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For Members

Members' Update

President’s Message

Spring has arrived, and as the days grow longer and projects begin to pick up after the winter months, this season offers a chance to reset and look ahead to what’s coming for our Society.

As of end of our fiscal year on March 31, 2026, the Society had received 106 submissions, which is below our forecast of 125 submissions. While this lower-than-expected volume reflects the overall economy, it is worth noting that in contrast, Review Services received close to double the number of documents for review than forecasted. The Board will continue to closely monitor trends and ensure the Society remains responsive, resilient, and financially sound. We continue to collaborate with the ministry to identify other areas where Approved Professionals can be of service.

Our Annual General Meeting is approaching on June 3, 2026, and I encourage all members to attend. At the AGM, Board and Committee Chairs will be providing detailed updates on the Society’s activities and accomplishments over the past year. As in previous years, most of the day will be devoted to our Spring Professional Development Workshop, which promises to be both informative and engaging. Sessions will include the ever-popular PAC Lessons Learned, presentations on two Technical Review Committee projects—Emerging Contaminants and Soil Arsenic Background—as well as updates from the Ministry and an interactive discussion focused on Risk Assessment.

As introduced in the winter update, here is the second edition of “Meet the Board”. Chad Paulin was appointed by the ministry to the Board last year as the local government representative. Here is a brief bio for Chad:

Chad Paulin has been working from the City of Richmond since 2017 specializing in climate and environmental policy, with a strong commitment to sustainable development and community resilience. He currently serves as Director of Climate and Environment, where he leads strategic initiatives focused on advancing climate action, environmental stewardship, and long-term sustainability goals. In this role, he works collaboratively with government agencies, interest groups, and community partners to develop and implement policies that address existing and emerging environmental priorities.

In addition to his leadership in local government, Chad is a Board Member of the CSAP Society, serving as a local government representative. Through this role, he contributes to advancing the Society’s mission by providing insight on public sector priorities and supporting cross-sector collaboration for initiatives.

I hope to see many of you on June 3. We look forward to connecting with you, sharing knowledge, and continuing to strengthen our professional community.

Performance Assessment Committee Updates

Questions & Answers

There were five Q&A questions received within the last quarter. The responses are summarised as follows:

  • Can you use modelling for soil delineation? Modelling alone cannot be used for delineation but can be used as an additional line of evidence for delineation.
  • Can CSAP professionals make decisions on Area Wide contamination and in what circumstances does the decision making rest with ENV? CSAP professionals are to provide rationale and supporting information why they believe it is Area wide contamination in reports and section 4.8 of the Summary of Site Condition, and ENV will review the rationale and make a decision.
  • A schedule 2 site was split into two properties with different owners, distinct areas of contamination on each property and a P6 preapproval was obtained to not have to delineate beyond the property boundary of property A. Property A was remediated to numerical standards, without remediation occurring at property B, can a numerical submission be made not at arm’s length for property A?  Yes, a submission can be made that is not at arm’s length as a P6 preapproval was obtained and the numerical CoC is limited to property A.
  • A schedule 2 site historically had a tank removal completed with bedding soil removed for disposal. While soil contamination was not identified, a NIR was filed for the tank and soil disposal. The site has since been investigated in all media and contamination was not found.  With the NIR in place should it be submitted as a CoC without substances listed in Schedule C or should it be submitted as a Determination?  Section 54(4) of the EMA limits certification to a CoC or AiP if independent remediation was completed. However, the tank and clean soil removal alone do not appear to fit the EMA definition of remediation and if remediation was not completed then a Determination appears to be the most appropriate certification document to recommend.
  • The client is looking to get a certification document ahead of site redevelopment and would like to avoid potential delays associated with a release.  The site has an ongoing Schedule 2 and no contamination has been identified.  Will ENV issue a Determination for a site with an ongoing Schedule 2 use?  While we understand the preference to not wait, ENV has indicated that a release would be the preference and cannot recommend to their SDMs to issue a certification document with an ongoing Schedule 2.  Alternatively, if the future use of the site remains consistent then it could be eligible for an SDS exemption as per CSR section 4.2.

Lessons Learned 

  • When upper cap concentrations are present, provide cross sections or plan view diagrams to confirm that area requirements are met, for example if shallow upper cap concentrations are present include a plan view to show that they occur over an area less than 125 m2 for a commercial site.

