Whereas the regulatory framework governing soil relocation under the Environmental Management Act and Contaminated Sites Regulation is designed and implemented to ensure protection of both human and environmental health, the required soil testing, storing, and relocation results in significant increased costs of soil management for local governments; And whereas the Ministry of Environment requires soil relocation to meet provincial remediation standards at a receiving site location that includes a threshold for chloride ion of 100 ppm to qualify as Residential Low Density which does not account for the natural presence of chlorides in soils, from the deposition of salt spray: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the provincial government to review the thresholds for chloride ions in soil to qualify as Residential Low Density with consideration of the naturally occurring chloride elements that are higher in local governments close to the Pacific Ocean.
