We have been requested to send the following message to our subscribers:

The Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals Society is offering a professional development workshop on January 15, 2009 from 9 am - 1 pm entitled "The Review of CSAP Submission and Performance Assessment Procedures".

What you can expect to take away from the workshop:

• A better understanding of the CSAP process
  • What should be included in a submission
  • How does a performance assessment work, how to be prepared
• Discussion of submission issues

The workshop is open to members of the public. For a copy of the workshop agenda and instructions on how to register, please refer to the CSAP Society website at: www.csapsociety.bc.ca. If you have any questions please contact Kim Dhakshina, CSAP Society Operations Manager, at (604) 412-4876.

Catherine Schachtel
Executive Director
CSAP Society

The Stage 6 amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation announced late last week will affect two forms used by many stakeholders. The site profile form, which is provided in Schedule 1 of the regulation, will be revised with a key amendment being the requirement to provide accurate geographic coordinates for the site. Also, the Summary of Site Condition form will be incorporated as Schedule 1.1 of the regulation. It has been amended to clarify section 7.3 dealing with arm's length reviews by Approved Professionals and also by incorporating references to Schedule 11, "Generic Numerical Vapour Standards".

We have made these amended forms available on our internet site for those who wish to start filling them out for expected submission to the ministry in the New Year. The forms may be viewed on our website at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/forms/index.htm. Please note that if you wish to use either of these new versions they are labelled "EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009".

If you choose to continue using the current versions, they are also available at the internet address above. The current site profile form is labelled "ISSUED JANUARY 2007" and the current Summary of Site Condition is labelled "UPDATED JULY 2008". These will be deleted from our internet site on January 1, 2009. After that date, stakeholders must make submissions using the new versions.

If you have any questions, please contact me at John.Ward@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

Under the Environmental Management Act, the Director of Waste Management has approved Protocol 14, “Requirements for Determining Barite Sites” with an effective date of January 1, 2009. This new protocol provides procedures to qualify a site as a barite site and authorises the use of Analytical Method 9, "Soluble Barium by Calcium Chloride Extraction" to determine the concentration of barium in soil at these types of sites. 

Protocol 14 also requires the assessment of concentrations of barium in soil representative of background at barite sites. The ministry is aware that some responsible persons for barite sites have pro-actively assessed barium in soil using Analytical Method 9.  At such sites, provided that calcium chloride extractive barium analyses in soil were completed before January 1, 2009, the Director will waive the requirement under Protocol 14 to characterize barium in background soil.  After January 1, 2009 all provisions of Protocol 14, including the requirement to assess barium in background soil, will apply at barite sites.

If you have any questions, please contact Glyn.Fox@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

Stage 6 amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation under the Environmental Management Act will come into effect on January 1, 2009.

Many of the amendments will expand or amend the environmental quality standards in the Regulation. Key changes to the standards will include new matrices for barium, chloride ion and sodium ion, and new provisions for wildlands and vapours. In addition, several clarifications will be made to the site profile regime and an updated Summary of Site Condition will be added as Schedule 1.1. For a brief summary of the amendments, please review our Update "Stage 6 Amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation" and the amendments themselves on our web site.

Over the next few weeks changes will be made to our Land Remediation web site to reflect these amendments. A number of fact sheets and guidance documents will be updated, and the new versions of the site profile and Summary of Site Condition forms will be made available. We also expect to be communicating with CS e-Link subscribers to further explain the changes and to provide links to updated documentation and forms.

If you have any questions, please contact us at site@gov.bc.ca

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management Unit
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

We have been requested to send the following message to our subscribers:

The Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites in British Columbia has recently posted the document Guidance for Detailed Ecological Risk Assessments (DERA) in British Columbia on its website for the information of practitioners. The SABCS is requesting review and comment. For more details, see the website Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites in British Columbia.

Sincerely,

Paul West
Chair, SABCS

We have been requested to send the following message to our subscribers:

GeoEnviroLogic is organizing a half day seminar on December 5 entitled "The Why-What-How of the Contaminated Site Approved Professional System". Please visit http://www.geoenvirologic.ca/ for more information and to register.

