ERO #019-0774 Bill 132,…

ERO #019-0774 Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019

"Power afforded Minister is excessive and subjective"

By AWARE Simcoe: Social and Environmental Solutions Inc.

November 24, 2019

AWARE Simcoe is a citizens’ group that works for transparency and accountability in government and to protect water, the environment and health.

OMNIBUS BILL
Bill-132 is an omnibus bill which proposes amendments to more than 24 pieces of legislation across 14 government of Ontario ministries.

AWARE Simcoe objects to the use of the omnibus bill format because it is being misused by provincial and federal governments in Canada. Omnibus bills are written to encompass many diverse issues. It has become typical for a single omnibus bill to span hundreds of pages, to be drafted in mere hours on short deadlines, and to be made so large and complicated that lawmakers do not know the entirety of the bill before they vote. Thus, these bills are used as a political strategy to avoid debate and scrutiny and should not be allowed.

POLLUTERS
AWARE Simcoe asks the Government of Ontario to remove Schedule 9 from Bill-132, and to hold polluters accountable by increasing the penalties for pollution. Penalties must cover the clean up costs and deter would-be polluters.

AGGREGATE RESOURCES ACT AMENDMENTS
AWARE Simcoe requests that the government remove schedule 16 from Bill 132 and consult with communities that live near aggregate producing areas and environmental groups before proceeding with any changes to the Aggregates Resources Act. Aggregate producers cannot be allowed to destroy Ontario’s natural heritage, disrupt communities, or endanger municipalities’ ability to protect the fresh water their citizens depend on.

IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC COMMENTS
AWARE Simcoe was disappointed to learn that the amendments to the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) proposed in omnibus Bill-132 announced on October 28th were still open for public comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO #019-0556), closing on November 4th a full seven (7) days after Bill-132 was announced. How can amendments be announced when all the public comments have not been received and processed?

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Bill-132 was referred to Standing Committee on a divided second reading in the House. AWARE Simcoe is disappointed that the Standing Committee on General Government will only be holding hearings in London, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora and Toronto from November 19-29th. The calendar is rushed and ill-serves areas like Barrie and Guelph despite these locales having a significant quantity of aggregate operations.

MUNICIPAL ENGAGEMENT
Municipalities and the public must be involved in the decision-making in their areas. Limiting municipalities and residents to having their concerns heard by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) is too late in the process and too expensive. Issues raised by municipalities and other concerned parties must be considered and addressed at no cost to the same.

Removing municipalities’ rights to specify extraction depth of aggregate operations will be detrimental to a good relationship between the aggregate operation and local residents. The municipality must have the power to protect local people and resources from abuse and misuse.

Removing municipalities’ rights to set zoning on local crown land will be detrimental to long-term planning. The Minister cannot know the local issues as well as the local municipality.

MINISTERIAL POWER
Enabling the Minister to add, rescind or vary a condition of a licence or amend a licence in any other way makes the granting of a licence subjective. The friends and critics of the aggregate industry both demand open, transparent, fair rules and regulations so business can be conducted along known, safe and understood procedures and timelines. Allowing the Minister to circumvent that process for some and not for others would open the Minister and staff to criticism and pressure. That pressure could lead to unfair application of the law, favouritism, and undue influence at election time.

MINISTERIAL PRE-APPROVAL
Requiring the Minister to provide written approval for a licensee to amend a site plan or prepare a new site plan would bottleneck licence amendments applications and would promote the impression that the project is approved before the application is made. Amendments that are in accord with regulations and do not need approval from the Minister would also offer the impression that projects are pre-approved.

MUNICIPAL NOTICE
The Clerk of each Municipality in which the site is located should be notified for all amendments to a licence as proposed by the Minister. Relying on the Minister to know and understand the importance of a change to a municipality is dicey. The Minister cannot possibly know the impact that all changes could have on all local residents and all areas. Allowing the Minister to circumvent documented process for some and not others would open the Minister and staff to criticism and pressure. That pressure could lead to unfair application of the law, favouritism, and undue influence at election time.

BELOW WATER TABLE EXTRACTION
Lowering the depth of extraction from above-the-water-table to below-the-water-table is a major amendment. Allowing the Minister to approve such a change could be arbitrary and subjective, and could do a disservice to residents if they are not involved. The Minister cannot possibly know the impact that changes could have on all residents in all areas. Allowing the Minister to circumvent process for some and not others would open the Minister and staff to criticism and pressure. That pressure could lead to unfair application of the law, favouritism, and undue influence at election time. A comprehensive environmental assessment must be made before such a change with participation from residents and stakeholders.

