HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD-258-88 DN: 258-88
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TOWN OF NEWCASTLE
REPORT File # 3S"-31
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Res. #
By-Law #
MEETING: General Purpose and Administration Committee
DATE: Monday, December 12, 1988
REPORT #: PD-258-88 FIE #: PLN 21.1
SUKECT: BILL 170 - AN ACT TO REVISE SEVERAL ACTS RELATED
TO AGGREGATE RESOURCES
FILE: PLN 21.1
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration
Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report PD-258-88 be received; and
2. THAT the following resolution and a copy of this report be forwarded to the
Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Minister of Natural Resources
and the Region of Durham as the Town of Newcastle's position with respect to
Bill 170 - An Act to revise several Acts related to Aggregate Resources:
"WHEREAS Bill 170 - An Act to revise several Acts related to Aggregate
Resources addresses many of the inadequacies with existing Aggregate
Resource legislation by providing more effective and realistic
management of the Province's mineral aggregate resources; and
WHEREAS Bill 170 provides for greater municipal input on proposed
applications and Ministerial actions; stronger provisions related to
the rehabilitation of excavated sites and the minimization of the
adverse social and environmental impacts of mineral aggregate
extraction; and financial compensation for municipalities affected by
aggregate extraction operations;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Town of Newcastle supports Bill
170 in principle; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Town of Newcastle recommends to the
Minister of Natural Resources the following:
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1) THAT Section 27, Subsection 1 of Bill 170 be amended to
require the location of wayside pits and quarries to comply
with relevant zoning by-laws; and
2) THAT Bill 170 be amended to state that funding provided to
municipalities through the disbursement of the aggregate
production levy is distinct from other sources of Provincial
funding; and
3) THAT, prior to being approved, the Regulations regarding the
proposed annual licence fee and disbursement formula should
be reviewed in conjunction with upper-tier and local
municipalities:
a) to determine a new value for the proposed production levy
to more adequately reflect current costs faced by
municipalities;
b) to provide for a periodic review of the value of the
production levy;
c) to provide for increased financial compensation to
upper-tier municipalities, including an equitable
disbursement of revenue between upper-tier and local
municipalities;
d) to provide for financial compensation to municipalities
which are directly and adversely impacted by aggregate
extraction in adjoining municipalities;
e) to exempt municipalities from paying that portion of the
annual licence fee on aggregate produced by the
municipality which would eventually be returned to the
municipality under the proposed disbursement formula.
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 On September 12, 1988, Council considered correspondence from the
Honourable Vincent G. Kerrio, Minister of Natural Resources, forwarding
a copy of 'Bill 170 - An Act to revise several Acts related to
Aggregate Resources' . Council resolved (Resolution #C-620-88) to refer
the correspondence to the Director of Planning and the Director of
Public Works, for a joint report to be presented to the General Purpose
and Administration Committee containing a draft resolution that can be
forwarded to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the
Ministry of Natural Resources.
REPORT NO. : PD-258-88 PAGE 3
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2. BILL 170
2.1 Purpose of the Act
2.1.1 Bill 170 is intended to replace the Pits and Quarries Control Act, Part
VII of the Mining Act and the Beach Protection Act. Its stated purpose
is the following: i) to provide for the management of aggregate
resources; ii) to control and regulate aggregate operations on Crown
and private lands; iii) to require the rehabilitation of land from
which aggregate has been excavated; and iv) to minimize adverse impacts
on the environment. In this regard, Bill 170 proposes a number of
significant reforms to address many of the inadequacies associated with
the existing legislation.
2.2 Aggregate Licences & Permits
2.2.1 In general terms, a Licence must be obtained from the Province for
aggregate extraction operations on all lands except Crown lands. A
Class "All Licence is required for more than 20,000 tonnes of annual
production, while lower levels of production require a Class "B"
Licence.
2.2.2 An Aggregate Permit is required for aggregate extraction operations on
Crown Lands. A Wayside Permit can be obtained by a public authority
for a temporary project such as road construction where aggregate is
not readily available from a nearby licensed source. The Permit will
expire with the completion of the project, or after 18 months.
2.2.3 Applications for Class "All & Class "B" Licences, Wayside Permits and
Aggregate Permits must be accompanied by site plans providing details
in respect of existing features, extraction operations, and progressive
rehabilitation and final rehabilitation plans. The level of detail
required varies with the type of application, with a Class "A" Licence
requiring the greatest detail. A Class "All Licence Application must
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also be accompanied by a report providing information in respect of
such matters as the suitability of rehabilitation plans, social and
economic impacts, and the main haulage routes and proposed truck
volumes. The level of supporting information required for all types of
applications is greater then currently required under the Pits and
Quarries Control Act.
2.2.4 The Minister can require a licensee to amend a site plan and can add,
vary or rescind a condition of a licence, aggregate permit or wayside
permit. Each licensed pit or quarry will be subject to an annual
review to determine compliance with the legislation, the site plan and
the conditions of the licence. Municipal comments will be considered
as part of the review. With every fourth annual review, each
municipality will be requested to provide comments on each licensed pit
and quarry within its boundaries. The Minister may suspend a licence
or permit for up to six months for any contravention of the Act, the
regulations, the site plan or the conditions of the licence or permit.