The 2009 GeoEnviroLogic calendar is also available on this website. This year's Vancouver seminars will take place in SFU Harbour Center's policy rooms - rooms designed specifically for meaningful discussion.

We look forward to seeing you in 2008/2009!

Sincerely,

The GeoEnviroLogic Professional Development Team

The ministry has recently released two reports on the Land Remediation Section’s Internet site at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/reports/index.htm

The first report “Workshop to Support Development of Guidance on Assessment of Contaminated Sediments in British Columbia” is the result of a workshop held on September 24 - 26, 2007 which developed recommendations on the selection, interpretation and integration of sediment toxicity tests.  The outcome of the workshop is a useful discussion of issues relating to sediment toxicity testing, however full consensus was not reached and the recommendations have not been adopted as ministry policy. 

The second report “Guidance on Assessment of Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid Mobility for Site Classification Purposes in British Columbia” was developed by Golder Associates.  It was prepared to support the development of assessment criteria which are part of our draft Protocol 12 entitled the “Site Risk Classification System”.

If you have any questions please contact Remi.Odense@gov.bc.ca about the sediment toxicity workshop report and Peggy.Evans@gov.bc.ca about the light non-aqueous phase liquid mobility report.

John Ward

Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

On July 15 this year the Land Remediation Section released three draft documents for public comment:  

• Procedure.  Establishing the Boundaries of a Site (Version 1 draft 17)
• Protocol 12.  Site Risk Classification System (Version 1 draft 7)
• Procedure.  Site Profile Processing Procedure (Version 1 draft 32)

This message summarizes the status of each of these documents.

Since we received no comments on the draft procedures for establishing the boundaries of a site, the ministry has finalized that document and it is now on our web site at the following address:  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm#2.  Environmental consultants should be particularly aware of these procedures as they prepare applications to the ministry for contaminated sites legal instruments such as Certificates of Compliance.

We received a number of comments on the draft site risk classification system and intend to carry our further review and revision of that draft document.  No comments were received by the Ministry on the draft site profile processing procedures, and we therefore consider it to be in final form.  However, a number of the procedures for site profile processing rely directly on the existence of a finalized site risk classification system, so we do not anticipate implementing those procedures until Protocol 12 is complete.

If you have any questions about the site boundaries procedures or draft Protocol 12, please contact me at John.Ward@gov.bc.ca.  Questions on the site profile processing procedures may be sent to Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward

Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

We are pleased to present the ministry's Land Remediation Section 2007-2008 Annual Report which appears on our internet site here. It outlines our achievements during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, and reflects our objectives to ensure the protection of public health and the environment from toxins and waste that contaminate the land, air and water.

Please contact Julia Brooke at Julia.Brooke@gov.bc.ca if you have any comments or questions.

Mike Macfarlane
Manager, Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

The ministry has just posted revised forms for the notification of independent remediation and the notification of offsite migration at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/forms/index.htm. Please use these new versions when you send the ministry these notifications.

If you have any questions or comments you can contact me at John.Ward@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

The ministry has just posted an updated version (version 3) of the Interim Guidance for Contaminated Sites: Site Vapour Assessment at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/index.htm. This new version replaces the one posted on March 18, 2008 and includes an update to Section 6, the administrative process section. That section now describes a new grandfathering process for implementation of the interim guidance. Please note that all other sections of the interim guidance are unchanged.

If you have any questions or comments about the FAQs, please contact Colm.Condon@gov.bc.ca

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

A new version of Protocol 6 "Eligibility of Applications for Review by Approved Professionals" has been released on our website with an effective date of October 1, 2008.

The most recent amendments are in the footnotes of Table 1 in Protocol 6. The changes respond to the recent release of Protocol 13, "Screening Level Risk Assessment". Under the latest version of Protocol 6, recommendations from Approved Professionals for sites which are assessed by screening level risk assessment and do not contain hazardous waste may be submitted to the Director of Waste Management by both numerical standards Approved Professionals and risk-based standards Approved Professionals. Formerly, recommendations for any risk-assessed sites were required to come only from risk-based standards Approved Professionals.

