Current Regulation and Policy

Currently, road salt use is not regulated in Canada.

Within Ontario, ecosystem protection is controlled through various legislation, statutes, regulations, municipal by-laws, and government policies. At present, the use and storage of road salts and snow disposal are not directly controlled through any specific statute or by-law. And, although there are several pieces of legislation that deal with protecting ecosystems and water quality, there are currently no provincial or federal regulations that govern road salts use or road salts concentrations in the ecosystem. Furthermore, although some statutory and common law remedies can be used to prevent or compensate for harm associated with road salts, there is no comprehensive road salts management regime that provides an appropriate balance between winter road maintenance and ecosystem protection in the public interest.

Ontario's Environmental Protection Act (EPA)

The Environmental Protection Act – Classes of Contaminants – Exemptions, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 339 specifically exempts “any substance” that is a contaminant and used by a road authority “for the purpose of keeping the highway safe for traffic under the conditions of snow or ice or both” from the EPA and associated regulations. The exemption prevents the MOE from issuing Certificates of Approval with conditions for road salts storage, application and snow disposal. The MOE is also prevented from issuing pollution prevention and/or abatement orders relating to excessive road salts application. Regulation 339 was initially made in 1972, the year after the Environmental Protection Act, 1971 was first enacted. While there have been several significant amendments to the EPA since then, Regulation 339 has never been altered from its original form.

The MOE also has policy guidelines regarding snow disposal and de-icing operations. These voluntary guidelines set out criteria for activities including the storage and application of road salts. However, the MOE has indicated that it does not allocate any money or resources to monitor compliance with these guidelines.

Ontario's Bill 43 – Clean Water Act

In December 2005, the Ontario government introduced Bill 43, the Clean Water Act. Bill 43 outlines a watershed-based plan for protecting Ontario’s drinking water resources. It mandates that source protection plans be set up in watersheds throughout the province in order to identify current and potential threats to key water resources and to prohibit or regulate potentially harmful activities. Once a source protection plan is in place, all land-use planning and government activities must conform to the plan. It may be possible under Bill 43 for the Ontario government to designate activities such as the application of road salts as a significant threat to drinking water. This will be particularly important in areas where the sole drinking water source is groundwater. Bill 43 also provides that when there is a conflict between provisions of the proposed Clean Water Act and the provisions of any other Act or regulation, the provision that provides for the greatest protection of water quality or quantity will prevail. However, the impact of this proposed drinking water source protection planning will not be realized for some time, even if Bill 43 becomes law in Ontario this year.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA)

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, S.C. 1999, c.33 (CEPA) the Government of Canada is required to, among other things, “take preventive and remedial measures to protect, enhance and restore the environment” and “protect the environment, including its biological diversity, and human health, from the risk of any adverse effects of the use and release of toxic substances, pollutants and wastes”. Initiated under an earlier version of the Act, there is an on-going assessment and management of priority substances.

In 1995, road salts were determined to be a priority substance. As a result, a five-year scientific assessment was carried out to examine and document the effects road salts were having on the ecosystem. In 2001, the Priority Substances List Assessment Report for Road Salts was released, indicating that road salts are “toxic” as defined under CEPA.

The report concluded that:

"Based on the available data, it is considered that road
salts are entering the environment in a quantity or concentration
or under conditions that have or may have an immediate or
long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biological
diversity, and that constitute or may constitute a danger to
the environment on which life depends. Therefore, it is
proposed that road salts be considered "toxic" under
Section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection
Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999)."

 

At the time, the Ministers of the Environment and Health recommended that road salts be added to the List of Toxic Substances in Schedule 1 under CEPA; however, to date, road salts have not been officially listed. As a result of this recommendation, Environment Canada convened a multi-stakeholder process which developed a Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts, released in April 2004. The Code of Practice is a voluntary pollution control instrument for road authorities using more than 500 tonnes of road salts per year, or that apply road salts in areas determined to be vulnerable ecosystems.The objective of the Code of Practice is to ensure environmental safety while maintaining road safety. It recommends that road authorities develop salt management plans consisting of best management practices, training, equipment enhancement, and technical support, and implement best management practices in the areas of application, storage and snow disposal

Through an annual (voluntary) reporting cycle, Environment Canada will measure the level of implementation of the Code of Practice, and the progress achieved in reducing negative impacts of road salts on the environment. After five years the Code of Practice will be evaluated to determine its effectiveness in meeting these objectives.

Environment Canada has also addressed the five to ten percent of road salts used on parking lots and private properties. In November 2004 they released voluntary guidelines: Best Management Practices for Salt Use on Private Roads, Parking Lots and Sidewalks.