New rules require source protection authorities to overhaul drinking-water threat policies tied to regulated instruments

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

A new regulation sets out how source protection plans must handle policies that govern decisions to issue, create, or amend prescribed instruments (such as permits or approvals) in areas where significant drinking water threats exist. Source protection authorities must review and amend their plans within 30 days to remove or reword non-compliant significant threat policies, remove moderate and low threat policies linked to prescribed instruments, and strip out prohibited monitoring policies. Anyone who issues, creates, or amends a prescribed instrument in a source protection area must now keep written records showing how they met their obligations under the Act and must submit annual reports to the relevant source protection authority by February 1 each year. Certain grandfather protections for existing activities are limited or removed depending on the type of instrument involved. The Director can issue written directions to source protection authorities on how to comply with the plan-amendment requirements.

Who this affects: source protection authorities · permit and approval issuing bodies (public and private) · municipal and provincial decision-makers issuing regulated instruments · businesses operating under prescribed instruments in source protection areas