Organic matter recycling regulation and guidance

The Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR) sets the rules for how compost and biosolids are made, handled, distributed, and used on land in British Columbia.

The purpose of OMRR is to support recycling of organic materials, while imposing requirements to ensure these materials are managed safely and responsibly.

Examples of safeguarding requirements include:

• Requiring specific treatment steps to reduce harmful pathogens before the material is used.
• Quality criteria requirements, such as limits for pathogens, metals and foreign matter (e.g. demolition waste, glass, metal, plastic, and rubber).
• Setbacks for land application and storage areas from watercourses, drinking water sources and property boundaries.
• Limiting the amount of biosolids and Class B compost that can be applied at one time to help protect soil, plants, and nearby water.
• Requirements for site-specific land application plans developed by a qualified professional for each application site.
• Requirements to notify the Ministry and Environment and Parks, the Medical Health Officer and the Agricultural Land Commission (if applications are to occur in the Agricultural Land Reserve).

Review the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation.

Recent amendments

The most recent amendments to the OMRR relate to composting facilities:

• Order in Council
• Organic Matter Recycling Regulation Amendment Fact Sheet (PDF, 48KB)
• Organic Matter Recycling Regulation Amendment Backgrounder (PDF, 40KB)

Regulatory review

As shared in the 2018 Intentions Paper (PDF, 592KB) and 2019 Summary of Public Input (PDF, 965KB), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is pursuing regulatory modernization for the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR) to improve the protection of human health and the environment.

To address emerging issues, a project update has been developed to align OMRR with advances in science and evolving technical standards in other jurisdictions.

Review the project update:

• 2022 OMRR Project Update (PDF, 520KB)

For more information on the consultation process and the development of policy intention papers, visit the Environmental protection regulatory review page.

B.C. guidance documents

Guidance to understand and comply with the requirements outlined in the regulation:

• Land Application Guidelines (PDF, 8.3MB)
• Compost
• Biosolids

CCME guidance documents

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) is an intergovernmental forum for collective action on environmental issues of national and international concern.

CCME produces many reports, tools, agreements and scientific and technical documents. 

The following CCME publications pertain to water quality, soil quality, biosolids and composting.

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