Disposition Table

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) developed a Canada-wide approach for the management of municipal wastewater biosolids, sludge and treated septage which included a policy statement, supporting principles and a Guidance Document. The cornerstone of the Canada-wide approach is the “Guidance Document for the Beneficial Use of Municipal Wastewater Biosolids, Sludge and Treated Septage”. This Guidance Document provides best management practices to support the beneficial use of municipal wastewater biosolids, sludge and treated septage.
The Guidance Document, authored by SYLVIS, was first prepared in draft and released for public comment. Interested stakeholders were invited to provide comment using a questionnaire developed by SYLVIS, on key aspects of the policy, principles and the draft Guidance Document.
SYLVIS worked closely with CCME to review and compile all comments received during the consultation period. SYLVIS ensured that all questionnaire responses and other forms of stakeholder input were considered and provided recommendations to CCME on how the comments should be addressed in finalization of the Guidance Document. The recommendations SYLVIS provided to CCME took the form of a disposition table and accompanying summary document. In completing the disposition table, SYLVIS summarized the relevant results of the consultation process and provided recommendations to address the comments received. Comments were addressed based on our knowledge of the Canada-wide approach, our history working with CCME’s Biosolids Task Group, our inherent understanding of the Canadian biosolids climate, and our extensive biosolids-related scientific knowledge. In the summary document SYLVIS provided visual representations of the quantitative responses and discussed the overall direction of the qualitative responses.
The work SYLVIS completed in preparation of the disposition table served as a mechanism for organizing the stakeholder comments received, outlining how each comment would be addressed by CCME’s Biosolids Task Group, and ultimately ensuring that the Guidance Document was relevant to the beneficial use of biosolids Canada-wide.