TSSA Licensing Modernization Update and Proposed Fees Consultation

We are sharing the research below that Peter Hargreave (Policy Integrity Inc.) provided to the Municipal 3Rs Collaborative on the TSSA presentation and follow up in regard to their plan to implement requirements for TSSA’s Licensing Modernization Initiative (LMI) and anticipated licensing and inspection fees. Please take a look at the attached slide deck from the December 17 M3RC meeting and the M3RC letter to give you some background on TSSA’s process and the rationale below which will affect municipalities that have Digester, Landfill and Biogas Plants (DLB Plants).

TSSA engagement plan with industry and consumer advisory councils (Fall 2024):

• Sectoral stakeholder outreach online (Fall 2024)

• Review and obtain meaningful feedback from stakeholders on the implementation

plans and TSSA industry and consumer advisory councils (Winter 2025, Fall 2025)

• Posting on the Government of Ontario Regulatory Registry (TBD)

TSSA Update

After the TSSA update at the last M3RC meeting on December 17, 2024,  I reached out to the Auditor General’s Office to understand their recommendations as they seem to be the basis or part of the rationale for TSSA’s proposal. I am including the response from the Auditor General’s Office as this seems to be a bit of a stretch:

As part of the 2017/18 Performance Audit cycle, our Office audited the TSSA’s operations (see 2018 audit report here). The audit found that the TSSA’s oversight processes were not fully effective in ensuring public safety.

The Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 provides the TSSA with broad inspection powers to inspect any fuel facilities and equipment that it deems necessary. The TSSA therefore has the ability to establish periodic inspection programs to ensure that the fuels sector in Ontario follows safety laws.

The TSSA is ultimately responsible for ensuring companies that store, transport and sell fuels, such as gasoline, natural gas and propane, operate safely.

In our Office’s audit, the TSSA could not explain why it does not periodically inspect some areas in the fuel sector, such as pipelines, compressed natural gas stations and propane distributors. In addition, the audit also found that the TSSA was not:

o          inspecting private fuel storage sites that pose a threat to source water intakes;

o          monitoring the offsite propane storage locations, so compliance with applicable safety laws at these sites was not known;

o          periodically inspecting tanker trucks used to transport propane, gasoline, diesel and other liquid fuels; and

o          ensuring that abandoned fuel sites are cleaned up, increasing the risk of environmental contamination.

As a result, our Office made a number of recommendations to address gaps in regulatory coverage of businesses/sectors that the TSSA is supposed to regulate. It’s the TSSA’s responsibility to assess and decide which businesses/sectors it should be regulating in accordance with the Act and related regulations to ensure public safety. 

For further information, please see the attached slide deck (#19 is on Digester, Landfill and Biogas proposed Fees)  TSSA Slide Deck