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    Green Gravel: Priorities For Aggregate Reform in Ontario

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    STOP THE QUARRY
    The document outlines priorities for reforming aggregate resource management in Ontario. It summarizes that aggregates are important but their extraction can harm the environment and communities. Current policies are unsustainable and have not implemented reduce, reuse, recycle principles. It calls for 5 priorities: 1) Develop a long-term conservation strategy and increase industry fees. 2) Ban new extraction in protected green spaces and agricultural lands. 3) Reform licensing to allow for more meaningful public review. 4) Improve compliance, inspection and enforcement. 5) Implement health and emissions monitoring standards. The groups signing on call for reforms that protect water, air, natural areas and communities.

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    Green Gravel: Priorities For Aggregate Reform in Ontario

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    STOP THE QUARRY
    36 views4 pages
    The document outlines priorities for reforming aggregate resource management in Ontario. It summarizes that aggregates are important but their extraction can harm the environment and communities. Current policies are unsustainable and have not implemented reduce, reuse, recycle principles. It calls for 5 priorities: 1) Develop a long-term conservation strategy and increase industry fees. 2) Ban new extraction in protected green spaces and agricultural lands. 3) Reform licensing to allow for more meaningful public review. 4) Improve compliance, inspection and enforcement. 5) Implement health and emissions monitoring standards. The groups signing on call for reforms that protect water, air, natural areas and communities.

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    The Greenbelt Alliance argues for stronger legislation around the extraction of aggregates.

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    Green Gravel: Priorities for Aggregate Reform in Ontario

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    The document outlines priorities for reforming aggregate resource management in Ontario. It summarizes that aggregates are important but their extraction can harm the environment and communities. Current policies are unsustainable and have not implemented reduce, reuse, recycle principles. It calls for 5 priorities: 1) Develop a long-term conservation strategy and increase industry fees. 2) Ban new extraction in protected green spaces and agricultural lands. 3) Reform licensing to allow for more meaningful public review. 4) Improve compliance, inspection and enforcement. 5) Implement health and emissions monitoring standards. The groups signing on call for reforms that protect water, air, natural areas and communities.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    36 views4 pages

    Green Gravel: Priorities For Aggregate Reform in Ontario

    Uploaded by

    STOP THE QUARRY
    The document outlines priorities for reforming aggregate resource management in Ontario. It summarizes that aggregates are important but their extraction can harm the environment and communities. Current policies are unsustainable and have not implemented reduce, reuse, recycle principles. It calls for 5 priorities: 1) Develop a long-term conservation strategy and increase industry fees. 2) Ban new extraction in protected green spaces and agricultural lands. 3) Reform licensing to allow for more meaningful public review. 4) Improve compliance, inspection and enforcement. 5) Implement health and emissions monitoring standards. The groups signing on call for reforms that protect water, air, natural areas and communities.

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    GREEN GRAVEL:

    Priorities for Aggregate Reform in Ontario


    Aggregates are important to society – we use them for our homes, schools, hospitals, businesses,
    roads and transit, and environmental works, among other purposes. At the same time, their
    extraction has inherently disastrous effects on our air, water, natural and hydrologic features,
    agricultural lands and other competing land uses, climate and community quality of life.

    The current “business as usual” policies for extraction of stone, sand, gravel and shale in
    the Province of Ontario are unsustainable.

    Aggregate extraction, particularly as a non-renewable resource, has not been subject to 3Rs
    principles (reduce, reuse, recycle) as has begun with our forests, energy, and other consumptive
    products/wastes. Numerous recent reports, including Special and Annual Reports by the Ontario
    Environment Commissioner since 2003, have repeatedly documented these issues and concerns
    and have called for a range of reforms. These reports have also confirmed that the aggregates
    program in Ontario has been suffering from inadequate capacity in terms of staffing, budget and
    expertise resulting in serious compliance, inspection and enforcement limitations.

    We need aggregate resource legislation that ensures effective management of abandoned,


    operating, and future pits and quarries, for the protection of our environment, food lands, and
    natural heritage lands. We need to recognize that aggregate extraction can affect and harm the
    rights, interests and cultural sites as archaeology of First Nations. The Aggregate Resources Act
    and Planning Act must be reformed to address Ontario’s constitutional duty to notify and consult
    affected First Nations and appropriate government ministries and the aggregate industry must
    give immediate attention to the priorities listed below.

    Priorities:
    1. Develop and implement a long term conservation strategy for aggregates. Establish
    provincial capacity independent of the industry and The Ontario Aggregate Resources
    Corporation (TOARC) to forecast future demand and supply needs and maintain data. Maintain
    up to date aggregate resource inventories. Optimize the thousands of existing licenses before
    issuing new licenses. In the face of climate change we need to conserve. Develop a
    comprehensive 3Rs strategy – with quantifiable targets – along with the use of alternative and
    composite materials. Address corollary policies such as Ministry of Transportation 400 series
    and other highway specs as well as municipal specs. Increase fees paid by the industry and do so
    on an annual basis as both a market signal to drive 3Rs innovations and to sufficiently fund the
    proposed regulatory framework.
    2. Ban new aggregate extraction in the Greenbelt, the Niagara Escarpme nt, the Oak Ridges
    Moraine, and Class I, II and III agricultural lands adjacent or contiguous to these
    designated areas. Make use of Minister’s Zoning Order(s) under the Planning Act to
    immediately stop any new aggregate extraction in these key green spaces, their natural and
    hydrologic features, habitat and corridors. Amend the relevant legislation and Plans – the
    Greenbelt Act and Plan, the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act and the Oak
    Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, and the Planning Act to protect the Greenbelt, Niagara
    Escarpment, Oak Ridges Moraine and our most valuable agricultural land from new aggregate
    extraction forever.