The licence or permit may be revoked after 6 months if the licensee or
permittee has not taken the action required by the Minister.
2.3 Notice to Municipalities
2.3.1 Bill 170 entitles municipalities to receive notice of a wider range of
applications and Ministerial actions than is currently provided for by
the Pits and Quarries Control Act.
2.3.2 Upper-tier and local municipalities are to receive notice of the
following: applications for a pit or quarry licence or wayside permit;
proposed amendments to a licence's conditions or site plan; a proposal
to grant a licensee or permittee relief from the regulations; or a
proposal to deem an excavation not to be a pit or quarry for the
purposes of the Act. A municipality's comments will be considered by
the Minister when reaching a decision on these applications.
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2.3.3 Notice for information purposes is also to be provided to upper-tier
and local municipalities in respect of the following: the issuance,
transfer or suspension of a licence; the issuance, suspension or
revocation of a wayside permit; the amendment of the conditions of a
licence or wayside permit; or the amendment of a licence's site plan.
2.4 Applicability of Municipal Documents
2.4.1 Bill 170 is much more specific than the Pits and Quarries Control Act
in defining the relationship of the new Act and its regulations to
municipal documents. In this respect, Bill 170 makes a distinction
between by-laws which endeavour to regulate or prohibit the operation
of a pit or quarry and zoning by-laws which regulate the location of
aggregate operations.
2.4.2 Bill 170 states that any municipal by-law which purports to prohibit
the carrying on or operation of a pit or quarry, including a wayside
pit or quarry, is not applicable to the extent that it conflicts with
the Act and its regulations. As well, the Act states that, in the event
of a conflict with any municipal by-law, official plan or development
agreement, the provisions of the Act and its regulations shall prevail.
2.4.3 The provisions of Bill 170 do not appear to over-ride any existing
municipal powers, inasmuch as the ability to prohibit or regulate the
operation of a pit or quarry does not currently lie with municipalities
but is within the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Rather, the new Act is providing a clearer and more comprehensive
delineation of the respective powers of municipalities and the
Ministry.
2.4.4 As with the Pits and Quarries Control Act, Bill 170 requires the
location of a proposed pit or quarry to comply with municipal official
Plan and zoning by-laws prior to the issuance of a licence. In this
regard, the ability of a municipality to regulate the location of
aggregate extraction operations is to continue.
. . .6
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2.4.5 Bill 170 would permit the Minister to issue a wayside permit at any
time whether or not its location complies with all relevant zoning
by-laws. This appears to be at odds with another provision in the Act
which requires a Minister to have regard for municipal comments in
considering whether to issue or refuse a wayside permit.
2.4.6 Furthermore, the Mineral Aggregate Resource Policy Statement, which was
approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on may 9, 1986,states
that wayside pits and quarries are to be permitted in all zoning
categories, except in zones which are established to recognize existing
development or areas of particular environmental sensitivity. In these
latter zones, wayside pits or quarries may be prohibited. By-law 84-63
only permits wayside pits or quarries in "Agricultural (A)" zones.
2.4.7 This exception for wayside pits and quarries proposed Bill 170 does not
appear to be consistent with either the Mineral Aggregate Resource
Policy Statement or the general intent of the new legislation. Bill
170 should be amended so that it treats wayside pits and quarries in a
manner similar to licensed pits and quarries by requiring their
location to comply with relevant Official plans and zoning by-laws.
2.5 Production Levy
2.5.1 Bill 170 requires every licensee, including municipalities, to pay to
the Province an annual licence fee in an amount equal to the licence
application fee ($200.) , or a 'rate-per-tonne-extracted' fee, whichever
is greater. Every applicant for a wayside permit, including
municipalities, will also be required, before the permit is issued, to
pay to the Province a prescribed permit fee or a fee based on the
maximum amount authorized to be extracted.
2.5.2 Bill 170 provides for the revenues generated from this annual
production fee to be distributed on the basis of a formula to be
prescribed by the regulations that accompany the Act. According to
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Ministry of Natural Resources staff, the production fee and
distribution formula being considered are the same as drafted in 1979
when similar legislation was proposed. This would result in the
Province collecting an annual production fee of 6 cents per tonne of
aggregate produced with the revenue to be disbursed as follows:
- 1 cent to the Province
- 4 cents to the area municipality
- one-half cent to the upper-tier municipality
- one-half cent to the abandoned pits & quarries fund.
2.5.3 The municipal portion of the annual production fee is intended to
compensate municipalities and their residents for the inconveniences
associated with aggregate production. The Province is apparently not
intending to restrict how municipalities use their share of the
revenue. Under the formula discussed above, the Town of Newcastle and
the Region of Durham would receive $85,515.64 and $10,689.46
respectively, based on 1987 aggregate production in the Town of
2,137,891 tonnes.
2.5.4 A number of concerns with the proposed annual production fee have been
identified. The Region of Durham has argued that, because trucks
hauling aggregate primarily use the Regional road network, the Region
must bear significate road reconstruction and resurfacing costs which
are not reflected in the disbursement formula currently being
considered. A recent spot check by Town Staff has confirmed that most
of the aggregate produced in the Town is transported along Regional
Roads.
