Overview Oxford County is a…

Overview

Oxford County is a mid-sized regional government with a population count of over 120,000 spread over urban and rural communities. Under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act, Oxford County is responsible for undertaking a number of Public Works Capital Projects in accordance with the Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) approved planning process as outlined in the Municipal Engineers Association Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) process. These projects include roads, bridges, water, and wastewater infrastructure.

Comments

The County supports the MECP in its efforts to modernize and streamline the MCEA process. We appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes to the MCEA requirements for infrastructure projects and offer the following comments for consideration.

The recently approved MCEA amendment is benefitting municipalities by allowing projects that are limited in scale and have minimal adverse effects on the environment to be exempt from the Environmental Assessment Act requirements. These changes have allowed Oxford County to reduce project timelines and save costs for our residents. We support the MECP’s proposal to further evaluate MCEA requirements for infrastructure projects, with the goal of allowing projects with limited environmental impacts to proceed without delay.

If, as a result of the ERO posting, the current MCEA is revoked, it is requested that a standard for all municipalities to adhere to when investing tax dollars with infrastructure projects to support current residents and businesses as well as supporting both residential and industrial development be implemented. This will allow for consistent application across the province and ensure that both the community, environmental and indigenous needs are met.

The County supports the MECP’s changes that reflect best practices and allows projects with limited, if any, environmental impacts to proceed without delay, thus allowing the County to build the infrastructure required to support our growing communities.