Also, a new footnote clarifies that an application for a site is eligible for the Roster of Approved Professionals process if it relies on ministry guidance on site vapour assessment and our draft interim air concentration criteria.

The new version of Protocol 6 is located on our website at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm

For further information, please contact us at site@gov.bc.ca

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

The ministry has prepared responses to comments it has received on three draft documents which were previously released for public review. Our responses have been posted for the draft procedures "Establishing the Boundaries of a Site" and "Procedures for Processing Site Profiles" at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/requests_for_comments.htm. The comment period for these two draft procedures has been extended to October 1, 2008. If you have any comments on the draft procedures or the responses to comments, please contact:

Responses to comments for draft Protocol 12, "Site Risk Classification System" have not been finalized and we anticipate they will be released in the fall of 2008. The comment period for this draft protocol also has been extended to October 1, 2008. If you have any comments on the draft protocol please contact:

for Protocol 12, Site Risk Classification System
Dr. John E.H. Ward
E-mail: John.Ward@gov.bc.ca
Manager, Operations
Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment
P.O. Box 9342 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9M1

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

In response to the large volume of questions and comments from vapour assessment stakeholders, the ministry has expanded its list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the Interim Guidance for Contaminated Sites: Site Vapour Assessment. An updated FAQ list is available through the following link: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/faq/index.htm#10. Our responses to the questions convey a number of significant policy changes so all stakeholders are strongly encouraged to read them.

If you have any questions or comments about the FAQs, please contact Colm.Condon@gov.bc.ca

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

On July 15, 2008, the ministry released for public review and comment the following three revised documents:

• Protocol 12.  Site Risk Classification System (Draft 7);
• Procedure.  Establishing the Boundaries of a Site (Version 1 Draft 17); and
• Procedure.  Site Profile Processing Procedure (Version 1 Draft 32).

The CS e-Link message accompanying that release noted our intent to provide tables which contain many of the comments we received on previous drafts of these documents and which summarize the ministry’s responses to those comments.  There has been a delay in posting those “response to comments” documents, so we are extending by one month the deadline for receipt of stakeholder comments on the present drafts.

The current drafts of the documents appear on our Internet site at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/requests_for_comments/index.htm. Please send your comments on these most recent drafts, preferably in MS Word format, no later than October 1, 2008 to:

Clean Tech Funding Available

If you have a new, innovative technology that helps address climate change or promotes clean water, land or air, then Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) wants to hear from you.

SDTC's SD Tech Fund™ is accepting Statements of Interest
from September 3 to October 22, 2008

The SD Tech Fund™ invests in late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies by Canadian companies. For more information please visit:

http://www.sdtc.ca/en/SOIinfo.htm

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer

E-mail: vincent.hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

Under the Contaminated Sites Regulation, local governments are provided the option of opting out of their duty to administer site profiles.

Having previously opted out, on July 4, the District of Port Hardy informed the Minister of Environment that it had decided to opt back in. Thus, as of July 4, 2008, persons under the jurisdiction of the District of Port Hardy can no longer use the exemption under section 4(4) of the Contaminated Sites Regulation from the duty to submit a site profile under section 40 of the Environmental Management Act.

Fact Sheet 6 "Site Profile Administration: Local Government Opt Out Option" has been amended to reflect this change. It is available on our website at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/fact_sheets/index.htm. Additional information on site profiles is provided at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/site_profiles/index.htm.

If you have any questions please send a message to siteprofiles@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

A new ministry fact sheet on the relocation of soil from contaminated sites has just been released. Fact sheet 41 explains why the relocation of soil is regulated, some background on Contaminated Soil Relocation Agreements, and how the Agricultural Land Commission and Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources may be involved. It is available on our website at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/fact_sheets/index.htm under the heading "Assessment & Remediation Process".

