Environment Canada Multi-Stakeholder Working Group Meeting on Road Salt Management

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Meeting Notes

1. GETTING STARTED
2. PROGRESS ON CODE IMPLEMENTATION
3. REACHING THE SMALL MUNICIPALITY

Objectives

To review the progress of implementation for the Code of Practice six months after Gazette publication:

1. Progress on Code implementation;
2. Reaching the small Municipality;
3. Measuring success.

   

A. GETTING STARTED

Welcome and Review of agenda, process and format
(Sandi Moser, Amber Robson and Bob Hodgins)

• Bob Hodgins, Ecoplans Limited facilitated this meeting.
• Sandi welcomed everyone and explained the purpose of the meeting and reviewed the agenda.
• Sandi introduced the Environment Canada representatives that were in the room from headquarters and the regional offices.
• Bob Hodgins reviewed the purpose of the workshop that would be held after the break and asked the participants to give some thought to the questions set out in the workbook during the first part of the morning.

Update
(Sandi Moser/Amber Robson)

1. Action Items from the last meeting
   • The meeting notes from the last meeting have been posted on the road salts website.
2. Progress since last meeting
   • Ferrocyanides
     • A draft Environmental Performance Agreement (EPA) has been reviewed by the Salt Institute and work on the EPA is progressing.
     • The draft EPA will be circulated to the Working Group and the final draft will be placed in the Canada Gazette for 30 days.
     • Environment Canada hopes to conclude the EPA before the end of the year.
   • Parking Lots and Private Properties
     • Environment Canada worked with a small advisory group and completed the guidance document with the assistance of Ecoplans Limited.
     • Environment Canada has asked the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) to consider including the Guidance Document with the other 9 Syntheses of Best Practices (SOBPs). The TAC Road Salt Working Group hopes to review the document by the end of the year and determine if it should be added to the other SOBPs.
     • Environment Canada has been gathering data regarding salt use practices by the private sector.
   • Case Studies
     • 8 case studies have been completed and are available on the website and are on the documents CD.
     • A summary sheet has been prepared for promotional use.
     • Environment Canada is inviting others to bring forward ideas for additional case studies in the future.
   • Dust Suppressants
     • A Best Practices document has been prepared on dust suppressants.
     • The document is available on the reports section of the road salts website and is also being reviewed by TAC for inclusion in the SOBPs.
   • Vulnerable Areas, Niagara Study
     • This is a GIS-based study using existing data being conducted by Ecoplans Limited for the Regional Municipality of Niagara with some funding from Environment Canada. A draft report was provided to Niagara Region and Environment Canada on Sept 13^th for comment.
   • TAC's Learning Guide and Train-the-Trainer Program
     • The TAC Salt Smart Train-the-Trainer program will provide training on transition skills and includes a training tool kit.
     • TAC has both a 2-day and a 1-day program. Details and costs are available on TAC's website (www.tac-atc.ca).
     • Organizations have the option of sending staff to Ottawa for training or TAC can customize a package for an organization.
     • Training sessions are planned for Edmonton, Simcoe County, Northumberland, Saskatchewan, and Ottawa.
     • There have been 4676 hits on TAC's Website so far.
   • Winter Severity Index Project
     • TAC is arranging funding to carry out a study to develop a model for a Winter Severity Index.
     • Environment Canada will consider using the model for Annex C of the Code.
     • There is still some shortfall in the funding for this project and other participants are invited. Environment Canada has added some funding and Transport Canada is reviewing their participation.

B. PROGRESS ON CODE IMPLEMENTATION

Is the message getting out?
(Valérie Hourdebaigt)

