Q-2, r. 26.1 - Regulation respecting the operation of industrial establishments

Updated to 1 September 2012

This document has official status.

chapter Q-2, r. 5

Regulation respecting industrial depollution attestations

Environment Quality Act

(chapter Q-2, ss. 31.41, 109.1 and 124.1).

The duties prescribed in the Regulation have been indexed as of 1 January 2012 pursuant to the notice published in Part 1 (French) of the Gazette officielle du Québec of 24 December 2011, page 1381. (s. 12)

CHAPTER I APPLICATION OR REAPPLICATION FOR A DEPOLLUTION ATTESTATION OR APPLICATION TO AMEND A DEPOLLUTION ATTESTATION

1. An application or reapplication for a depollution attestation shall be made on a form supplied by the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks.

O.C. 601-93, s. 1.

2. An application or reapplication for a depollution attestation shall contain

(1)  an indication as to whether it is an application for a depollution attestation or a reapplication for a depollution attestation and, in the latter case, the number of the applicant’s depollution attestation;

(2)  in the case of a natural person, the applicant’s name, address and telephone number;

(3)  in the case of a partnership or a legal person, its firm name, its head office, the position of the person signing the application, as well as a certified copy of a document from the board of directors or from the partners authorizing any of the persons referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 of section 4 to file an application;

(4)  in the case of a partnership, the name, domicile and address of the partners, or the name and and head office of any associated legal person;

(5)  in the case of a legal person, the name, domicile and address of the directors and officers;

(6)  the name, address and telephone number of the industrial establishment covered by the application or reapplication;

(7)  the registration number in the central file of enterprises assigned to the industrial establishment by the enterprise registrar;

(8)  the type of industrial activities carried on by the applicant in the industrial establishment covered by the application or reapplication;

(9)  the cadastral designation of the lots on which the applicant carries on the activities referred to in paragraph 8;

(10)  the daily and yearly nominal production capacity of the industrial establishment covered by the application or reapplication;

(11)  a plan showing the location of, and a description of, the points of emission, deposit, release or discharge into the environment of contaminants resulting from the operations of the industrial establishment covered by the application or reapplication, as well as a description of the source of each point;

(12)  information dating back less than 2 years and concerning the type, quantity and concentration of the contaminants emitted, deposited, released or discharged, unless such information has already been sent to the Minister;

(13)  a description of the measures, apparatus or equipment implemented or installed and used to reduce or eliminate the emission, deposit, release or discharge of a contaminant into the environment;

(14)  a list and a brief description of the depollution activities that the applicant is carrying out or plans to carry out, as well as details concerning the objectives of and timetable for the activities, and the progress made; and

(15)  the emergency measures that the applicant takes in the event of the accidental occurrence of a contaminant in the environment, as well as the name and title within the applicant’s undertaking of the person responsible for implementing the emergency measures for the industrial establishment covered by the application or reapplication, unless such measures were sent to the Minister not more than 2 years prior to the filing of the application or reapplication.

O.C. 601-93, s. 2; O.C. 441-2008, s. 1.

3. An application to amend a depollution attestation shall be filed in writing and shall contain

(1)  the number of the depollution attestation in respect of which the application is being filed;

(2)  the information required under paragraphs 2 to 7 of section 2;

(3)  a complete description of the changes which the applicant wishes to make and for which an application to amend a depollution attestation is required under section 31.25 of the Environment Quality Act (chapter Q-2), as well as the reasons for the changes;

(4)  an evaluation of the impact of the changes on the quantity or volume of the emission, deposit, release or discharge of contaminants into the environment and on the type, concentration and quantity of contaminants emitted, deposited, released or discharged into the environment; and

(5)  a description of the measures, apparatus or equipment that are referred to in paragraph 13 of section 2 and that the applicant intends to implement or install in order to comply with the contaminant discharge standards contained in his depollution attestation or in order to reduce or eliminate the emission, deposit, release or discharge of new contaminants into the environment by the industrial establishment.

O.C. 601-93, s. 3.

4. An application or reapplication for a depollution attestation or an application to amend a depollution attestation shall be signed,

(1)  where the applicant is a legal person, by a member of the board of directors or by an officer responsible for production operations or for activities to control and monitor the discharge of contaminants into the environment, provided that the director or officer is domiciled in Québec;

(2)  where the applicant is a partnership, by a partner responsible for production operations or for activities to control and monitor the discharge of contaminants into the environment, provided that the partner is domiciled in Québec; or

(3)  in other cases, by an operator domiciled in Québec.