If you have any questions please contact Kelli Larsen at Kelli.Larsen@gov.bc.ca or Vince Hanemayer at Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

The ministry has just released for public review and comment, three revised documents:

• Protocol 12. Site Risk Classification System (Draft 7)
• Procedure. Establishing the Boundaries of a Site (Version 1 Draft 17)
• Procedure. Site Profile Processing Procedure (Version 1 Draft 32)

These documents were all released for comment in December 2006 and have been the subject of extensive review and consultation since that time. Facilitated working groups were established for two of the documents and they provided valuable feedback.

Please note that in early August we intend to release tables which contain many of the comments we have received and which summarize the ministry's responses to those comments.

These draft documents appear on our internet site at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/requests_for_comments/index.htm. Please send your comments on these most recent drafts, preferably in MS Word format, no later than September 1, 2008 to:

Protocol 12. Site Risk Classification System
Dr. John E. Ward
E-mail: John.Ward@gov.bc.ca
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment
PO Box 9342 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9M1s

Site Boundaries Procedure
Dr. John E. Ward
E-mail: John.Ward@gov.bc.ca
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment
PO Box 9342 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9M1s

Site Profile Processing Procedure
Vince Hanemayer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment
Lower Mainland Region
2nd Floor, 10470 - 152nd Street
Surrey BC V3R 0Y3

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

HOT PROPERTIES @Canadian Brownfields 2008
October 22 - 24, 2008
Toronto Congress Centre
http://www.canadianbrownfields.ca/

Communities that can claim to be compact, vibrant and sustainable are well placed to meet today's most pressing challenges, ranging from climate change to quality of life. HOT PROPERTIES @Canadian Brownfields 2008 highlights remediation projects across the country that are raising the bar for sustainable community design, investment in the public realm and stimulating neighbourhood renewal. Innovations in technologies and policy approaches are building needed economic and cultural momentum in many communities. Join experts from across Canada and around the world for Canada's national conference on brownfields remediation, community revitalization and sustainable city building.

DRAFT PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE!
REGISTER FOR THE EARLYBIRD RATE UNTIL JULY 31

Keynote Speakers:

• Conference Chair: Carol Wilding, President & CEO, Toronto Board of Trade
• Storm Cunningham, Founder, The Revitalization Institute and author of reWealth!
• Greg Clark, Global Advisor on Cities and Regional Development

Highlights:

• Hot Properties - identifying the hottest economic "re-investment" locations across the country
• Placemaking, Innovation and Value Creation - building public spaces with people in mind (incl. Scott Bailey, BCMAL)
• Cross-Country Check-up - an interactive panel discussion - evaluating brownfields policy across the country (incl. Alan McCammon, BCMOE)
• Specialized workshops on small towns, technology innovation, employment lands, service station redevelopment and brownfields basics
• The Brownfields Marketplace - network with suppliers, consultants and service providers from across the country - exhibition is now over 50% sold - to reserve a booth, contact Todd at 416-444-5842 x 111.
• 2008 CUI Brownie Awards - nominations accepted until June 30
• A Zero Waste Event! Learn about our efforts to lower our carbon footprint at http://www.canadianbrownfields.ca/

For more information, contact Linda at lvarekamp@canurb.com or 416-365-0816 x 221.

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

The CSAP Society is now accepting applications for the November 2008 sitting of examinations. The application deadline is August 1, 2008. Candidates will be advised of their eligibility to write the exams by October 1, 2008.

The examination schedule is as follows:

• Monday, November 24, 2008 - Standards Assessment Technical Part
• Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - Regulatory part
• Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Risk Assessment Technical Part

Please note that this is the last opportunity for previous applicants to take the exam under the "Grandfathering Provision".

Further details are provided at the CSAP Society website.

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

Protocol 13. "Screening Level Risk Assessment" was approved by the Director of Waste Management on July 7, 2008 and comes into effect on August 1, 2008. This document was part of a series of seven released for public comment in December 2008 and it has been under review by the ministry since that time. It appears on our website at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm.

Note that under Protocol 6, "Eligibility of Applications for Review by Approved Professionals", footnote 4 of Table 1 indicates that Approved Professionals are eligible to review applications which involve screening level risk assessments as long as they comply with Technical Guidance 7, "Supplemental Guidance for Risk Assessments". This footnote will become fully operational now that Protocol 13 is in effect.

