Background
When the Dead Animal Disposal Act (DADA) was enacted in 1968, the deadstock disposal industry was dependent on the salvage and rendering of deadstock into secondary materials. Following the DADA, Regulation 263 came into effect and set out the requirements for the industry. Deadstock and meat plant materials were transformed at rendering plants into fats and protein, both of which were traditionally used in animal feeds and other industrial by-products. Deadstock collectors and renderers marketed these materials in Canada and abroad. The discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or Mad Cow Disease) has had a drastic impact on cattle farmers, deadstock collectors and renderers as the traditional markets for cattle by-products have been lost. As such, meat/bone meal has become a waste management issue for the industry leading to additional costs of doing business in the livestock sector.
Introduction
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) proposed changes to DADA, and the government has now replaced the DADA, which formerly regulated the disposal of deadstock, with two new regulations.
The new framework builds on the requirements in the DADA and continues to focus on minimizing potential food safety and animal health risks while also minimizing environmental impacts and disease threats. The regulation under the Nutrient Management Act, 2002 (NMA) addresses on-farm disposal. The regulation under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 (FSQA) addresses disposal when the animal dies at places other than the farm. Both regulations provide greater flexibility for industry in the disposal of deadstock. The DADA and regulation have been repealed.
Regulation 347 under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) was also amended to clarify the definition of agricultural waste, and to clarify which activities managed under the new NMA and FSQA regulations are exempt from waste disposal requirements under Part V of the Act and Regulation 347. The new amendments include an update to existing terminology associated with the definitions of “agricultural waste” and “farm operation” and exemptions from Part V of the Act and this Regulation.
New Regulations
1. Nutrient Management Act, 2002 (NMA)
The regulation under the NMA sets out requirements for the disposal of dead farm animals on the farm. This regulation applies to all farm operations, regardless of the requirement to have a nutrient management strategy or plan under O. Regulation 267/03. The purpose of introducing standards for on-farm disposal of deadstock is to protect the environment and provide some separation between deadstock and live animals.
This regulation sets out requirements for the disposal of not only cattle, goats, sheep, horses and swine as per the DADA, but also deer, elk, alpacas, llamas, bison, yaks, donkeys, ponies, rabbits, poultry and fowl, ratites, and fur bearing animals.
The operator of the farm is responsible for disposing of the animal within 48 hours of its death, which was the requirement of the DADA. The two exceptions to this rule are:
- If a delay occurs in order to perform a post mortem on the animal, or
- If the animal is put into temporary storage conditions as specified in the regulation.
Additional disposal options for greater flexibility to manage deadstock include:
- Burial
- Incineration
- Composting
- Disposal vessels
- Collection by a licensed collector
- Anaerobic digestion
- Delivery to a waste disposal site approved under the EPA
- Delivery to a disposal facility as defined under the FSQA
- Delivery to a licensed veterinarian for post mortem and disposal.
If an operator chooses to bury, incinerate, or compost deadstock, the regulation establishes requirements to minimize impacts on the environment. Minimum separation distances have been established from:
- Livestock housing facilities
- Field drainage tiles
- Residential and commercial lands
- Surface water
- Bedrock and aquifers
- Wells including municipal wells and floodplains.
For each disposal option there are specific operating requirements that will have to be met in order to safely dispose of the dead farm animal. In some cases, there are limitations on the volume of deadstock being disposed.
Transportation
The transportation requirements under the regulation state that a farm operator may transport only his/her own deadstock:
- To a common bin or collection point for collection by a licensed deadstock collector
- To a veterinarian for the purposes of a post mortem
- From one farm to another for disposal if he/she owns the property where the disposal will take place
- To a site approved under the EPA or licensed under the FSQA that is not a provincially licensed meat plant.
During transport, the deadstock must be kept out of public view, and in a container designed or equipped to prevent leakage. Each surface that comes into contact with the deadstock must be impervious and capable of being cleaned and sanitized. Transportation under these circumstances does not require approval under the FSQA.
Record Keeping
The operator will be required to maintain records for two years for all methods of disposal. The records must include documentation that demonstrates compliance with the regulation.
Emergency Conditions
Provisions for emergency conditions exist where an operator cannot, under circumstances such as a barn fire, comply with the NMA requirements with respect to storage, disposal or transportation of the dead farm animals. The regulation allows the operator to apply for approval to arrange for storage, disposal, or transportation that would not otherwise meet the requirements of the regulation. In this situation, each case would be decided individually. The circumstances would be weighed against the potential threat to the environment if an alternate method of disposal were used.
2. Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 (FSQA)
The regulation under the FSQA provides for the management and disposal of deadstock off-farm. It is designed to protect public health by preventing meat from deadstock from entering the human food chain. The regulation establishes the following to minimize the impacts on animal health and the environment:
- Transportation
- Processing
- Storage, and
- Disposal standards and requirements.
The risk of the spread of animal diseases is also reduced by the measures established by the regulation. The measures provide greater flexibility with additional disposal options to effectively manage the processing and disposal of deadstock.
The FSQA regulation applies to the management of the mortalities of the following farmed animals that could enter the human food chain:
- Cattle
- Goats
- Sheep
- Horses
- Swine
- Deer
- Elk
- Alpacas
- Llamas
- Donkeys
- Ponies
- Rabbits
- Poultry
- Fowl
- Ratites.
The regulation does not apply to furbearing animals, other than rabbits, as the interest is only with animals that could potentially be served as food.
Permitted methods of disposal are set out for deadstock that is disposed of beyond the farm premises and deadstock disposed of by custodians of the animals at their time of death. Custodians include owners or operators of:
- Fairs and exhibitions
- Sales barns
- Assembly yards
- Race tracks
- Transporters of live animals
- Vet clinics.