O.C. 601-93, s. 4.

5. An operator of an industrial establishment belonging to the class of establishments determined by an order in council shall file an application for a depollution attestation with the Minister within 6 months following the date of coming into force of the order in council determining the class to which the operator’s establishment belongs.

Where the operation of an industrial establishment begins after the date of coming into force of the order in council determining the class of industrial establishment to which the operator’s establishment belongs, an application for a depollution attestation shall be filed within 1 month following the date on which operation of the industrial establishment begins.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the operation of an industrial establishment begins within 5 months after the date of coming into force of the order in council determining the class of industrial establishment to which the operator’s establishment belongs, an application may be filed for the industrial establishment within the period provided for in the first paragraph even where that period is longer than the period provided for in the second paragraph.

A holder of a depollution attestation shall file a reapplication for a depollution attestation with the Minister at least 6 months prior to the end of the period provided for in the first or second paragraph of section 31.27 of the Act.

O.C. 601-93, s. 5.

CHAPTER II PUBLIC CONSULTATION

6. The Minister shall, in respect of an application, in accordance with section 31.20 of the Act, publish a notice of his intention to issue or to refuse to issue a depollution attestation. He shall publish the notice on 2 separate occasions, within 90 days following the date on which he sends the applicant written notice of the content of the proposed depollution attestation or of his intention to refuse to issue a depollution attestation.

O.C. 601-93, s. 6.

7. For the purposes of public consultation, the application record shall contain

(1)  a document indicating the procedure to be followed by any person, group or municipality sending comments to the Minister;

(2)  the application for a depollution attestation that the applicant filed with the Minister, less the information furnished to the Minister under paragraphs 4, 5 and 10 of section 2;

(3)  the information in the Minister’s possession, other than information furnished when the application was filed under paragraph 12 of section 2, concerning the type, quantity, quality and concentration of contaminants emitted, deposited, released or discharged into the environment by the industrial establishment;

(4)  a copy of all the notices published under section 31.20 of the Act; and

(5)  the proposed depollution attestation or, where the Minister intends to refuse to issue a depollution attestation to the applicant, the reasons for the refusal.

O.C. 601-93, s. 7.

8. Sections 31.18 to 31.22 of the Act and sections 6 and 7 of this Regulation apply with the necessary modifications to an application to amend a depollution attestation where the purpose of the application is to

(1)  delay by more than 6 months the date of implementation of a contaminant discharge standard established by the Minister under the first paragraph of section 31.15 of the Act;

(2)  obtain an amendment to a contaminant discharge standard established by the Minister under the first paragraph of section 31.15 of the Act; or

(3)  enable the applicant to make changes to industrial processes or production equipment liable to introduce into the environment a new contaminant or for which no discharge standard is contained in his depollution attestation.

O.C. 601-93, s. 8.

9. The second paragraph of section 31.19 of the Act, sections 31.20 to 31.22 of the Act and sections 6 and 7 of this Regulation apply with the necessary modifications to a reapplication for a depollution attestation containing an application referred to in paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of section 8.

O.C. 601-93, s. 9.

CHAPTER III DEPOLLUTION ATTESTATION

DIVISION I CONTENT

10. In addition to the elements referred to in paragraphs 1 to 6 of section 31.12 of the Act and, where applicable, in section 31.13 of the Act, a depollution attestation shall contain

(1)  the number of the depollution attestation;

(2)  the name and address of the holder of the depollution attestation;

(3)  the name and address of the industrial establishment for which the depollution attestation is issued; and

(4)  the registration number in the central file of enterprises assigned to the holder’s industrial establishment by the enterprise registrar.

O.C. 601-93, s. 10.

DIVISION II ANNUAL DUTIES

O.C. 601-93, Div. II, c. III; O.C. 441-2008, s. 2.

11. (Revoked).

O.C. 601-93, s. 11; O.C. 441-2008, s. 3.

12. The annual duties exigible from a holder of a depollution attestation are $2,817 per industrial establishment, in addition to the sum of the amounts obtained by applying the formula in Schedule B for each parameter in Tables I and II of Schedule A.