1. Letters of Intent
   • A number of organizations have already submitted their Letters of Intent. The deadline for submission of letters is October 31, 2004.
   • At the time of the meeting 82 letters had been received.
   • Valérie presented a summary table showing the number of letters received by region of Canada. The table also shows the rate of compliance (total population responded compared to total population estimated to meet the criteria of the code)
   • Although several provinces have submitted letters of intent, these numbers are not included in the population estimates in the table.
   • Manitoba/Sask - There may be only 5 communities outside of Winnipeg, Regina, and Saskatoon that use over 500 tonnes of salt.
   • Some provinces were waiting for what was coming out of this meeting to make sure there weren't any last minute changes that need to be made before submitting their Letters of Intent. All provinces will be doing salt management plans. The conclusion is that the response is better than the numbers now show.
2. Website
   • Changes have been made to the website.
   • The website will be updated to include a list of organizations that have submitted their letters as well as a downloadable copy of the Implementation Guide.
3. Electronic Reporting
   • Environment Canada is seeking volunteers to test the electronic reporting system to see how it works.
   • Several road authorities agreed to test the electronic reporting system including Toronto, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Ottawa, and BC.
   • Participants will need to obtain an account number and password. Data entry will be protected by a password obtained up registration.
   • Anyone who would like to test the system can contact Ed Dowdall at 819-953-9476.
4. Guidance Documents
   • Valérie presented the compliance promotion material that is available including: the Code of Practice Implementation Guide, standard presentations, Case Studies, etc.
   • Copies of the Implementation Guide and the Code of Practice, Case Studies and a CD with all of the documents were made available to Working Group Members. The CD also includes promotional posters, and presentation materials to help with presentations.
5. Recent and Upcoming Events
   • EC will be attending various events to promote in BC, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec in the upcoming month to promote the Code.

     

C. REACHING THE SMALL MUNICIPALITY

A Workshop was conducted on Reaching the Small Municipality. Participants were divided into Regional/Sector Groups and asked to comment on:

• Barriers to implementation;
• Regional promotional opportunities, and
• Suggestions to improve buy-in

The results of the Workshop are summarized in Attachment 1 - Barriers Table.

Bob summarized the key points raised as follows:

• Need a template/generic plan
• Need to share information about plans, what needs to go into the plan, etc.
• There are lots of events to participate in
• It would be helpful to provide information on the implementation costs for best practices to help municipalities with long-range budgeting.

Measuring Success
(Sandi Moser)

• Sandi provided an update on the monitoring program.
• Environment Canada has investigated possible data sources for the next 5 years. EC invited people to comment on other monitoring sources.
• Sandi outlined the 4 main indicators that are proposed to be used. These include:
  • Participation of municipalities
  • How implementation of SOBPs is proceeding
  • Quantity of salt used
  • Impacts on the environment
• A group discussion was held to identify
  • What is missing?
  • Challenges of measuring progress and measuring salt use trends
• Participants wanted to know "What is the definition of success?" Environment Canada does not have a final definition but it will depend on the number of agencies implementing salt management plans and best practices.
• It was suggested that it is important to measure success in both the short and longer terms.
• Question - How and when are we going to agree on a baseline to be used for monitoring programs? Answer - Some projects have been monitored for years and trends can be identified.
• It was pointed out that this winter should represent the baseline since plans are starting to be implemented.
• Question - Does Salt Institute data on total salt use include parking lots? Answer - Yes this will be total usage. Considerable concern was expressed that this may be misleading.
• The participants felt that it is important to know what criteria Environment Canada will use to determine if the program has been successful.
• It was pointed out that the presentation materials on measuring progress don't include road safety. Safety will be an important component in measuring progress and this will be reviewed.
• It was suggested that consideration should be given to "How to deal with baselines in large municipalities where there is ongoing infrastructure expansion". It will be important not only to consider inventory increases or decreases but also to look at inventory changes. Large developments can increase salt use. The number of 2-lane km may not increase but salt use may increase due to change in level of service to address development. Environment Canada will consider this when developing the monitoring program.
• Question - How do you measure the extent of implementation of best practices? Answer - By what is reported in Annex "C".
• Question - Does EC have a clear expectation for the number of Letters of Intent it expects to receive? Is there a 100% expectation or some other goal? Answer - EC will discuss this option and report back.
• The discussion is further summarized in the Flip Chart Summary - Attachment 2.

Next Steps
(Sandi Moser/Amber Robson)

• Natalie will be talking to other experts regarding monitoring program aspects and will be working on the winter severity index.
• Environment Canada will be working with the Salt Institute on the EPA. The draft EPA will be distributed soon.
• The Salt Institute will provide information on the quantities of salt used in Canada.
• The next meeting of the Working Group will be held in April in association with TAC's Spring Meeting (April 14-18).
• Transport Canada reported that it will be running a workshop prior to the TAC meeting which would affect available dates for the spring Working Group Meeting.
• Environment Canada will be testing the on-line reporting in the upcoming months.
• Environment Canada will be updating the road salts website and will be adding a list of the Letters of Intent received as well as the Implementation Guide.
• Environment Canada will continue to develop the monitoring program.
• Question - What is happening with the provincial environment agencies? Have provincial agencies been kept in the loop? Answer - EC will follow up with the provincial environment ministries.

Closure

The participants were thanked for their participation and the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 Noon.