If you have any questions, please contact George Szefer at George.Szefer@gov.bc.ca

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

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, 2010 by the Director, Environmental Management Act.

This extension will provide time for the ministry to consider the results of the recent review of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Canada Wide Standards for Petroleum Hydrocarbons related to the assessment and chemical analysis of petroleum hydrocarbons, and to prepare and consult on any needed amendments to the petroleum hydrocarbon standards of the Contaminated Sites Regulation.

Ministry guidance on this matter is contained in our May 23, 2003 update clarifying hydrocarbon analytical methods and standards.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Glyn.Fox@gov.bc.ca.

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
E-mail: Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca
Phone: 604 582-5377
Fax: 604 584-9751

The Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals Society (CSAP Society) will become fully operational on July 1, 2008. It is a self regulating professional society whose members are authorized under the Environmental Management Act to recommend that the Ministry of Environment approve applications for specific contaminated sites legal instruments.

After July 1, 2008, those applications for contaminated sites services which are required to be accompanied with the recommendation of an Approved Professional must be sent directly to the CSAP Society office. Further details are provided on the Society's website under the "News & Events" link. Requirements for submission of service applications to the ministry by Approved Professionals are described in Protocol 6 "Eligibility of Applications for Review by Approved Professionals".

We have posted to our website a new Update entitled "New Responsibilities for Approved Professionals". This update describes the roles and responsibilities of Approved Professionals, the CSAP Society and the ministry under the new system. As well we have revised and posted Fact Sheet 30, "The Roster of Approved Professionals" and our ministry procedure document "Procedures for the Roster of Approved Professionals". Our "Summary of Site Condition" form has also been revised and is posted on our website.

If you have any questions, please contact the CSAP Society at info@csapsociety.bc.ca or the ministry via Vince Hanemayer at Vincent.Hanemayer@gov.bc.ca.

The Canadian Urban Institute’s Brownie Awards program, sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, recognizes excellence in brownfields policy, sustainable development and urban design.

If you know of a brownfields-related project or program, we encourage you to send in a nomination for this year’s awards program. You can find more information and application forms on the CUI web site. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2008.

The CUI Brownie Awards Selection Committee, made up of representatives from key industry and professional organizations, will review the applications. Finalists will be announced in early October and winners will be presented at the CUI Brownie Awards ceremony and gala dinner at the Canadian Brownfields Conference in Toronto on October 23, 2008.

On July 1, 2007, we amended our fees payment policy to require payment for the full amount of fees at the time of application for all Land Remediation Section services requested. Our experience over the last year with this policy has revealed that it is often difficult to predict the exact amount payable for Site Information Request and File Content Retrieval applications. This has resulted in unnecessary workload for our clients and staff.

Effective immediately we will no longer require payment in advance of fees for Site Information Request and File Content Retrieval applications. New versions of those application forms have been posted on our web site and we ask that you switch to the new forms. In addition Fact Sheet 25,“Fees for Contaminated Sites Services” has been updated to reflect this change in policy. It is available on our web site.

Please continue to submit payment in advance for all other contaminated sites services requested of the ministry. For further information please contact our Site Information Advisor regarding Site Information Request and File Information Retrieval applications.

The ministry has recently been advised of changes to the Federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) enacted on February 20, 2008, which affect both the Hazardous Waste Regulation and the Contaminated Sites Regulation under the Environmental Management Act.

These changes deal with the classification of dangerous goods under Class 9: Miscellaneous Products, Substances or Organisms, including some substances that were regulated as "Environmentally Hazardous Substance NOS, Solid or Liquid". A key change involves the deletion of the list of substances regulated in mixtures at a level of 100 ppm or greater (50 ppm or greater in the case of PCBs) referenced in Appendix 5 as referred to in Section 2.43(b)(v) of the TDGR.

As a result of this change to the TDGR, the substances previously captured by those provisions are no longer defined as "dangerous goods" and are therefore no longer classified under the Hazardous Waste Regulation as hazardous waste based on those specific criteria.

