Excess Soil Management and Risk Assessment in Ontario

Maximizing excess soil reuse. Minimizing risk. Delivering sustainable, compliant solutions.

Ontario’s On-Site and Excess Soil Management Regulation (O. Reg. 406/19) has significantly changed how excess soil is characterized, managed, and reused across the province.  Introduced to promote responsible soil management and increase beneficial reuse opportunities, O. Reg. 406/19 establishes clear requirements for soil assessment, documentation, tracking, and reuse planning.  Central to this framework is risk assessment, which can be used to develop site-specific excess soil quality standards for a reuse site.

What triggers a risk assessment under Ontario’s Excess Soil Rules?

Under Ontario’s excess soil framework, a risk assessment may be triggered when concentrations of contaminants in excess soil do not meet the generic excess soil quality standards described in the MECP’s Rules For Soil Management And Excess Soil Quality Standards guidance document and there is an intention to enable beneficial excess soil reuse instead of disposing it as waste at a waste management facility.

How Intrinsik can help

Intrinsik’s strong understanding of O. Reg. 406/19 and related excess soils guidance combined with our extensive risk assessment experience allows us to provide strategic advice and support with excess soil management projects.

Intrinsik’s team includes Qualified Persons for Risk Assessment (QPRAs), as defined by O. Reg. 406/19, who are certified to derive site-specific excess soil quality standards using the MECP’s BRAT, risk assessment principles, and consideration of site-specific information.  Intrinsik’s use of risk assessment, the BRAT and statistical analysis provides flexibility in meeting the excess soil quality standards, allowing our clients to maximize the amount of excess soil that can be brought to a reuse site in a manner that both minimizes risk and achieves regulatory compliance.

Our clients and partners include environmental engineering firms, property owners, developers, contractors, municipalities, lenders and lawyers.

Intrinsik’s excess soil and risk assessment services

Intrinsik provides a full suite of risk assessment and technical support services for excess soil projects in Ontario for public and private sector clients, including:

• BRAT risk assessments in accordance with Reg. 406/19 and related guidance
• Excess soil risk assessments in accordance with Reg. 406/19 and related guidance
• Peer reviews
• Consulting services and data gap analysis for the following:
• Reg. 406/19 excess soil and risk assessment requirements
• Statistical analysis to meet the generic or site-specific excess soil quality criteria

More information and answers to frequently asked questions

For more information and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) please check out our blog