Draft Proposed Amendments to the Storage of PCB Material Regulations - November 2002

1. The definitions "PCB equipment", "PCB liquid", "PCB solid" and "PCB substance" in section 2 of the Storage of PCB Material Regulations are replaced by the following:

"PCB equipment" means any equipment or machinery that contains a PCB liquid, PCB solid or PCB substance.(équipement contenant des BPC)

"PCB liquid" means any liquid that contains 50 mg or more of PCBs per kilogram of the liquid.(liquide contenant des BPC)

"PCB solid" means any solid that contains 50 mg or more of PCBs per kilogram of the solid.(solide contenant des BPC)

"PCB substance" means any substance, other than a PCB liquid or PCB solid, that contains 50 mg or more of PCBs per kilogram of the substance. (substance contenant des BPC)

2. Subsection 3(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Paragraph (1)(d) does not apply in respect of PCB equipment that is shut down for a period of less than six months as part of its normal operating procedure.

3. The Regulations are amended by adding the following after subsection 3(5):

(6) These Regulations do not apply to a landfill site that is regulated under applicable Canadian law.

4. The Regulations are amended by adding the following after section 4:

4.1 (1) PCB material in storage before the coming into force of these Regulations must be disposed of by December 31, 2009.

4.2 (1) Effective [one year after the coming into force of these Regulations], no person shall store PCBs or PCB material, except light ballasts up to the levels referred to in subsection 3(1),

a) at a drinking water treatment plant, food processing site and feed processing site; or

b) at schools at or below the secondary level, hospitals and senior citizen care facilities, including the land on which they are located within 100m of those buildings.

4.3 (1) PCB material stored after the coming into force of these Regulations shall be disposed of within one year after the first day of storage.

(2) Despite subsection (1), the owner or manager of the storage site may store PCB material for a period of up to two years if:

(a) the storage site is not ordinarily accessible by any means other than air or water; or

(b) all of the PCB material stored at the site contains less than a total of 10 kg of PCBs.

5. Section 7 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

7. For the purpose of determining compliance with these Regulations, the concentration of PCBs shall be measured using the Reference Method for the Analysis of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Department of the Environment, Report EPS 1/RM/31, as amended from time to time in a laboratory accredited under the International Organization for Standardization standard ISO/IEC Guide 25: 1990, entitled General requirements for the competence of calibration and testing laboratories, as amended from time to time.

6. Section 12 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

12. Every owner or manager of a PCB storage site shall affix

(a) the label in the form illustrated in Figure 1 of the schedule to the PCB Regulations measuring at least 76 mm by 76mm and bearing a number provided by the Minister to every capacitor or sealed electrical transformer that contains 500 grams or more of PCBs, other than a capacitor that was stored in a container before February 20, 1989, unless a label described in subsection 12(6) of the PCB Regulations is already affixed;

(b) the label in the form illustrated in Figure 2 of the schedule to the PCB Regulations - unregistered - measuring at least 150mm by 150mm and bearing a number provided by the Minister to any PCB equipment, other than a sealed electrical transformer or capacitor, that contains a PCB liquid, and to any container of that equipment, unless a label described in subsection 12(6) of the PCB Regulations is already affixed;

(c) the label in the form illustrated in Figure 2 of the schedule to the PCB Regulations - unregistered - measuring at least 150mm by 150mm to any container of a capacitor or sealed electrical transformer that contains 500 grams or more of PCBs, or of PCB equipment, unless a label described in subsection 12(6) of the PCB Regulations is already affixed;

(d) the label in the form illustrated in Figure 2 of the schedule to the PCB Regulations measuring at least 150mm by 150mm and bearing a number provided by the Minister to any PCB equipment containing less than 500 mg/kg of PCBs, other than equipment referred to in paragraphs (a) and (c), and to any container that has been drained of that equipment, unless a label described in subsection 12(6) of the PCB Regulations is already affixed;

(e) a notice warning of the presence of PCBs to every entrance to the storage site.

7. Subparagraph 13(c)(i) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(i) the final destination of the PCB material, the location of any transfer site on its way to its final destination and the quantity of PCB material being decontaminated, recycled or destroyed at each transfer site and at the final destination.

8. The schedule to the Regulations is repealed.

9. These Regulations come into force on the day they are registered.