Section 13 of the Contaminated Sites Regulation contains provisions which resolve potential conflicts between the standards defining hazardous waste and the numerical soil and sediment standards in Schedules 4, 5, 9 and 10. This section hinges on a reference in subsection 13(a) to those wastes which qualify as hazardous wastes because they are dangerous goods as described above. Since those wastes are no longer dangerous goods because they are no longer included in Appendix 5 of the TDGA, section 13 of the Contaminated Sites Regulation may no longer have any effect. The ministry intends at the earliest opportunity to request that this section of the Contaminated Sites Regulation be deleted.

If you have any questions, please contact John Ward at John.Ward@gov.bc.ca

Representatives of Land Remediation Section, Ministry of Environment, the Oil and Gas Commission and Ministry of Forests will be speaking about regulatory processes and current initiatives for managing the remediation and restoration of upstream oil and gas sites at the upcoming GeoEnviroLogic seminar in Fort St. John on May 8th and 9th. The seminar includes both regulatory and technical sessions. Seminar details can be viewed on the GeoEnviroLogic website.

The Land Remediation Section has recently adopted a new definition for "wild lands (WL) land use".

"wild lands land use" means the use of land for the primary purpose of supporting natural ecosystems including, without limitation, ecological reserves, natural parks, wetlands, woodlands, forests, tudra, muskeg and alpine meadows."

A new policy has also been established to enable the development of soil quality standards for wild land sites. At a wild lands site the applicable urban park land use standards apply to the top three metres of the soil and the applicable commercial land use standards apply at a depth greater than or equal to three metres below the surface of the site.

Page three of our technical guidance document #3 "Environmental Quality Standards" has been updated to reflect these changes and is available on our website at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/index.htm.

Please send any comments or questions regarding wild lands or the revised document to: remediationFAQs@gov.bc.ca

Since issuing the updated version of the Interim Guidance for Contaminated Sites — Site Vapour Assessment, the ministry has received questions from a number of contaminated sites professionals about the need to sample vapours for potential contaminants of concern which are not detected in soil or groundwater. Please see the last FAQ (under Site Specific Scenarios) for our position on this matter at the following web address:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/faq/index.htm#10.

If you have any questions, please contact Colm Condon at Colm.Condon@gov.bc.ca.

The ministry is developing scientific criteria by which to determine if a substance is or is not volatile under the Contaminated Sites Regulation. For the purposes of developing interim air concentration criteria, the Director has determined that a volatile substance has the following characteristics:

a) a molecular weight less than 200 g/mole, or
b) a Henry's Law constant greater than or equal to 1 x 10^-5 atm-m³/mole.

The following substances listed in Table 1 of the draft version of the Director's Interim Air Concentration Criteria document released for public comment in December 2006 do not exhibit the above characteristics and therefore have been removed from Table 1 effective immediately:

• benz[a]anthracene
• benzo[b]fluoranthene
• benzo[k]fluoranthene
• benzo[a]pyrene
• 2-chloroacetophenone
• chrysene
• dibenz[a,h]anthracene
• fluoranthene
• indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene
• maleic hydrazide
• methomyl
• polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Responsible persons addressing soil vapour issues under the Interim Guidance for Contaminated Sites - Site Vapour Assessment do not need to consider the above substances as vapour contaminants.

Draft version 2 of the Director's Interim Standards for Contaminated Sites - Air Concentration Criteria dated March 27, 2008 incorporates the above changes and can be viewed at the following internet address:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/standards_criteria/index.htm. Please note that additional criteria may be adopted for use in finalizing a definition of "volatile substance" for regulatory purposes.

For further information, please contact Dr. Glyn Fox at Glyn.Fox@gov.bc.ca.

An updated version of the Interim Guidance for Site Vapour Assessment and a list of frequently asked questions about the interim guidance have been posted to our internet site. They are available through the following links:

Interim Guidance:
http://wwwt.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/interim/site_vapour.pdf

FAQs: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/faq/index.htm

For further information, please contact Colm Condon at Colm.Condon@gov.bc.ca

On February 26 and 27, 2008, the Land Remediation Section held consultation meetings in Vancouver to provide an overview of a number of draft and final documents that will be released in the coming months. In addition, these sessions provided updates regarding the work of several of our key partners including the Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals Society; the Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites; the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Crown Contaminated Sites Program; Health Canada and the National Brownfields Association.