The duties shall be calculated annually for the period from 1 January to 31 December. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the annual tonnage for each parameter shall be calculated only for the portion of the period from 1 January to 31 December during which the operator holds a depollution attestation.

The duties are payable by cheque or money order made out to the Minister of Finance and shall be paid prior to 1 April of the year following the calendar year during which they are exigible.

The cheque or money order shall be accompanied by a report containing a detailed calculation of the annual duties exigible under this section, including the method used to determine the annual tonnage for each parameter in Tables I and II of Schedule A.

The data needed for a detailed calculation of the annual duties and to calculate the annual tonnage for each parameter shall be kept in a record for at least 5 years.

O.C. 601-93, s. 12.

13. The annual duties provided for in this Regulation shall be indexed on 1 January of each year on the basis of the rate of increase in the general Consumer Price Index for Canada, as determined by Statistics Canada for the 12-month period ending on 30 September of the preceding year.

The annual duties indexed in the prescribed manner shall be reduced to the nearest dollar where they contain a fraction of a dollar less than $0.50; they shall be increased to the nearest dollar where they contain a fraction of a dollar equal to or greater than $0.50.

The Minister shall inform the public of the indexing calculated under this section, through Part 1 of the Gazette officielle du Québec and, where he considers it appropriate, by any other means.

O.C. 601-93, s. 13; O.C. 441-2008, s. 4.

CHAPTER IV OBLIGATIONS OF THE HOLDER

DIVISION I RECORD AND ANNUAL REPORT

14. A holder of a depollution attestation shall keep an up-to-date record in which he shall enter any infringement of the contaminant discharge standards applicable to him and established by the Minister under the first paragraph of section 31.15 of the Act.

The record shall contain, for each infringement,

(1)  the exact time at which the holder became aware of the infringement;

(2)  the exact location and time at which the infringement occurred;

(3)  the causes of the infringement and the circumstances in which it occurred; and

(4)  the measures taken or planned by the holder to reduce or eliminate the effects of the infringement and to eliminate and prevent its causes.

A holder of a depollution attestation shall send to the Minister, within 30 days of the end of each calendar month, a copy of the information entered in the record during the previous month.

The information in the record shall be conserved by the holder for at least 2 years from the date on which the information is sent to the Minister.

O.C. 601-93, s. 14.

15. The last holder of a depollution attestation during a calendar year shall send to the Minister, prior to 1 April of the following year, an annual report updated to 31 December and containing

(1)  the number of the depollution attestation;

(2)  any amendments to the information furnished to the Minister under paragraphs 2 to 8 and 13 of section 2;

(3)  information on progress made in the holder’s activities in regard to the requirements and dates of application established by the Minister in the depollution attestation under the second paragraph of section 31.15 of the Act;

(4)  information on progress made in the corrective program imposed by the Minister under section 31.15.1 of the Act at the time of issue of the depollution attestation; and

(5)  information on progress made in the studies required by the Minister in the depollution attestation under section 31.15.4 of the Act.

O.C. 601-93, s. 15.

16. The annual report and a copy of the information contained in the record shall be sent to the Minister by a person referred to in section 4 and authorized by the holder of the depollution attestation to send such documents.

O.C. 601-93, s. 16.

DIVISION II NOTICE

17. A holder of a depollution attestation shall send the Minister a written notice of any derogation from the provisions of an element referred to in section 31.13 of the Act and contained in the depollution attestation, and of the reasons for the derogation. The holder shall so notify the Minister within 30 days of learning of the event that gave rise to the derogation.

The notice shall also specify the measures taken or planned by the holder to reduce or eliminate the effects of the event that gave rise to the derogation.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, this section does not apply where the event that gave rise to the derogation constitutes an accidental occurrence of a contaminant in the environment referred to in subparagraph 3 of the first paragraph of section 31.23 of the Act or where the event is an infringement of a contaminant discharge standard for which the holder must keep and conserve a record in accordance with section 14.

O.C. 601-93, s. 17.

18. The notice shall be sent by a person referred to in section 4 and authorized by the holder of the depollution attestation to send the notice.

O.C. 601-93, s. 18.

