Ontario Regulation 127/01

Air Emission Monitoring and Reporting: Are you Impacted?

Mandatory Monitoring & Reporting for Commercial & Industrial Facilities
including: Universities, Colleges, Offices, Hotels& Shopping Centres

• Ontario Regulation 127/01 - Synopsis
  
• Are You Required to Report?
  
• Reporting Criteria for Criteria Air Contaminants and Greenhouse Gases
  
• Reporting Criteria for Contaminants with MOE Thresholds
  
• Reporting Criteria for Contaminants with "NPRI" Thresholds
  
• Universities, Colleges, Office Buildings, Hotels, Shopping Centres or Similar Facilities - Special Rule
  
• Table 1: Classification by Industry or Service Sector
  
• Figure 1: Reporting Flowchart

On May 1, 2001 Ontario Regulation 127/01 (O.Reg. 127/01) under the Environmental Protection Act became law. The law requires owners and operators of commercial and industrial facilities to quantify and publicly report their emissions if specific criteria are met.

Unlike the federal National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) program that primarily targets industry, this provincial initiative integrates industry with commercial facilities including universities, office buildings, hotels, and shopping centres. In addition, the regulation specifically instructs the owner and the operator of a facility to ensure compliance with the Regulation, which may impose legal, due diligence, and contractual obligations on owners who lease property.

A 547 page Step by Step Guideline for Emission Calculation, Record Keeping and Reporting for Airborne Contaminant Discharge was released by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) in April 2001. The Guide , together with O.Reg. 127/01, provides details on how to comply with the regulation. The full text version of the Step by Step Guideline can be viewed or downloaded via the Internet.

The intent of this bulletin is to provide owners and operators of commercial and industrial facilities with a few questions that will quickly establish if they have to report. If emission monitoring and reporting is required, readers are instructed to refer to The Guide or are invited to contact Pinchin Environmental for assistance.

Ontario Regulation 127/01 - Synopsis

O.Reg. 127/01 Airborne Contaminant Discharge - Monitoring and Reporting requires owners and operators of facilities in Ontario to publicly report air emissions from the facilities. Large and small industrial sectors are impacted including commercial buildings such as educational facilities, office buildings, hotels and shopping centres.

The program is being phased-in starting May 1, 2001 and by January 1, 2002 all of the sectors listed in Table 1, provided below, will be required to report. Class A & B are now required to report; Class C will be required to report commencing January 2002.

A total of 358 contaminants are identified in the regulation and they have been sub-divided into three groups as Criteria Air Contaminants and Greenhouse Gases (11), contaminants with MOE reporting thresholds (79), and contaminants with National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) reporting thresholds (268). The reporting criteria and frequency varies by contaminant group.

Are You Required to Report?

Provided below are a series of questions that will help determine if you must report. The sector Class can be found in Table 1. The reader is instructed to go through each of the following sections individually. If the reporting criteria are satisfied, then annual, quarterly or seasonal reporting is required and The Guide, or Pinchin Environmental, should be consulted for further details.

Reporting Criteria for Criteria Air Contaminants and Greenhouse Gases

The owner and the operator of a facility must monitor and report emissions of eleven (11) Criteria Air Contaminants and Greenhouse Gases if the facility belongs to Class A, B or C of Table 1 and satisfies one of the following screening criteria:

• The facility uses coal, refuse, wood or waste oil as fuel;
• The facility has combustion equipment (boilers, heaters, ovens, etc.) with a name plate capacity of greater than 3 million British Thermal Units per hour;
• Annually, the facility uses 3,000 kilograms or more of coating materials;
• Annually, the facility uses 3,000 kilograms or more of printing ink;
• Annually, the facility uses 5,000 kilograms or more of welding rod or wire.

If these two conditions are satisfied, the owner and operator of the facility must monitor and report the emissions of the Criteria Air Contaminants and Greenhouse Gases.

Reporting Criteria for Contaminants with MOE Thresholds

The owner and the operator of a facility must monitor and report emissions of the 79 contaminants with MOE Thresholds if the facility belongs to Class A, B or C of Table 1 and satisfies both of the following screening criteria:

• The facility employs people who will work in excess of 20,000 hours during the year;
• The quantity of the contaminant that is manufactured, processed or otherwise used exceeds the threshold value.

If all of these reporting criteria are satisfied, the owner and operator of the facility must monitor and report annually the emissions of the contaminants that have MOE reporting thresholds. Only those contaminants that equal or exceed the reporting thresholds for the respective contaminants are required to be included.

Reporting Criteria for Contaminants with "NPRI" Thresholds

The owner and the operator of a facility must monitor and report emissions of contaminants with NPRI Thresholds if

the following are satisfied:

• The facility belongs to Class A, B or C of Table 1;
• The facility reports, or should report, annually to the NPRI program.

If these criteria are satisfied, the owner

and operator of the facility must monitor and report annually the emissions of the contaminants that have NPRI reporting thresholds. Only those contaminants that equal or exceed the reporting thresholds

for the respective contaminants are required to be included. In addition, a copy of the air release portion of the NPRI report must be submitted to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

Universities, Colleges, Office Buildings, Hotels, Shopping Centres or Similar Facilities - Special Rule

The owner and the operator of a facility listed above are required to monitor and report sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and HFC-134a emissions only, provided the following are satisfied:

• The facility uses coal, refuse, wood or waste oil as fuel;
• The facility has combustion equipment (boilers, heaters, ovens, etc.) with a name plate capacity of greater than 3 million British Thermal Units per hour;
• Annually, the facility uses 3,000 kilograms or more of coating materials;
• Annually, the facility uses 3,000 kilograms or more of printing ink;
• •Annually, the facility uses 5,000 kilograms or more of welding rod or wire;
• AND
• The contaminants are discharged to the air from heating or cooling systems.

For example, if a shopping centre or office building, has a natural gas or oil fired heating system that has a maximum heat input of 3,000,000 Btu/h or greater (about 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of office space), the owner and operator must report sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and HFC-134a only.

©Pinchin Environmental Newsletter 2001 - Disclaimer