The presentations are now on our website under the heading "Consultation Presentations" at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/presentations/index.htm

The Land Remediation Section wishes to extend its thanks to our participating partners and presenters and to those who attended the February 26 and 27, 2008 meetings.

Mike Macfarlane
Manager, Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

British Columbia's new Brownfield Renewal Strategy was announced on February 25, 2008 at Dockside Green in Victoria. Led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and supported by the Ministry of Environment's Land Remediation Section and other provincial agencies, the strategy consists of a range of initiatives designed to reduce barriers to the timely and responsible redevelopment of brownfield sites, both private and Crown. Strategy initiatives generally fall into one of the following three categories:

• streamlining and increasing flexibility of the Environmental Management Act's remediation liability and approvals regime,
• providing financial tools, for example through a land remediation fund, tax incentives and disincentives, and development fast-tracking, and
• increasing awareness and capacity for brownfield redevelopment across the province.

Additional details regarding the Brownfield Renewal Strategy, including Monday's news release, may be found at the Crown Contaminated Sites Branch. Information may also be obtained by contacting Scott Bailey at the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands at (250) 356-2244

Alan McCammon
Manager, Brownfields / Olympics
Land Remediation Section

Our February 27 and 28 Update and Consultation Session is limited to 200 attendees and is now full. There are currently a number of people on the waiting list.

If you are currently registered but are unable to attend, please send an e-mail message to Michele.Parker@gov.bc.ca as soon as possible so we can fill your space with someone from the waiting list.

Registration

The update and consultation session was limited to 200 attendees and is now full. In an effort to allow more people to attend, we request that those already registered for this event send an e-mail message to Michele.Parker@gov.bc.ca indicating whether you will be attending both days.

Your message must contain

Your name
Your job title
Your organization
The dates you will be attending

Any new registrants will be placed on a waiting list and will be notified if space becomes available. Registration will continue to be confirmed on a first-come first-serve basis.

Questions

If you have any questions about the consultation meetings, please contact Michele Parker.

Kelli Larsen
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
Ministry of Environment
Second Floor, 10470-152 Street
Surrey, BC V3R 0Y3
Phone: 604-582-5246
Fax: 604-584-9751

Please review the agenda for the Land Remediation Section's update and consultation sessions on February 27 and 28, 2008. As indicated in our CS e-Link message dated January 18, 2008, the sessions will provide an update on the progress of a number of ongoing policy development initiatives and will also include presentations from a number of external groups such as the Science Advisory Board, the National Brownfields Association, the Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals Society, Health Canada and the Crown Contaminated Sites Branch in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

Also, please note that the draft policy documents to be discussed on February 27 will be made available on our web site before the sessions begin.

Kelli Larsen
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer
Ministry of Environment
Second Floor, 10470-152 Street
Surrey, BC V3R 0Y3
Phone: 604-582-5246
Fax: 604-584-9751

The Land Remediation Section has recently added a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page to our web site. Currently the FAQs address general administrative and policy questions.

We plan to expand the FAQs page to include technical questions. To assist us in developing content for this new section, please send all your technical questions to remediationFAQs@gov.bc.ca. They will be forwarded to the appropriate Land Remediation Section staff member for response.

In general, for a response to questions not included on the FAQ page please forward your queries to the following e-mail addresses.

Vincent C. Hanemayer
Senior Contaminated Sites Officer

We have updated our Site Information Request and File Contents Retrieval forms to reflect the recent decrease in GST to 5%. If you are submitting requests for site information or the contents in our paper files we would appreciate your using these new forms immediately. They can also be downloaded from our web site here.

Please contact our Site Information Advisor if you have any comments or questions.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Environmental Management Branch

I am pleased to present the Ministry's Land Remediation Section 2006 - 2007 Annual Report.

