Supply Chain Ontario eases boiler permitting, but is the supply chain ready? By Marcin Lewandowski Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) recently developed and implemented a new air quality guideline for the control of air emissions from small wood fired combustors with a heat input capacity of less than 3 MW — Guideline A-14. These changes, which took effect last year, make the permitting process for small wood fired combustors significantly cheaper and more efficient. A regulator process that once took more than a year can now be completed in two days, saving projects hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the first eight months of the new policy there have been more boiler requests in Ontario than in the previous Burning red tape six years. This begs the question, however, is the Ontario wood chip supply chain ready to meet the new demand? POLICY BACKGROUND The In Ontario, the Environmental Protection Act prohibits the discharge of air emissions from any source unless permitted under Section 9(1) with an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA). The exceptions to this requirement are listed under Section 9(3) for sources that do not require a permit and Section 9(4) for prescribed activities. The prescribed activities are regulated within the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR) for facilities with air emissions that are not considered high risk and/or complex. Whether applying for an ECA or registering under the Air Emissions EASR, a facility must develop an air emission impact assessment to ensure that each air contaminant emitted from the facility is below the point of impingement limit. This report is referred to as an Emission Summary and Dispersion Modelling (ESDM) report. Ontario Regulation 419/05 regulates local air quality and is the primary governing regulation for air quality in Ontario. As of Jan. 3, 2017 Ontario finalized Guideline A-14, the Guideline for the Control of Air Emissions from Small Wood Fired Combustors (input capacity of less than 3 MW). Facilities with small wood fired combustors that do not meet the eligibility requirements for the Air Emissions EASR are required to submit In the first eight months of Ontario’s new air quality guideline for small wood-fired combustors there have been more boiler requests in Ontario than in the previous six years. Canadian BIOMASS 21
Canadian Biomass March April 2018: Page 21
