Amendment to Renewable Energy Approval (REA) No. 4501-9VJK3N for the Toronto Zoo Anaerobic Digester Project

We amended Renewable Energy Approval (REA) No. 4501-9VJK3N for the Toronto Zoo Anaerobic Digestor Project issued to ZooShare Biogas Development Inc., as general partner for and on behalf of ZooShare Biogas LP (ZooShare).

The Toronto Zoo Anaerobic Digester Project, which began operating on February 28, 2021, uses a process called anaerobic digestion to break down waste from various sources including manure from the Toronto Zoo, liquid organic waste, fats, oils and greases from grocery stores to create biogas. This biogas is used to generate up to 500 kilowatts of electricity.

This amendment is administrative in nature and will make the following changes:

• update the facility’s Financial Assurance requirements,
• implement administrative changes throughout the REA.

Updates to Financial Assurance Requirements

Financial Assurance (FA) is the financial security held by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) to guarantee the cost of complying with environmental measures specified in the REA including the clean-up, and post closure care of the facility.

Ongoing operations, site conditions and potential cost changes necessitate the need to re-evaluate the FA held by the ministry over time. The ministry held FA in the amount of $99,794.97 for the Toronto Zoo Anaerobic Digester Project. This amendment updates the FA amount to $154,284.46 determined during the re-evaluation submitted by ZooShare and approved by the Director on December 16, 2024.

In line with current ministry practice, while considering the facility’s operations and to reduce the administrative burden to ZooShare, the Director has extended the FA re-evaluation requirements from every three years to every five years.

Additional Minor Administrative Changes

In addition to the FA requirement changes, this amendment improves the clarity of ZooShare’s REA requirements with administrative changes throughout the REA.

Specifically, this amendment incorporates the following administrative changes:

• consolidation of this amendment and previous amendment notices issued by the Director into one document
• renumbering of conditions in the REA to reflect previous and current changes to conditions
• correcting several typographical errors and/or providing clarification regarding:
  • records retention requirements
  • waste receiving and operating hour requirements
  • incoming biomass sampling requirements
  • the holding capacity of the pasteurizer system

No new environmental effects are expected because of these changes beyond those that were previously identified, documented and consulted on through the REA process. Amending the REA to update FA requirements and the implementation of administrative changes throughout the REA is considered an administrative change under Chapter 10 of the Technical Guide to Renewable Energy Approvals.

This Class 3 anaerobic digestion facility, known as the Toronto Zoo Anaerobic Digester Project, is located at 1749A Meadowvale Road in the City of Toronto.

Third Party Hearing Provisions

Any resident of Ontario may require a hearing by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) within 15 days after the date this Decision is loaded to the Environmental Registry by written notice served upon all of the following:

Appellate Body:

Courier mail should be addressed to:
Ontario Land Tribunal
25 Grosvenor Street, 4th Floor
Toronto,& ON M7A 1R1

Mail sent through Canada Post should be addressed to:

Ontario Land Tribunal
655 Bay Street, Suite 1500
Toronto, ON M5G 1E5

Phone: 416-212-6349
Toll free: 1-866-448-2248
TTY: 1-800-855-1155
Email: OLT.Registrar@ontario.ca

Issuing Authority:

Mohsen Keyvani
Director, Section 47.5, Environmental Protection Act
Environmental Permissions Branch
135 St. Clair Avenue West
Floor 1
Toronto Ontario
M4V 1P5
Phone: (416) 314-8001
Toll Free Phone: (800) 461-6290
enviropermissions@ontario.ca

Proponent:

ZooShare Biogas Development Inc.
150 John Street
7th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3E3 Phone: (416) 886-4475
dkeaney@enerforge.ca

An applicant for a hearing shall state in the notice requiring the hearing

1. a description of how engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the renewable energy approval will cause
   1. serious harm to human health, or
   2. serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environment;
2. the portion of the renewable energy approval in respect of which the hearing is required; and
3. the relief sought.

Further information is provided on the OLT’s website at: https://olt.gov.on.ca/