Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the Hazardous Waste Regulation?
The Hazardous Waste Regulation is the new name for the former Special Waste Regulation. Along with the name change, all references to "special waste" in the regulation have been changed to "hazardous waste".
Why the name change from special to hazardous waste?
This is simply to harmonize the wording with that in other jurisdictions in Canada and the United States.
What does the current regulation allow?
Under the existing Waste Management Act, storage, treatment and recycling of special waste may be subject to both the Special Waste Regulation and site-specific permits.
EMA will eliminate the permitting provision for the majority of these activities, change the term 'special waste' to 'hazardous waste' and introduce a regulation-making power allowing the program director to require financial security for hazardous waste storage facilities.
Why are you eliminating the permitting provision?
For most hazardous waste management activities, the dual approach of regulations and permits is an unnecessary redundancy. The exception is for certain hazardous waste landfills, for which we are retaining the requirement for a site-specific permit.
If the permitting provision is gone, how will you know or monitor what is going on?
The Hazardous Waste Regulation contains enhanced provisions for registering hazardous waste management activities (generation, storage, treatment, recycling and disposal) and for monitoring, reporting and auditing associated with these activities.
What else will the HWR do?
It will include:
- mandatory use of a manifest purchased from the B.C. government for shipments of hazardous waste
- a definition of biomedical waste
- a more stringent temporary storage exemption
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