aquatic life ambient water quality guideline for cobalt. The ambient water quality guideline was changed on the basis of the ministry's review of new scientific studies which indicate cobalt is not as toxic to aquatic organisms as was previously believed.

If you have any questions related to the new standard please contact Glyn Fox

Please note the following information from the Roster Steering Committee.

Please take note of the following updates regarding the Roster of Professional Experts and Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP)). A newsletter providing a more general update will be distributed in the coming weeks.

Roster of Professional Experts Examination
The Spring examination schedule and application documents have been posted here. The materials posted provide detail on many changes to Roster eligibility requirements, the application process and the examination. Perhaps the biggest change is the inclusion of a new category of Roster expert: Risk Assessment Specialist. Individuals who qualified under the old system are now referred to as Standards Assessment Specialists. The application deadline for the Spring 2005 sitting of the examination is January 27, 2005.

LEP Framework Report
The LEP Framework Report, outlining important features of the proposed LEP system has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment for comment and approval. The final version, as well as a summary table compiling comments received in response to the draft report and the response to those comments, are posted here.

Questions
If you have any questions on the above or on any other aspect of the Roster Steering Committee's work, please don't hesitate in contacting me.

Wishing you a great 2005,

Megan Begley
Project Manager, LEP Development