Bill 36 explained in plain English
Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2012, seeks to inform the public about radon, create an Ontario Radon Registry, and lower radon levels in buildings by amending the Building Code Act, 1992.
This bill, the Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2012, aims to increase public awareness of radon, establish a registry of radon levels in Ontario, and reduce radon levels in homes and workplaces. It requires the Minister to educate the public about radon risks and encourage homeowners to test their homes. It also mandates testing and remediation for provincially owned dwellings and enclosed workplaces. The bill amends the Building Code Act, 1992, to allow for regulations requiring new dwellings to be built in ways that minimize radon entry and facilitate its removal. The Minister must review these building code requirements within five years of the Act coming into force.
- Establishes the Ontario Radon Registry to collect and map radon level information.
- Requires radon measurement specialists and laboratories to report specified information to the Ontario Radon Registry.
- Mandates the Minister to conduct public education programs about radon.
- Encourages homeowners to measure radon levels in their homes and take action if levels exceed 200 Bq/m³.
- Requires the Minister to ensure radon levels in all provincially owned dwellings are measured and, if necessary, reduced.
- Requires owners of enclosed workplaces to ensure radon levels are measured and, if necessary, reduced.
- Amends the Building Code Act, 1992, to enable regulations that require new dwellings to minimize radon entry and facilitate radon removal.
- Requires the Minister to review building code requirements related to radon prevention within five years of the Act coming into force.
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (or equivalent)
- Radon measurement specialists
- Laboratories that analyze radon samples
- Homeowners
- Owners of provincially owned dwellings
- Occupiers of provincially owned dwellings
- Owners of enclosed workplaces
- Workers in enclosed workplaces
- The public in Ontario
- Radon measurement specialists and laboratories must provide specified information to the Ontario Radon Registry.
- The Minister must establish and operate the Ontario Radon Registry.
- The Minister must create and maintain a radon map of Ontario.
- The Minister must conduct public education programs about radon.
- Homeowners are encouraged to measure radon levels and take action if levels exceed 200 Bq/m³.
- The Minister must ensure radon levels in provincially owned dwellings are measured and reduced if necessary (subject to occupier's authorization).
- Owners of enclosed workplaces must ensure radon levels are measured and reduced if necessary.
- A person who contravenes the Act or regulations can be found guilty of an offence.
- Regulations can be made to specify qualifications for radon measurement specialists, information for the registry, measurement frequency, and radon level thresholds.
- The Building Code can be amended to require new dwellings to minimize radon entry and facilitate radon removal.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Provincially owned dwellings must have their radon level measured by December 31, 2021, and then at frequencies prescribed by regulations.
- Enclosed workplaces must have their radon level measured by December 31, 2016, and then at frequencies prescribed by regulations.
- Action to reduce radon levels in workplaces must be taken within two years of receiving the measurement results.
- The Minister must initiate a review of the building code requirements related to radon prevention within five years of the Act coming into force.
- Individuals or corporations convicted of an offence under the Act are liable to fines: up to $25,000 for individuals and up to $500,000 for corporations.
- A person who contravenes the Act or regulations is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment for not more than 12 months, or both.
- A corporation convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of not more than $500,000.
- The specific qualifications for a 'radon measurement specialist' will be set out in regulations.
- Other information to be provided to the Ontario Radon Registry will be prescribed by regulations.
- The frequency of radon level measurements in provincially owned dwellings and enclosed workplaces will be prescribed by regulations.
- Specific radon levels that trigger action will be specified in regulations.
- The application of radon testing in provincially owned dwellings is subject to the occupier's authorization.
- The Act does not specify the cost of radon testing or remediation.
This amendment provides the authority to create regulations that require new dwellings to be built in a way that minimizes radon entry and makes it easier to remove radon after construction.
Source: Section 9(1)
This amendment requires the Minister to review building code requirements for radon prevention in dwellings within five years of the Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2012, coming into force.
Source: Section 9(2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
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No published representative vote breakdown
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
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