Veterinarians that receive deadstock for post mortems are deemed to be custodians and must dispose of the carcasses in accordance with the regulation.
Operators of sales barns, assembly yards and feeding stations that choose to accept (from livestock transporters) the carcasses of animals specified as deadstock that die in transit are deemed to be custodians and must dispose of the carcasses in accordance with the regulation.
A custodian disposing of deadstock must dispose of it by:
- Having the animal collected by a licensed deadstock collector
- Transporting the deadstock to licensed operators of:
- Transfer stations
- Composting facilities
- Salvaging facilities
- Rendering facilities
- Transporting the deadstock to an approved waste disposal site, or
- Transporting the deadstock to equivalent facilities outside of Ontario that can legally accept deadstock.
Deadstock can only be transported in vehicles, trailers or containers designed and equipped to:
- Prevent leakage or escape of the deadstock material
- Keep the carcasses from public view and
- Withstand repeated cleaning and sanitizing.
Any vehicle used to transport deadstock must meet these requirements. Any person transporting deadstock must hide the carcasses from public view.
Collectors
Any person in the business of transporting and collecting deadstock must be licensed as a collector and meet the requirements for vehicles and proper transport (see previous section).
Collectors must display proof of their licence in the windshield of their vehicle.
Collectors are required to dispose of deadstock by:
- Transporting the deadstock to licensed operators of:
- Transfer stations
- Composting facilities
- Salvaging facilities
- Rendering facilities, or
- Transporting the deadstock to an approved waste disposal site, or
- Transporting the deadstock to equivalent facilities outside of Ontario that can legally accept deadstock.
Transfer Stations
The FSQA regulation sets out licensing, facility, and operating requirements for transfer stations, which are sites that receive and consolidate deliveries of deadstock for shipment to:
- Licensed operators of deadstock
- Salvaging facilities
- Composting facilities
- Rendering facilities and
- An approved waste disposal site, or
- Equivalent facilities outside of Ontario.
All shipments from a transfer station must be transported by a licensed collector.
Salvaging Facilities
Licensees that operated receiving plants under DADA immediately before the FSQA regulation came into effect are now licensed as operators of salvaging facilities. The regulation continues to require meat from deadstock that is distributed to be cut into prescribed portion sizes, denatured, packaged and labelled. Meat fed to the salvagers own animals or used for baiting may be cut into larger portions and that meat is provided some specific exemptions to the denaturing, packaging, and labelling rules.
Any person that accepts deadstock carcasses for feeding to captive wildlife is required to:
- Be licensed as a salvager, and
- Ensure the carcasses are handled and fed in a manner that prevents the scavengers or pests from removing the carcass or any part of it from the area where the feeding occurs.
Any dead animal that the operator does not use or process must be transported from the facility by a collector.
Broker
A broker must be licenced to purchase and sell meat from deadstock in a raw form. The regulation sets out the requirements for denaturing, packaging, and labelling when a broker alters the meat.
Composting
The FSQA regulation provides for centralized composting of deadstock. It sets out the application, siting, facility and operational standards and requirements for those centralized deadstock composting facilities. The facility and operational requirements provide for various composting and curing methods as well as for composting pads made of different materials. The regulation establishes turning, temperature and substrate standards. Compost that is derived from deadstock and that has been composted in accordance with the regulation may only be sold if it meets all of the prescribed standards for finished compost. Material that fails to meet the requirements may be re-composted or disposed of at an approved waste disposal site depending on the regulatory defect(s). The regulation specifies who may transport material, other than finished compost, from a composting facility.
Any dead animal that the operator does not use or process must be transported from the facility by a collector.
Rendering
The regulation sets out license application requirements for rendering facilities.
Any dead animal that the operator does not use or process must be transported from the facility by a collector.
Record Keeping
Collectors and operators of disposal facilities are required to keep a record of every animal received and of its’ disposal. Brokers are required to keep records of the meat the broker receives and of its disposition. Records are required to be retained for three years.
Operators of composting facilities are required to keep additional records and retain them for the periods as specified in the Regulation.
Emergency Conditions
Under both regulations, in circumstances where the director believes an emergency exists and compliance is impractical, alternative methods of storage, disposal, or transportation of the dead animals may be authorized with specified conditions attached.
Licence Fees
There is no fee for licences.
3. Environmental Protection Act (EPA)
In order to harmonize the new deadstock regulations, amendments to Reg. 347 General – Waste regulation under the EPA were also required. The amendments exempt the following from Part V of the Act and the Regulation unless the material is transferred to a waste disposal site that is operated under a Certificate of Approval or Provisional Certificate of Approval:
- Disposal of dead animals under the FSQA and the NMA, inedible material within the meaning of O. Reg. 31/05 (meat) under the FSQA, or material that has been condemned or derived from a carcass at a registered establishment under the Meat Inspection Act (Canada); and
- Composting material and cured compost from a dead animal composting facility that is operated under a license issued under the FSQA.
Exemptions to Part V of the EPA and regulation (waste management) will apply to manure from any location and certain solid waste plant material not chemically treated as long as it is transferred directly from the generator to a farm operation to improve the growing of crops.
The amendments to Reg. 347 under the EPA include an updated definition of agricultural waste by defining a farm operation as:
- An agricultural, aquacultural, or horticultural operation that grows, produces or raises farm animals, or produces agricultural crops and the processing and transportation in relation to products produced.
In addition, the amendments clarify that Section 29 of the Act applies to these wastes for which the Minister of the Environment has the power to require a municipality to accept at its disposal site if it is in the public interest.
Larger industrial companies which process agricultural products are required to manage their wastes according to current waste management legislation consistent with other Ontario industries.