It outlines our achievements during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, and reflects our objective to ensure the protection of public health and the environment from toxins and waste that contaminate the land, air and water.

Please contact Julia Brooke if you have any comments or questions.

Mike Macfarlane
Manager, Land Remediation Section
Ministry of Environment

The ministry recently revised the form for the notification of offsite migration. The document now includes an instructions page and a section for providing contact information for all notified parties. Please start using this new version of the form immediately.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the revised form we would appreciate your sending them to site@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Environmental Management Branch

In follow up to my message of January 18 about the above consultation session, here is some additional information about this event.

Registration

Please register by sending an e-mail message to Michele.Parker@gov.bc.ca. Your message must contain

Your name
Your job title
Your organization

Please note that the session is limited to 200 attendees and space may become limited. Registration will be confirmed on a first-come first-serve basis.

Detailed Agenda

Once finalized, a more detailed agenda for the meetings will be posted on the ministry's web site.

Questions

If you have any questions about the consultation meetings, please contact Michele Parker.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section
Environmental Management Branch

Last November the ministry released for public review and comment two new reports:

• "Off-site Migration of Contamination in British Columbia: Review and Recommendations"
• "Institutional Controls in British Columbia: A Review of Current Practices and an Evaluation of Program Amendment Options"

Links to these documents are under "Requests for Comments" in the What's New" section on our web site.

After receiving several requests we are pleased to extend the comment period to January 31, 2008. Please send your remarks in MS Word format to:

John Ward,
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

The Ministry's Land Remediation Section is pleased to advise that we will be hosting a two-day contaminated sites stakeholder update and consultation session February 27 and 28, 2008.

Location

The meetings will be held at the Fletcher Challenge Canada Theatre at Simon Fraser University Harbour Center, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. More information about the venue is available here.

Topics

Ministry representatives will bring stakeholders up to date on the progress of a number of ongoing policy development initiatives including the following:

• Protocol for screening level risk assessment (Protocol 13)
• Protocol for classifying sites according to risk (Protocol 12)
• Interim guidance on site vapour assessment / Air concentration criteria
• Procedure for processing site profiles
• Procedure for establishing the boundaries of a site

Current plans for the session also include presentations and discussions regarding a number of additional initiatives that the Land Remediation Section has been working on, including those in the following areas:

• Oil and gas
• Salt and barite standards
• Compliance and enforcement
• Groundwater guidance

The session will also provide an overview of the section's proposed work plan for 2008-09 and anticipated additional opportunities for stakeholder participation.

Additional Speakers

The ministry has extended invitations for updates and presentations from the following groups:

• Contaminated Sites Approved Professional Society
• Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites
• Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Crown Contaminated Sites Program
• Health Canada
• BC Chapter of the National Brownfields Association

Additional details regarding session timing, agenda, and registration will be sent shortly.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

The ministry has finalized and formally adopted the document "Interim Guidance for Contaminated Sites – Site Vapour Assessment". It will come into effect on February 1, 2008 and can now be accessed from our Land Remediation Section’s web site here.

Please note that this guidance may be updated from time to time in light of questions and comments provided to the ministry by stakeholders. Subscribers to the CS e-Link system will be notified when such updates occur.

If you have any questions or comments please contact Colm Condon.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section

Two new fact sheets have just been released on our Land Remediation Section’s Internet site.

• Fact Sheet 39 “Strategy for Managing Monitoring Reports” describes the new process we have adopted to streamline the management of reports submitted to us as required in contaminated sites legal instruments (such as Certificates of Compliance), independent remediation conditions imposed by the ministry, and waste discharge permits under the Environmental Management Act.
• Fact Sheet 40 “Security for Contaminated Sites” summarizes the new Protocol 8 which contains provisions on when security is typically required, how it is calculated, and under what circumstances it might be used by the ministry.

In addition, Fact Sheet 29 “Subscribing to our Contaminated Sites E-mail Service” has been updated to reflect a change in the computer program used to deliver our CS e-Link e-mail service. The instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing have been amended.

If you have any questions or comments please send them to site@gov.bc.ca.

John Ward
Manager, Operations Management
Land Remediation Section