Detailed Screening Sub-Committee Updates

We are now in our 11th year of conducting Detailed Screenings (where does the time go!). While overall submission quality is good, we continue to see some common issues (and yes, you have heard them before!) including not addressing all water uses in Section 4.2 of the SoSC, matching the spelling of substances to those included in the CSR (applies to SoSC and draft certification document), and including all required information in the notes Section of 4.6 of the SoSC. Some more recent requirements which commonly have issues identified during Detailed Screenings and/or by the BC ENV SDM’s during their reviews include:

  • Site Risk Classification Records: Detailed Screeners often identify omissions related to the following items that are reviewed during Detailed Screening:
    • If the CSSAF indicates that an SRCR was submitted in the last five years, confirm the dates to determination if the exception applies.
    • Do the SoSC, CSSAF, and SRCR list the same site risk classification?

Preliminary Screening 

Some reminders about common issues identified in preliminary screening:

  • If applying for a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) or Determination (DET) after an Approval in Principle (AiP), all reporting requirements from the AiP must be met. If the reporting requirements are not up to date, any outstanding reports should be submitted to satisfy the requirements before a CoC or DET submission is transferred to the Ministry.
  • When submitting emails as part of a submission (as a record of communication or correspondence with the Ministry etc.), please submit as a PDF. Outlook files cannot be transferred to the Ministry.
  • Please ensure cheques sent to CSAP Society include identifying information about the site. This should be a Site ID if available, or a civic address if no Site ID exists.
  • The applicant for a submission is the person named on the certification document cover letter and should be consistent across all submission documents.
  • Legal Plan(s) should be provided as part of the submission documents. If these are not available, please highlight this in the ‘Anything CSAP/ENV need to know’ section of the Transmittal Letter.
  • Please consider the length of document titles. There is a character limit that applies to both downloading the documents for review and transferring documents to the Ministry. Subfolders extend the file path instead of resetting it, so please keep document titles as short as possible. 

Review Services Sub-committee Updates

It has been a busy start to 2026 for Review Services submissions, with 15 received since April 1st (as of April 24, 2026). Of these 15 submissions, 5 have been sent to ENV. No Acknowledgement Letters have been received to this point.

In the fiscal year 2025 – 2026, there were a total of 87 Review Services submissions received. All 87 have been transferred to ENV, and 74 Acknowledgment Letters have been received as of April 24th.

Technical Review Committee Updates

The TRC most recently met as a whole on January 28, with additional meetings held with subgroups of the TRC in March to continue work on the Special Projects we have proceeding this year. Additional details on the projects are included below.

Emerging Contaminants Special Project – The purpose of this project is to evaluate emerging contaminants (ECs) with a focus on Schedule 2 uses, and to provide guidance and information to ENV to be used in future amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation. The final report for this project, published by Active Earth, is now available on the CSAP website.   A presentation of the project findings will be given at the Spring 2026 CSAP PD workshop.

Lower Mainland Soil Arsenic Background Concentrations Project – The project builds on the Background Soil Concentrations work completed last year. Its objective is to better characterize arsenic concentrations in the Lower Mainland and assess whether background levels exceed those in ENV Protocol 4 (Table 1) within specific sub-regions. The project was awarded to Core 6 Environmental. A draft report was provided to CSAP in March and is currently being reviewed. The final report is expected in May, with results to be presented at the Spring 2026 CSAP PD workshop.

Road Salt Impacted Soil Management Review – The purpose of this new project is to inform the contaminated sites community in British Columbia on the issues and possible remedies for the management of road salt contaminated soil during development projects and provide practical management options to the BC Ministry of Environment and Parks for future regulatory consideration. This project was awarded to Active Earth in March and is currently underway. The results of this project will be discussed at the Fall 2026 CSAP PD Workshop.

Use of Research & Technical Studies Materials – A reminder that the reports and guidance documents provided on the Research & Technical Studies page are intended solely as guidance resources. They are not Ministry‑endorsed and do not replace regulatory requirements. Members must continue to rely on their professional judgement when using these materials and ensure all decisions and submissions comply with applicable legislation and policy.