DIVISION III TECHNICAL REPORT

19. The technical report that a holder of a depollution attestation must file in the cases provided for in the second paragraph of section 31.23 of the Act shall contain

(1)  a technical description of the solution chosen;

(2)  the location of the site at which the solution is to be implemented;

(3)  an attestation approved by an engineer within the meaning of section 1 of the Engineers Act (chapter I-9) and concerning the degree to which the solution chosen meets the regulatory standards or any other standard, condition, requirement, deadline or terms contained in the depollution attestation;

(4)  information on the environmental impact of the implementation and use of the solution chosen and any means provided for to reduce the negative impact of the solution on the environment; and

(5)  the schedule for completion of the implementation work.

O.C. 601-93, s. 19.

DIVISION IV CESSATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF AN INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT

20. A holder of a depollution attestation who plans to permanently cease to operate an industrial establishment for which an attestation was issued shall, at least 30 days prior to the date of cessation of activities, apply to the Minister to have the depollution attestation revoked.

O.C. 601-93, s. 20.

CHAPTER V FINAL PROVISIONS

21. Any offence against the third or fourth paragraph of section 12 shall render the offender liable,

(1)  in the case of a natural person, to a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $25,000 for a first offence, and to a fine of not less than $4,000 and not more than $50,000 for a second or subsequent conviction; or

(2)  in the case of a legal person, to a fine of not less than $4,000 and not more than $500,000 for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $8,000 and not more than $500,000 for a second conviction, and to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $500,000 for a subsequent conviction.

O.C. 601-93, s. 21.

22. This Regulation applies to immovables in a reserved area or an agricultural zone established under the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities (chapter P-41.1).

O.C. 601-93, s. 22.

23. (Omitted).

O.C. 601-93, s. 23.

SCHEDULE A

(s. 12)

TABLE I

List of parameters for discharge into water, together with their weighting factors

 _____________________________________________________
|                                  |                  |
|           Water                  |     Weighting    |
|                                  |      factor      |
|__________________________________|__________________|
|                                  |                  |
|    Discharge “into system” (1)   |                  |
|                                  |                  |
|- Suspended matter (SM)           |           .2     |
|- Biochemical oxygen demand       |                  |
|  BOD5)                           |           .4     |
|__________________________________|__________________|
|    Discharge “outside system” (2)|                  |
|                                  |                  |
|- Suspended matter (SM)           |          1       |
|- Biochemical oxygen demand       |                  |   
|  (BOD5)                          |          2       |
|__________________________________|__________________|
|   Discharge “into and            |                  |
|    outside system” (3)           |                  |
|                                  |                  |
|- Heavy metals, comprising        |                  |
|  copper (Cu), lead (Pb),         |                  |
|  zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and      |                  |
|  aluminium (AL)                  |         50       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Cyanides                        |        100       |
|- Absorbable halogen compounds    |                  |
|  (AHC)                           |        100       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Polycyclic aromatic             |                  |
|  hydrocarbons (PAH)              |      1,000       |
|__________________________________|__________________|            

(1) Parameters for discharge into a sewer system by the industrial establishment and treatment by municipal waste water treatment installations.

(2) Parameters for discharge by the industrial establishment outside a sewer system or without treatment by municipal waste water treatment installations.

(3) Parameters for discharge into or outside a sewer system by the industrial establishment.

TABLE II

List of parameters for discharge into the atmosphere, together with their weighting factors

 _____________________________________________________
|                                  |                  |
|           Atmosphere             |     Weighting    |
|                                  |      factor      |
|__________________________________|__________________|
|                                  |                  |
|- Particulate matter              |          1       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Sulphur dioxide (SO2)           |          2       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Fluorine (F)                    |          2       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Volatile organic compounds      |                  |
|  (VOC)                           |         20       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Total reduced sulphur           |                  |
|  compounds (TRS)                 |         50       |
|                                  |                  |
|- Polycyclic aromatic             |                  |
|  hydrocarbons (PAH)              |      1,000       |
|_____________________________________________________|            

O.C. 601-93, Sch. A.

SCHEDULE B

(s. 12)

CALCULATION FORMULA FOR EACH INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENT

(Tp × Fp × $2/ton) where

T = annual tonnage for each parameter listed in Tables I and II of Schedule A, calculated for the portion of the period from 1 January to 31 December during which the operator holds a depollution attestation

F = weighting factor

P = each parameter listed in Tables I and II of Schedule A

O.C. 601-93, Sch. B.

REFERENCES

O.C. 601-93, 1993 G.O. 2, 2672

S.Q. 2002, c. 45, s. 536

O.C. 441-2008, 2008 G.O. 2, 1331