Was I right about air regulation 419/05?
Ten years ago, the Ministry of the Environment asked for my
opinion on the regulatory reform initiative that culminated in the
new air regulation, O.Reg. 419/05. I wrote a column about it in the
August/September 2001 issue of Hazardous Materials Management.
(reproduced below). It is reassuring, in a sad sort of way, that I
still agree with what I said then, and that the MOE has now started
to think about my analysis. But I did not expect, back in 2001,
that:
- the new regulation would be so dysfunctional even for larger
companies,
- the new ESDM/modelling/monitoring process would prove so
susceptible to abuse, (It is depressingly easy for the MOE to alter
a facility's ESDM until it predicts noncompliance, on the
ground that they are being "conservative"), nor
that
