Over the course of the past year, the Ministry of Health has been reviewing the Private Sewage Regulation in preparation of updating it. A public information survey on the current regulation was sent out to industry in June 2016. This was followed by the survey being listed on the Ministry’s website for feedback from the general public.

In December, the Ministry of Health released the draft changes for the regulation. Once again, correspondence was sent out to industry stakeholders which lead them to a website containing all the proposed changes. Stakeholders were asked to provide feedback by January 13.

The following is a summary of the proposed regulatory amendments to The Private Sewage Works Regulations and the Shoreland Pollution Control Regulations, 1976:

• Incorporating the Shoreland Pollution Control Regulations, 1976 (SPCR, 1976) into The Private Sewage Works Regulations (PSWR)
• Phased certification requirement for installers of private sewage works
• Fee increase for permit to construct a private sewage works

The industry has been anticipating a mandatory certification requirement for installers for several years now. Many contractors have already participated in training in anticipation of this requirement. The proposed phase-in would allow a period of time prior to implementation to allow those wishing to become certified to do so.

A full list of the proposed changes to the PWSR are located here.

The association welcomes feedback from industry on these proposed changes.