Scholarships – CSAP provides three scholarships per year, totaling $17,000, to applicants enrolled in a science or engineering graduate program with a focus on contaminated sites. CSAP is now reviewing the applications for the 2026 scholarships, which will be awarded during the Spring PD Workshop in June.

If you have any suggestions for a topic that you would like the TRC to tackle, please send your ideas to [email protected].

Membership Committee Updates 

The Membership Committee would like to thank all members who submitted their professional development records by the December 31 deadline. Renewal requirements were reviewed for 33 members who renewed their membership at the end of 2025.

Members are reminded that details on Continuing Professional Development requirements are available in the CSAP Membership Guidelines.

The 2026 exam development process is now underway. The Membership Committee extends sincere thanks to the Experience Reviewers and Exam Developers who have contributed their time and expertise in support of the Exam Sub‑Committee.

Key dates and deadlines for 2026

  • April 30, 2026: Deadline for applications for new members
  • July 31, 2026: Deadline to pay exam fees
  • July 31, 2026: Deadline to apply to take the Regulatory Exam for existing members who have not fulfilled the submission requirement

2026 Exam Dates

  • Numerical Technical Exam: November 2, 2026
  • Risk Assessment Technical Exam: November 2, 2026
  • Regulatory Exam: November 3, 2026

Professional Development Committee Updates

AGM & Spring PD Workshop

Our AGM and annual Spring Workshop are coming up soon on June 3, 2026 at the Vancouver Convention Centre East Building. This members-only session will include updates from the CSAP Board of Directors and committees as well as several PD sessions:

  • Director’s Update by Carrie Nugent, Director, Site Remediation Program, Ministry of Environment and Parks (ENV)
  • Technical Review Committee Special Projects (2 presentations):
    • Emerging Contaminants – Scott Steer from Active Earth Engineering
    • Soil Arsenic Background – Stephen Munzar and Daniel Schencks from Core 6 Environmental
  • Lessons Learned – Jason Christensen, Chair of the Performance Assessment Committee
  • Risk Assessment Presentation – Blair King from Parsons Inc and Jasen Nelson, Senior Risk Assessment Officer, Site Remediation Program, ENV
  • Interactive Discussion:
    • Edge Cases – David Mitchell from Active Earth and Kerri Skelly, Manager, Operations, Site Remediation Program, ENV

A no-host happy hour with snacks will be held after the event in the foyer.

Register for the event here.

Lunch and Learn Series

We completed our 2026 Season Opener lunch and learn session in February, and have two more sessions lined up for Spring:

  • April 22 – PAC Lessons Learned (PAs and Detailed Screening – What Members Need to Know) – Jason Christensen and Tara Siemens Kennedy
  • May 27 – Local Government Perspective on Contaminated Sites Management in BC – Chad Paulin and Nadia Chan, City of Richmond

Watch for emails with the Zoom links to these sessions. Additional lunch and learns are scheduled for July, September and December 2026. For the most up-to-date details on all Lunch and Learn sessions, bookmark the webpage. If you have a suggestion for a topic or presenter for an upcoming session, please feel free to reach out to CSAP ([email protected]).


Submission Statistics Update (as of March 31, 2026)

What’s New At CSAP

The CSAP Society Board of Directors parent organization representative positions are up for election this year. These elections occur every two years. Members in good standing who meet the eligibility requirements are invited to submit nominations in accordance with the following documents:

The Director Pathway provides additional information for members who may be considering a Board role in the future.

Members interested in putting their names forward as a candidate are asked to submit a completed nomination form to Patricia Fu at [email protected] by May 8, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. PT.

The election will be conducted electronically from May 19 to 25, 2026, and the successful candidates will be announced at the AGM. Please note that only members of each parent organization may vote for their respective representative.

A reminder that effective as of April 1, 2026, submission fees for Certificate of Compliance (CoC) and Approval in Principle (AiP) certification documents have increased by approximately 5%. All other submission fees remain unchanged. An updated Submissions Fee Schedule is available for your reference.

As noted in previous communications, this adjustment enables CSAP Society to continue delivering core services, including performance assessments, detailed screenings, and administration amid rising operational costs. It also supports the long term sustainability of our services as we prepare for potential declines in submission volumes in the coming years.

The discounted rate for submissions with more than five certification documents continues to apply.

In The News

Professional Development Opportunities

Please note, these are virtual unless otherwise noted.