    3. Redesign the licensing and permit approvals process to make it more fair and balanced
    for the public interest and the environment. Level the playing field during the review process
    from the current situation where the industry proponent takes years to prepare a complex
    application, with extensive funds and ministry advice, and the public is given 45 days to respond
    and counter propose under the Aggregate Resources Act. Change the timeframes to allow for
    meaningful public review. Reintroduce intervenor funding for aggregate extraction review
    processes as well as other development applications. Make all application, companion technical
    studies and updates readily accessible to the public (including on-line). Change the ministry(ies)
    role to comprehensive evaluator and decision-maker from advocacy. Move to eliminate perpetual
    licenses and permits as well as unlimited annual tonnage allowances.

    4. Develop and implement more effective and credible mechanisms for compliance,
    inspection and enforcement of aggregate operations and rehabilitation. Enforce provincial
    laws and site plans. The industry should not be policing itself. Make use of modern GPS,
    satellite and real-time video technologies to monitor aggregate operations on-site and during
    hauling. Post material on company and ministry websites. Increase ministry capacity to conduct
    regular inspections and establish a work plan with targets and timetables to increase the frequency
    of inspections. Establish specific rehabilitation targets for current licensees and abandoned sites,
    including significant penalties for failure to achieve up to and including license suspension and
    denial of new licenses.

    5. Address personal and environmental health concerns by implementing mandatory


    standards and monitoring of dust or airborne particulate matter and carbon dioxide (CO 2)
    from extraction and production activities associated with extraction. This includes detailed
    analysis for specific mineral content and CO2 emissions . Due to the ‘close to market’ location
    of quarry sites, particulate matter affects significant numbers of people. Crystalline silica dust is
    a common by product from processing crushed stone, sand and gravel and is a known carcinogen.
    Mitigation measures for pits and quarries are inadequate. And though ‘close to market’ may
    mean shorter truck haulage journeys – even having been argued by MNR as an example of good
    practice regarding CO2 emissions, other, greener, modes of transport (boat, barge and rail) need
    to be given serious consideration. Further, the other side of the aggregate industry – cement
    production – is a nationally significant producer of greenhouse gases.

    The undersigned environmental and community groups agree that reform of Ontario’s aggregate
    regulatory, policy, operations and governance framework must, at a minimum, include these
    reform priorities in order to better manage the aggregate resource, minimize urban sprawl and to
    protect our drinking water, air quality, our natural heritage systems and our local communities.
    Members of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance

    1. Altona Forest Stewardship Committee


    2. Best Environment for Streetsville
    3. Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation
    4. Bond Head/BWG Residents for Responsible Development
    5. Brampton Environmental Community Advisory Panel
    6. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
    7. Canadian Environmental Law Association
    8. Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
    9. Canadian Organic Growers
    10. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Wildlands League
    11. Castle Glen Ratepayers' Association
    12. Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario
    13. Citizens' Environment Watch
    14. Clear the Air Coalition
    15. Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Caledon
    16. Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment
    17. Community Preservation Initiative
    18. Conservation Council of Ontario
    19. Conservation Development Alliance of Ontario
    20. Credit River Alliance
    21. David Suzuki Foundation
    22. Earthroots
    23. Environmental Defence
    24. Environment Hamilton
    25. Evergreen
    26. Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (Ontario) Inc.
    27. Friends of Boyd Park
    28. Friends of Fairy Lake
    29. Friends of the Don East (FODE)
    30. Friends of the Farewell
    31. Friends of the Rouge Watershed
    32. Friends of Rural Communities and the Environment (FORCE)
    33. Friends of the Twelve
    34. Green Incorporated
    35. Greenpeace Canada
    36. Green Tourism Association
    37. Halton - Peel Woodlands and Wildlife Stewardship Council
    38. The Humane Society of Canada
    39. Innisfil District Association
    40. King Environmental Groups
    41. The Lakewatch Society
    42. North East Sutton Ratepayers Association
    43. Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust
    44. Oak Ridges Trail Association
    45. Oakvillegreen Conservation Association
    46. Ontario College of Family Physicians
    47. Ontario Farmland Trust
    48. Ontario Nature - Federation of Ontario Naturalists
    49. Peel Environmental Network
    50. Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development
    51. Personal Computer Geographic Education System/Software - PCGES
    52. Pesticide Free Ontario
    53. Pomona Mills Park Conservationa lists
    54. Preston Lake Environmental Association (PLEA)
    55. Protecting Escarpment Rural Lands (P.E.R.L.)
    56. Protect our Water and Environmental Resources (P.O.W.E.R)
    57. Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society
    58. Public Spaces Appreciation Association of Ontario
    59. Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
    60. Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition
    61. Richmond Hill Naturalists
    62. Riversides
    63. Rouge Duffins Greenspace Coalition
    64. St.Catharine's CAN (Climate Action Now)
    65. Save the Maskinonge
    66. Save the Oak Ridges Moraine Coalition
    67. Save Our Ravines - Halton Hills
    68. Save the Rouge Valley System.
    69. Sierra Club of Canada (Ontario Chapter)
    70. Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Ontario Office
    71. SMART Growth Network
    72. South Lake Simcoe Naturalists
    73. South Peel Naturalists Club
    74. Sunfish Lake Association
    75. Toronto Environmental Alliance
    76. West Whitby Community Against 407 Link Location (WW-CALL)
    77. Whole Village
    78. Willow Park Ecology Centre
    79. www.valleyvoices.ca
    80. York Region Environmental Alliance
    81. 407 Action Group

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