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| interpretation
| application | salt
management plan |
| best management practices | implementation
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| record keeping and reporting |
| review of progress and need for further action
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INTERPRETATION
- The following definitions apply in this Code:
“organization” means:
(a) any public entity that uses or that is responsible for the use of
road salts on public roads in Canada; or
(b) any company that holds a concession or lease to manage a public
road, unless the public entity from which the company holds that concession
or lease has developed a salt management plan that the company agrees
to implement.
“road salts” mean road salts that contain inorganic chloride
salts with or without ferrocyanide salts.
“TAC
Syntheses of Best Practices” means the Syntheses of Best
Practices — Road Salt Management appended to the Salt Management
Guide published by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) in
1999, ISBN 1-55187-136-X, and updated in September 2003, as amended
from time to time.
“vulnerable area” means an area particularly sensitive to
road salts where additional salt management measures may be necessary
to mitigate the environmental effects of road salts in that area; vulnerable
areas should be identified as per the guidance provided in Annex
B of the Code.
- Recommendations in this Code propose preventive or control actions
aimed at the environmental management of road salts to protect the Canadian
environment.
- This Code does not replace nor supersede any laws or regulations adopted
by federal, provincial, territorial or municipal authorities in relation
to, among other things, environmental protection, road safety or use
of road salts.
- This Code is not the sole guidance available to users of road salts
in Canada, and is intended to be used in conjunction with the Salt Management
Guide and Syntheses of Best Practices developed by the Transportation
Association of Canada and any federal, provincial, territorial or municipal
maintenance standards. Nothing in this Code should be construed as a
recommendation to take action to the detriment of road safety.
APPLICATION
- This Code applies to:
(a) organizations that use more than 500 tonnes of road salts per year
(five-year rolling average); and
(b) organizations that have vulnerable areas in their territory that
could be potentially impacted by road salts.
- This Code does not apply to road salts used for domestic purposes,
or for private or institutional uses.
SALT MANAGEMENT PLAN
- An organization that meets the criteria of section 5 should prepare
and implement a salt management plan that contains best management practices
to protect the environment from the negative impacts of road salts.
The management plan should cover all activities which may result in
release of road salts to the environment, such as salt storage, application
of salts on roads, and disposal of snow containing road salts.
- An organization that does not meet the criteria of section 5 should
consider implementing the best management practices that are relevant
to its local conditions in order to protect the environment from the
negative impacts of road salts.
- The salt management plan should:
- provide a statement recognizing the role of a salt management
plan in achieving improved environmental protection without compromising
road safety;
- provide a commitment or endorsement of the plan at the highest
level in the organization;
- identify activities or operations through which road salts may
be released to the environment and goals to achieve reduction of
the negative environmental impacts of these releases;
- assess current practices against recommended best management practices,
including those contained in the TAC Syntheses of Best Practices;
- contain documentation of all policies and procedures applicable
to the salt management plan;
- include communication activities necessary to inform the organization
and the public of the salt management plan and related policies
and procedures;
- contain a training program for all personnel when managing or
performing winter maintenance activities involving the use of road
salts;
- provide response procedures to react to uncontrolled releases
of road salts that could result in environmental impacts;
- ensure monitoring of actions to measure the plan’s effectiveness;
- include record-keeping as described in section 15 of this Code;
- include a procedure for yearly review of the plan by the organization
with continual improvement of salt management practices and the
salt management plan as better management practices become known
and progress is achieved; and
- establish and implement corrective actions to address deficiencies
identified in the operations of the organization to which the plan
applies.
- The environmental impact indicators listed in Annex
A, the guidance for identifying vulnerable areas provided in Annex
B and the data gathering and reporting provisions in Annex
C of this Code should be considered during the development and implementation
of the salt management plan.
- The content and level of detail of the salt management plan may vary
according to the organization’s size and capability.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
- It is recommended that best management practices referred to in sections
7 and 8 and found in the TAC
Syntheses of Best Practices be selected according to the following
objectives:
- Salt Storage: The objective is the
prevention or control of releases from existing and new sites. In
pursuing this objective, the following practices should be considered:
coverage of salt piles and blended salt-sand piles, handling practices
that avoid uncontrolled releases, drainage management, wash water
collection and treatment, training of personnel, and monitoring
of the effectiveness of the facility.
- Snow Disposal: The objective is the
control of releases from existing and new sites. In pursuing this
objective, the following practices should be considered: location
and construction of the sites to take into account operational and
environmental factors, drainage management, training of personnel
and monitoring of the effectiveness of the facility.
- Salt Application: The objective is
the reduction of the negative impacts of road salts by delivering
the right amount of road salts in the right place at the right time.
In pursuing this objective, consideration should be given to using
the most recent advancements in the application of winter maintenance
anti-icing and de-icing materials, winter maintenance equipment,
and road weather information and other decision support systems.
As well, the training of personnel and the monitoring of the effectiveness
of road salt application techniques should be considered.
IMPLEMENTATION
- An organization that meets the criteria of section 5 should prepare
a salt management plan within one year after publication of this Code
in the Canada
Gazette. It is recommended that implementation of the plan
begins in the financial period or fiscal year immediately following
the preparation of the plan.
- It is recommended that organizations hiring agents or contractors
ensure that those agents or contractors comply with any measures in
the salt management plan related to their work.
RECORD-KEEPING AND REPORTING
- An organization that meets the criteria of section 5 should:
- provide to the Minister of the Environment
- notification of intent to prepare a salt management plan within
6 months after publication of this Code in the Canada
Gazette or within 6 months of becoming subject to this
Code, whichever is later; and
- information specified in Annex
C of this Code, in the form provided by the Minister, by
June 30 of the year following the year that the organization
becomes subject to this Code and every year thereafter;
- keep records of all data reported, copies of the salt management
plan, plan revisions, training records, and any yearly review reports,
including those that contain corrective action;
- retain the information referred to in paragraph (b) for seven
years; and
- make the information referred to in paragraph (b) available to
the Minister of the Environment upon request.
REVIEW OF PROGRESS AND NEED FOR FURTHER ACTION
- In order to monitor the effectiveness of this Code, organizations
will be invited to cooperate with the Minister of the Environment in
the preparation of progress reports on the development and implementation
of salt management plans.
- (a) Five years after publication of this Code in the Canada
Gazette, organizations will be invited to cooperate with the
Minister of the Environment and to participate in an evaluation of progress
achieved towards prevention and reduction of the negative impacts of
road salts on the environment through the implementation of this Code.
(b) The review will consider the level of implementation of best management
practices, such as those found in the TAC Syntheses of Best Practices,
the progress accomplished towards preventing or reducing the negative
impacts of road salts on the Canadian environment and road safety monitoring
data.
(c) This review will help determine if other steps or programs are needed
to further prevent or reduce negative impacts of road salts on the environment.
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