LOCAL PLANNING APPEAL TRIBUNAL (LPAT)
Having the Minister dictate the issues to be reviewed and discussed in the LPAT hearing makes the hearing arbitrary and subjective. Allowing the Minister to change the process for some and not others would open the Minister and staff to criticism and pressure. That pressure could lead to unfair application of the law, favouritism, and undue influence at election time.

HAUL ROUTES
Removing haul routes as condition(s) for agreement both at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and by the Minister downplays the importance of haul route resolution when haul route(s) have significant impact to people and municipalities, and are a key issue.

EXPANSION OF BOUNDARIES
Expanding the boundaries of an aggregate site is a major amendment. Allowing the Minister to approve such a change could be arbitrary and subjective, and could do a disservice to residents if they are not involved. The Minister cannot possibly know the impact that such a change could have on all residents in all areas. Allowing the Minister to circumvent process for some and not others would open the Minister and staff to criticism and pressure. That pressure could lead to unfair application of the law, favouritism, and undue influence at election time. A comprehensive analysis must be made before such a change with participation from local residents and stakeholders.

ROAD ALLOWANCE
Assuming a closed road allowance will stay closed forever is a misconception. As areas develop, road allowances become cost beneficial and may be re-opened.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY
We at AWARE Simcoe consider the Environmental Registry to be an invaluable resource for the Government of Ontario. The tool, when used as intended, provides a key platform for soliciting feedback and hearing the voices of Ontarians. However, under the current government, the ERO is being ignored and information squandered. We hereby provide our comments about the proposed amendments to the ARA for the record and without faith that our concerns will be considered.
 
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Make conservation of aggregate, a non-renewable resource, a priority over approval of new extraction sites. Conservation can occur through aggregate recycling and use of alternative materials. All three levels of government need to be encouraged to use recycled product.

2. Reserve virgin aggregate, a non-renewable resource, for use within Canada.

3. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table without a full Environmental Assessment and full understanding of the impact on all areas, near and far.

4. Prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table in drinking water source areas.

5. Develop a process and guidelines for identifying and designating new Specialty Crop Areas to safeguard unique agricultural land resources. Prohibit aggregate extraction in Specialty Crop Areas.

6. Conduct a thorough study of all existing aggregate reserves in Ontario. We cannot know what we need until we know what we have.

7. Develop an Aggregate Provincial Plan and disallow new aggregate mining licenses within environmentally protected spaces until the Aggregate Provincial Plan has been fully approved by the people and the province. Align the Aggregate Provincial Plan with existing environmental protection legislation including but not limited to the Greenbelt, the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine.

8. Provide an assessment of the cumulative effects (dust, noise, air quality, traffic emissions; effects on water) of the Aggregate Provincial Plan on Ontario residents by district.

9. Require that new aggregate proposals demonstrate need for additional aggregate resource extraction in meeting the demands of the Ontario market.

10. Mandate that an Environmental Assessment occur for all new or expanding aggregate operations.

11. Realign the cost of virgin aggregate to reflect reality. Economically, aggregate is a low-priced, heavy-weight commodity that takes the bulk of its cost from transportation. Today, however, the price of virgin aggregate must include the activism necessary by residents to fight for their best interest despite the elected and public institutions designed to represent and protect the public interest. As well, the cost must encompass the environmental cost on residents. In other words, the market cost for virgin aggregate is unrealistically cheap. Create a management system that works for residents and price the product accordingly. This is called full cost accounting.

12. Implement “social licencing” where operators must earn the right to continue extraction through responsible operation, and timely and progressive rehabilitation.

13. Include an end to the aggregate licence, a “sunset clause”. Legally, all contracts require a termination point. Give communities a light at the end of the tunnel. Operators have a tendency to keep a near exhausted site active enough to avoid rehabilitation due to the expense. Or, they extend the life of the operation by accepting commercial fill – the more contaminated/suspect the fill the higher the fee earned.

#ProtectOurWater #ProtectPrimeFarmland #GrowOurGreenbelt #FoodAndWaterFirst