Brownfield Redevelopment

New Protocol to Ease Requirements

NRU
Oct. 15, 2014
By Edward LaRusic

Staff says a new site contamination protocol in Durham Region approved last Wednesday will make brownfield redevelopment quicker and less costly.

“You’re seeing more opportunities with the introduction of the Places to Grow [Act] and the [Provincial Policy Statement] [which offeer] encouragement to redevelop and reuse what you have,” said Durham Region plan implementation manager Lino Trombino.

“But the cost associated with brownfield redevelopment is quite expensive. The environmental review has become quite expensive. So we’ve tried to establish a streamlined process that is more flexible and we hope it will reduce the cost of the review of planning applications.”

The new protocol removes the requirement for a record of site condition if the proposed development does not identify any contamination through a phase two environmental site assessment and if the development is not proposing a more sensitive land use than is currently on site.

Trombino noted that the costs to complete a record of site condition, which identifies the environmental condition of a property, are on average $10,000 and upwards of $50,000 to $60,000 for larger sites. The requirement can also add two to four months to the approval process.

“Originally we required [a record of site condition], regardless of whether or not there was contamination [identified as part of the environmental assessment]. It added time and money to the process. We’ve now eliminated that requirement.”

Thus developments looking to convert industrial land to residential will still require a record of site condition, but redevelopments with the same or a similar use do not need one.

“Where in the past you had [redevelopments that were] industrial to industrial or commercial to commercial, we required a required a record of site condition. We’ve now responded to our stakeholders saying, ‘listen, the provincial regulation doesn’t require that. Our bar was much higher.’ We’ve made our process and our protocol more consistent with the provincial regulation.”

The second major change the protocol institutes is the creation of a peer review process as an alternative to a record of site condition. Durham principal planner Neil Henderson said that this too will save developers time and money.

“Where you are not [changing] to a more sensitive land use and a phase two [environmental assessment] identifies minor [inconsistencies with the] [Ministry of the Environment] standards, rather than to require a record of site condition, the proponent can submit the report to a peer reviewer, who will give the region a second opinion about the appropriateness of the levels of contamination and whether the site is suitable for the proposed use.”

The peer review process is not yet ready to begin reviewing submissions. The region will be issuing a request for proposals to “create a roster of qualified environmental consultants” who can undertake the peer review process.

The new site contamination protocol was approved October 8 by Durham Region council and is now in effect.