Environmentally impacted sites are areas of land or water that contain a substance that may cause, or is causing, an adverse effect to human health and the environment. In Saskatchewan, impacts are typically associated with transportation, manufacturing, industrial, commercial or mining activities. The ministry regulates the process for managing these environmentally impacted sites within the framework set out by The Environmental Management and Protection Act, 2010 (EMPA, 2010), and the Saskatchewan Environmental Code chapters and associated standards.
What's new?
- February 2024: The Saskatchewan Environmental Quality Guidelines (SEQG) have been shut down for approximately four to six weeks to correct the errors. In the meantime stakeholders should refer to the Alberta Environment and Parks guidelines. See the SEQG website for more information.
- March 2023: Updated information for the SEQG database can be found in this Summary of Changes document.
- January 2023: Updates to the Qualified Person Certificate were made to include instructions for completing the form.
Report a discharge or an environmental emergency (e.g. an active oil spill).
Notify the ministry of a discovery (e.g. finding contaminated soil).
Managing Impacted Sites Process
The management of environmentally impacted sites in Saskatchewan follows a risk-based approach, and includes the basic stages of notification, assessment, corrective actions and notice of site condition.
Saskatchewan Environmental Code Chapters
There are five chapters of the Saskatchewan Environmental Code that are used to manage environmentally impacted sites:
Discharge and Discovery Reporting Chapter
Site Assessment Chapter
Corrective Action Plan Chapter
Transfer of Responsibility for an Environmentally Impacted Site Chapter
Substance Characterization Chapter
Impacted Sites Fund
Saskatchewan municipalities can apply for funding to aid in clean up of abandoned, environmentally impacted sites through the Impacted Sites Fund.
Fact Sheets and Guidance Documents
The ministry has fact sheets and guidance documents to help you manage your environmentally impacted site.