Sulphide Bearing Material Disposal Regulations - Environment Act (Nova Scotia)

1 These regulations may be cited as the “Sulphide Bearing Material Disposal Regulations”.

(b) “Administrator” means a person appointed by the Minister pursuant to these regulations, and includes an acting Administrator;

(c) “aggregate” means all consolidated and unconsolidated material excluding minerals, gypsum or limestone for which a mining approval is required under the Mineral Resources Act;

(d) “approved disposal site” means a disposal site that is designed to prevent an adverse effect resulting from the disposal of sulphide bearing material and is approved by the Minister or Administrator under these regulations;

(f) “developer” means a person who develops or proposes to develop land that contains a sulphide bearing material and includes any agent or contractor who works for the developer;

(g) “development” means any disturbance of land which contains a sulphide bearing material;

(h) “disposal site” means a parcel of land used for the disposal of sulphide bearing materials;

(i) “excavation” means the process used for the removal of a sulphide bearing material by mechanical means;

(j) “excavation site” means the area or site where a sulphide bearing material is removed by mechanical means;

(k) “impervious material” means a 750 mm layer of clay with a hydraulic conductivity less than 1 x 10^-6 cm/sec or any other material with an equivalent hydraulic conductivity;

(iv) the location of any watercourse or well on the site and separation distances noted in Section 10, and

(v) the location of a centralized collection point and contours to prevent ponding noted in Section 11;

(o) “sulphide bearing material” means aggregate having a sulphide sulphur content equal to or greater than 0.4% (12.51 kg H₂S0₄/tonne);

4 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no person shall dispose of a sulphide bearing material in the Province where the total volume excavated is greater than 500 m³ in situ or 1300 tonnes unless the person responsible for the disposal holds a valid approval issued under these regulations.

(2) A developer of land which contains a sulphide bearing material shall ensure that sulphide bearing material is disposed of at

(b) an approved disposal site owned and operated by a person other than the developer;

(c) a disposal site under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada and approved by the appropriate federal authority to receive a sulphide bearing material, provided the evaluation, excavation and disposal of the sulphide bearing material are conducted in a manner which is consistent with Sections 6 to 11 of these regulations.

(a) an excavation site where less than 500 m³ in situ or 1300 tonnes of aggregate is to be removed unless the Administrator believes on reasonable and probable grounds that an adverse effect may be caused by the excavation;

(b) a sulphide bearing material where the arithmetic mean and the majority of samples analyzed contain less than 0.4% sulphide by weight or 12.51 kg H₂S0₄/tonne;

(c) a sulphide bearing material that is found not to be net acid producing based on the test results provided under subsection 8(5);

(d) a pit which contains a sulphide bearing material and is used primarily as an aggregate source, if the evaluation, excavation and disposal of the sulphide bearing material are conducted in a manner that is consistent with Sections 6 to 11 of these regulations; or

(e) any mining activities under approval or otherwise permitted by the Department of Natural Resources, if the evaluation, excavation and disposal of the sulphide bearing material are conducted in a manner that is consistent with Sections 6 to 11.

6 (1) Where a developer of any proposed development knows or ought to know that the proposed development will involve the physical disturbance or disposition of aggregate in a measure greater than 500 m³ in situ or 1300 tonnes and which contains a sulphide bearing material, the developer shall immediately notify an Administrator of the proposed development.

(2) The developer identified in subsection (1) shall supply an Administrator with a map number and grid reference (1:50 000 map series) that identifies the location of the proposed development.

(3) An Administrator shall use information provided under subsection (2), ground truthing or any other data to conduct an initial screening to determine whether the land to be developed contains a sulphide bearing material.

(4) If an Administrator is satisfied that the land to be developed does not contain a sulphide bearing material, the Administrator shall advise the developer.

(5) If an Administrator informs the developer that the Administrator is uncertain on an initial screening whether the land to be developed contains a sulphide bearing material, the developer shall provide the Administrator with the analysis of the samples that are required to be taken under these regulations.

(b) take two samples that are representative of the lands to be developed for each hectare or part thereof to be developed;

(a) the test pit method at 0.5 m intervals for the first 2 m depth of sulphide bearing material and thereafter at 1 m intervals to the depth of the proposed excavation site;

(b) the core method with the sample being split along its axis half and the core analyzed along its entire length; or

(3) An Administrator or an inspector may require angled boring or a slight modification to the procedures and frequencies prescribed in subsections (1) and (2) based on bedding planes or any other relevant variables.

(4) The developer shall pay all costs of sampling and analysis required under these regulations.

8 (1) Each sample gathered under Section 7 shall be analyzed to determine the total sulphur and sulphate sulphur content.

(2) Sulphide sulphur content shall be determined by calculating the difference between total sulphur and sulphate sulphur.

