| APGO defends the Qualified Person (“QP”) designation in the interest of public safety and the protection of the natural
environment.
By Scott MacRitchie, P.Geo. Recently, use of the Qualified Person (“QP”) designation was vigorously defended by the
However, draft versions of a new regulation released for comment under the Environmental Protection Act, proposed the use of a QP designation with a much less rigorous definition. The proposed definition allowed engineering technologists and other persons to practice geoscience who are not a P.Geo., or qualified P.Eng. Ken Lyon, P.Geo., Co-chair of the APGO Environmental Geoscience Professional Practice Committee and Chair of the Brownfields and Contaminated Sites Subcommittee, said that although there were a number of other concerns with the proposed regulation, the new QP designation was the major focus of the APGO response. Revised Ontario Regulation 153/04, which comes into effect in stages beginning this October, concerns the development and filing of a Record of Site Condition (“RSC”). By sometime in 2005 a RSC will be required by the Ministry of the Environment (“MOE”) before allowing certain changes in land use. Before the changes in land use can take place, any environmental concerns must be addressed through Phase I, and where warranted, Phase II Environmental Site Assessments and remediation. The key issues were (i) who is qualified to do these assessments, and (ii) how the definition should be worded. Draft versions of Regulation 153/04 allowed certified engineering technologists to conduct or supervise Phase II assessments that include the planning, sampling and data interpretation required by contaminated soil and groundwater programs. Working with the Environmental Geoscience Professional Practice Committee and the Executive Committee of APGO, then APGO President, Bill Stiebel, P.Geo., sent several letters to the Ministers of the Environment and Northern Development and Mines explaining the position of the APGO. APGO made it clear that MOE’s proposed new QP designation was not supported and not in the best interest of public safety and protection of the natural environment of Ontario. APGO’s persistence and hard work did have some effect as a compromise appears to have been reached. The version of the regulation that will take effect in October of this year does not allow certified engineering technologists to conduct or supervise Phase II assessments for filing a RSC. However, it does allow P.Geo.’s, P.Eng.’s, professional agrologists, and chartered chemists to sign the Record of Site Condition as a QP for Phase II assessments. The definition of QP used in this regulation is transitional. The regulation states that in October 2006, the MOE will set new QP designation criteria. The APGO will continue to press for a protocol which recognizes that in the interest of public safety and the protection of the natural environment, P.Geo.’s. and competent P.Eng.’s. are the ones who must conduct and take responsibility for professional environmental geoscience in the province of Ontario. Although an official APGO position has yet to be developed, Ken Lyon, P.Geo., suggests that a professional agrologist or a chartered chemist may be able to manage a Phase II assessment within the context of a multi-disciplinary study, but that a P.Geo. or suitably trained and experienced P.Eng. must conduct those portions of an assessment that involve the application of geoscientific principles. APGO will continue to keep it’s members up to date on this important issue. Ontario Regulation 153/04 can be reviewed at: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Source/Regs/English/2004/R04153_e.htm |
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