How green is my carpet?
Are carpets safe? It depends on the person, on the carpet and on how you look after it.
View the post titled How green is my carpet?Air CAMM to improve?
The Ministry of the Environment is working hard to improve the newish air pollution regulation O.Reg. 419/05. The original concept, that a five-year phase in period would result in businesses inventing pollution control technology, usually has not worked. As major businesses get close to the…
View the post titled Air CAMM to improve?Block 2- The Industrial Water Rate
For major employers in Toronto, the most important incentive to comply with the sewer bylaw is not the risk of prosecution, it’s the risk of losing their preferential Block 2 Industrial Rate for water and sewage service. Block 2 can save large companies tens of thousands of dollars or…
View the post titled Block 2- The Industrial Water RateWhat's the right brownfields regulation?
Many consultants are confused about the correct way to refer to the Ontario regulation on contaminated sites and records of site condition. As one wrote,
View the post titled What's the right brownfields regulation?Hide and seek with bylaws
The Internet has been an enormous boon to those needing to keep up with municipal bylaws. Instead of the old process of sending a student down to City Hall, now we just access the city’s website. But it turns out that municipalities have as much trouble keeping their websites up-to-da…
View the post titled Hide and seek with bylawsMajor changes proposed for shale gas fracking
Advisors to US Energy Secretary, Stephen Chu, have recommended major changes to improve regulation and environmental performance of shale gas fracturing (fracking) in the US. Public consultation is continuing, and the final report will be released in November. Canadian regulators should be …
View the post titled Major changes proposed for shale gas frackingCrops hit by summer heat wave
One of the many ways that climate change damages the economy is the sucker punch it delivers to agriculture. For example, increasing summer heatwaves can slash corn yields. During silking, it only takes 4 hours of leaf rolling (from heat and dryness) to cut yield 1%; consecutive hot days c…
View the post titled Crops hit by summer heat waveThe up to date brownfields tables, with 2004 comparisons
Maxxam Analytics has kindly allowed me to post their very useful Reg 153 Comparison Charts (2004 vs 2011) tables, comparing the 2004 soil and groundwater cleanup standards to the new ones that came into effect July 1, 2011. The Ministry of the Environment confusingly named these the Soil, Gr…
View the post titled The up to date brownfields tables, with 2004 comparisonsWaste diversion, odour and climate change
Clare Booth Luce, the famous American playwright, journalist, ambassador, and Congresswoman, used to say, “no good deed goes unpunished”. To my regret, this sardonic and rather depressing phrase is, all too often, a good description of environmental laws. One example is the management of odo…
View the post titled Waste diversion, odour and climate changeSmart meters and privacy?
Privacy advocates point out the importance of controlling data mining from the stream of power use information collected by smart meters. No one is yet regulating how this data can be used, but perhaps they should be. Another excellent piece of journalism by National Public Radio’s Liv…
View the post titled Smart meters and privacy?Receive Blog Posts
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