(3) Test results obtained under subsection (2) shall be expressed as kg H₂SO₄/tonne.

(4) Sample testing analysis under subsection (1) shall be conducted using test methods approved in writing by an Administrator.

(5) No person shall fail to forward test results obtained under subsection (1) to an Administrator before work commences on a development.

(6) Where test results indicate a sulphide bearing material, the developer may have the sample reanalysed for net acid production by using the British Columbia Research Confirmation Test (Duncan 1972) or by another test approved in writing by an Administrator.

9 (1) No person shall excavate land that contains a sulphide bearing material unless the following conditions are met:

(a) the removal of any vegetation or soil overlying aggregate is limited to satisfy a construction or operational requirement;

(b) surface run-off is diverted away from the disturbed area where the sulphide bearing material is exposed or will be exposed so that no adverse effect is caused or may be caused;

(d) excavated material is removed immediately and disposed of in accordance with these regulations unless written approval is obtained from the Administrator authorizing the temporary storage of the material on the land for reuse;

(e) all construction activities are scheduled to minimize exposure time of the sulphide bearing material; and

(f) run-off from the disturbed area is diverted to a centralized point before leaving the property and, if required by a written direction made by the Administrator, is monitored so that no adverse effect is caused or may be caused.

(2) No person shall store or use a sulphide bearing material on or near an excavation site without the written approval of the Minister or an Administrator.

10 (1) Subject to Sections 4 and 5, no person shall dispose of a sulphide bearing material other than at an approved disposal site.

(b) a minimum distance from a watercourse or well to be established by the Minister where the Minister believes on reasonable and probable grounds that the requirement set forth in clause (a) will not prevent an adverse effect.

(3) No person shall dispose of a sulphide bearing material in marine waters located within the jurisdiction of the Province unless the disposal is approved by the Minister.

(a) effluent or runoff must be directed to a centralized collection point and monitored for pH, aluminum, conductivity and other items detailed in the approval;

(b) effluent from the centralized collection point must meet the following criteria:

(c) unless authorized in writing by the Administrator, the sulphide bearing material must be covered with an impervious material no later than 30 days after the first load of sulphide bearing material is deposited on the disposal site; and

12 (1) The owner, operator, developer or person responsible for a disposal site shall supply the following information to an Administrator when an application for an approval is made:

(a) an estimate of the total volume of sulphide bearing material to be deposited at the disposal site; and

(b) information, design and site plans showing how the owner, operator or developer intends to address all items required under Sections 10 and 11 of these regulations and rehabilitate the site.

(2) The amount of security required for an approved disposal site shall be in the amount of $25.00 per m³ of disposed sulphide bearing material.

(3) The form of security required under subsection (2) shall be as prescribed in the Approvals Procedure Regulations.

(4) Upon receipt of the information required under subsection (1) and the security required under subsection (2) and subject to the provisions of the Approvals Procedure Regulations, the Minister or Administrator may issue an approval for a disposal site.

The current consolidation of the Sulphide Bearing Material Disposal Regulations made under the Environment Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue
57/1995	Apr 11, 1995	date specified	May 5, 1995

The following regulations are not yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for rules about in force dates of regulations.

ad. = added am. = amended	fc. = fee change ra. = reassigned		rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected		How affected
..........................................................

	Note	Effective date
1	The references to the Department of Environment and Minister of the Environment in clauses 2(e) and (m) should be read as references to the Department of Environment and Labour and Minister of Environment and Labour in accordance with Order in Council 2000‑484 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Oct 1, 2000
2	The references to the Department of Environment and Minister of the Environment in clauses 2(e) and (m) should be read as references to the Department of Environment and Minister of Environment in accordance with Order in Council 2008‑161 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Apr 1, 2008
3	The Approvals Procedure Regulations referred to in subsections 12(3) and (4) are replaced by the Approval and Notification Procedures Regulations, N.S. Reg. 17/2013 (O.I.C. 2013-18).	Jan 22, 2013
4	The reference to the Department of Natural Resources in clause 5(e) should be read as a reference to the Department of Energy and Mines in accordance with Order in Council 2018-188 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376	Jul 5, 2018
5	The references to the Department of Environment and Minister of the Environment in clauses 2(e) and (m) should be read as references to the Department of Environment and Climate Change and Minister of Environment and Climate Change in accordance with Order in Council 2021‑60 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Feb 23, 2021
6	The reference to the Department of Natural Resources in clause 5(e) should be read as a reference to the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables in accordance with O.I.C. 2021-210 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Aug 31, 2021

Note: Only regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this table. It may not reflect the entire history of regulations on this subject matter.

Sulphide Bearing Material Disposal Regulations	N.S. Reg. 57/1995
Environment Act
Note: The information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.