Legislation and protocols
Last updated on March 28, 2024The Environmental Management Act (EMA) and Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR) determine the requirements for site remediation in B.C.
On this page
- Environmental Management Act (EMA)
- Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR)
- Previous amendments
- Protocols
Environmental Management Act (EMA)
Refer to EMA or the following parts of the Act that are directly related to site remediation:
- EMA Part 4: Contaminated Sites Remediation
- EMA Part 5: Remediation of Mineral Exploration Sites and Mines
- EMA Part 10: Offences and Penalties
Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR)
Refer to the CSR to learn more about the Regulation, as well as amendments coming into effect.
2022 Stage 14 amendments
The Stage 14 amendments to the CSR include:
- A new process for soil relocation
- Minor amendments to site identification
- Housekeeping amendments to the schedules
The changes to soil relocation help streamline the legal regime, making the process clearer and more transparent and improve the ministry’s ability to carry out compliance verification and enforcement.
The changes to site identification and Schedules 1 and 2 ensure the Stage 13 amendments operate as intended.
The CSR amendments were deposited on June 6, 2022. Changes to soil relocation come into effect on March 1, 2023.
Approved amendments to EMA and the CSR:
- Environmental Management Amendment Act (2020) (Bill 3)
- Contaminated Sites Regulation Ministerial Order 164/2022
Previous amendments
Previous amendments
2021 Stage 13 amendments
Stage 13 amendments to the CSR included changes to the current process for identifying contaminated sites.
These changes strengthen and streamline the legal regime, making the process clearer and more predictable and improve the ministry’s ability to carry out compliance verification and enforcement.
This ensures that contaminated sites are investigated and remediated in a timely manner, following site closure and prior to redevelopment:
- Environmental Management Amendment Act (2019) (Bill 17)
- Contaminated Sites Regulation OIC 0368/2020 (PDF, 1MB)
Earlier amendments
Earlier amendments and schedule can be found on:
Proposed changes to Protocol 19
ENV requests your input on Phase 1 of Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting, including the recent proposed changes.
Public participation will inform changes to the protocol and allow us to consider other perspectives.
The revised Protocol 19 is posted for review and comment:
If you wish to participate, there's an option to provide input by using three online comment forms. You cannot save your comments as you fill in the form, so each form must be completed and submitted at the same time. There are 3 shorter comment forms for ease and convenience.
A form can be submitted online using the submit button:
- Protocol 19: Sections 1 to 5.3 (Applicability, Sampling Plans and Sample Collection)
- Protocol 19: Section 5.4 (Quarried Material)
- Protocol 19: New Section 5.5 (Exemptions from the Protocol)
Please submit your input by 4:00pm PST on April 26, 2024.
Protocols
Protocols are technical and administrative procedures that are legally required under EMA:
- Protocol 1: Detailed Risk Assessment (Revised) (PDF, 544KB)
- Protocol 2: Site-Specific Numerical Soil Standards (PDF, 550KB)
- Protocol 3: Blending, Mixing, or Dilution as a Remediation Approach (PDF, 201KB)
- Protocol 4: Establishing Local Background Concentrations in Soil (Revised) (PDF, 998KB)
- Protocol 6: Applications with Approved Professional Recommendations and Pre-approvals (Revised) (PDF, 353KB)
- Protocol 7: Repealed 2020-02-21
- Protocol 8: Security for Contaminated Sites (PDF, 218KB)
- Protocol 9: Determining Local Background Groundwater Quality (Revised) (PDF, 400KB)
- Protocol 10: Hardness Dependent Site-Specific Freshwater Standard for Zinc (PDF, 370KB)
- Protocol 11: Upper Cap Concentrations of Substances (Revised) (PDF, 2.2MB)
- Protocol 12: Site Risk Classification, Reclassification and Reporting (Revised) (PDF, 710KB)
- Protocol 13: Screening Level Risk Assessment (Revised) (PDF, 839KB)
- Protocol 14: Requirements for Determining Barite Sites (PDF, 256KB)
- Protocol 15: Soil Treatment Facility Design and Operation for Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil (PDF, 124KB)
- Protocol 16: Determining the Presence and Mobility of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids and Odorous Substances (Revised) (PDF, 259KB)
- Protocol 17: Remediation Forms (Revised) (PDF, 20MB)
- Protocol 18: Criteria for Establishing Multiple Land Uses at Sites (PDF, 142KB)
- Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting (PDF, 320KB)
- Protocol 20: Detailed Ecological Risk Assessment Requirements (Revised) (PDF, 479KB)
- Protocol 21: Water Use Determinations (PDF, 372KB)
- Protocol 22: Application of Vapour Attenuation Factors to Characterize Vapour Contamination (PDF, 415KB)
- Protocol 27: Soil Leachate Tests for Use in Deriving Site-Specific Numerical Soil Standards (PDF, 367KB)
- Protocol 28: 2016 Standards Derivation Methods (Revised) (PDF, 3.2MB)
- Protocol 30: Classifying Substances as Carcinogenic (PDF, 136KB)
The information on this web page does not replace the legislative requirements in EMA or its regulations and it does not list all provisions for contaminated site services.
If there are differences between this information and the Act, Regulation, or Protocols, the Act, Regulation, and Protocols apply.