2.5.5 It is a matter of great concern that the value of the proposed annual
production fee has not been increased since 1979 to reflect the
inflated costs faced by municipalities over the past decade. The
Association of Municipalities of Ontario, in its report on Bill 170,
calculated that the production fee should be increased to 9 cents per
tonne for 1988, assuming a 5% annual inflation rate since 1980. Use of
the Southam Construction Index also produces a figure of 9 cents per
tonne for 1988. The Region of Durham calculated that the fee should be
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REPORT NO. : PD-258-88 PAGE 8 li
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at least 12 cents per tonne to reflect both inflation and an increased
Regional share of the levy without reducing the proportional share of
other recipients.
2.5.6 Regional Council has passed a number of resolutions requesting the
Ministry of Natural Resources to increase the annual production fee on
aggregate producers to adequately compensate the Region for
deficiencies in the Regional road network attributable to the
transportation of mineral aggregates. Most recently, on November 16,
1988, Regional Council passed a resolution to advise the Ministry that
it maintains this position, but that if the Ministry does not justify
the new production fee in terms of road needs, that it recognize the
important role the Regional goveernment has in the day-to-day
activities of its.residents by increasing the proportion of the annual
production fee allocated to the Regional municipalities resulting in a
total fee of at least 12 cents per tonne, including an equivalent
distribution of funds between the Regional and area municipalities.
2.5.7 The aggregate production fee is also conceptually flawed in assuming
that the "producing" municipality bears the full impact of aggregate
production. In the Township of Manvers there are major licensed
aggregate operations just north of the Newcastle/Manvers boundary and
accessed by Regional Road #20. Most aggregate is transported south
from these pits to the Toronto market area. As a result, the Town of
Newcastle and the Region of Durham bears the major adverse impacts as a
result of this production but under the current fee disbursement
formula, there is no consideration made for this. The Province should
consider amendments to the fee disbursement formula to account for such
situations where an adjoining municipality bears a significant and
well-documented adverse impact.
2.5.8 Other concerns related to the new production levy are as follows:
- Municipalities should be exempted from paying that portion of the
production levy which will eventually be returned to them under the
prescribed formula;
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REPORT NO. PD-258-88 PAGE 9
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Bill 170 should clarify that funding provided to municipalities
through the aggregate production levy is distinct from other sources
of funding.
2.5.9 The annual licence fee and disbursement formula should be reconsidered
by the Province in consultation with upper-tier and lower-tier
municipalities to ensure that a fair, equitable and effective levy is
collected and distributed in such a manner to meet the goals of this
legislation.
2.6 Rehabilitation
2.6.1 Bill 170 provides greater detail and stronger provisions regarding the
rehabilitation of excavated sites than the existing Pits and Quarries
Control Act. As with the existing legislation, Bill 170 requires every
licensee to maintain on deposit with the Province, security for the
rehabilitated pit or quarry, with all or part of the security forfeited
to cover the costs of rehabilitation by the Province. However, unlike
the existing legislation, Bill 170 specifically requires every licensee
and permittee to perform progressive and final rehabilitation.
Portions of the deposit are refundable to the licensee or permittee as
proof of progressive rehabilitation is submitted, while the total sum
is refundable upon proof of final rehabilitation being submitted. If
satisfactory progressive rehabilitation is not being performed on a
site, the Minister may order a licensee or permittee to perform within
a specified period of time, such progressive rehabilitation as is
deemed necessary. The new legislation also empowers the Province to
declare any pit or quarry to be abandoned with the consent of the
assessed owner. A portion of the revenue from the proposed production
levy is to be deposited in a special fund for the rehabilitation of
abandoned pits and quarries.
3. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 Bill 170 addresses many of the inadequacies identified in the existing
Pits and Quarries Control Act by providing for more effective and
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REPORT NO. : PD-258-88 PAGE 10
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realistic management of the Province's mineral aggregate resources,
including greater opportunity for municipal input, and by recognizing
the need to balance the demand for aggregate resources with the need to
minimize the adverse environmental and social impacts associated with
aggregate extraction. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has
indicated support of Bill 170, in principle in recognition of the
improvements offered over the existing legislation.
3.2 Despite these improvements however, Bill 170 still has a number of
shortcomings, as discussed in this report, related to wayside pits and
quarries and the proposed production levy to be prescribed by the
Regulations accompanying the Act. Staff have prepared a resolution
(see Recommendations - Page 1) which indicates support in principle for
Bill 170, but which also indicates the Town's concerns with the
proposed legislation. It is recommended that Committee recommend to
Council that this resolution be adopted and forwarded, with a copy of
this report, to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the
Minister of Natural Resources, and the Region of Durham as the Town's
position on Bill 170.
Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation
to the Committee
- - --- - ----------------
Franklin Wu, M.C.I.P. Lawrence E. otseff
mi
Director of Planning & Development A* ive officer
Chief mi i tratt
Walter Evans, P.Eng.
Director of Public Works
,TAS*FW*jip
*Attach.
November 28, 1988