[All] Fw: ARA Review: Report tabled today

[Louisette Lanteigne]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donna Baylis <dbaylis at xplornet.com>
To: Friends of N.D.A.C.T. <info at aware-ontario.ca> 
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 6:22:49 PM
Subject: ARA Review: Report tabled today
 


 
Hello, I hope this e-mail finds you well.  A little light 
reading for those so inclined!
 
Today the Aggregate Resources Act review was tabled in 
the Ontario Legislature.  A copy can be found at link: ow.ly/ql6P1  
(57 pages/10 meg .pdf)
 
Remember we are looking for the issues listed in the 
postscript below to be addressed.
 
If you have any feedback on the report or opinions as to next 
steps, do not hesitate to let me know.  Thx.
 
Donna Baylis
We Have a Voice
www.facebook.com/AwareOntario
www.facebook.com/friends.of.ndact
www.ndact.com
 
___________________________________
 
 
Recommendations for Changes to the 
Aggregate Resources Act & Underlying Policies 
(2013)
 
1.  Invoke a “Food and Water First” policy.  This requires protection for prime 
farming soils (classes 1-3) and source water protection.  Aggregate should not be mined at the 
expense of local food and fresh water.  As a province and as a nation, we must be able to feed ourselves.  
 
2.  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.
 
3.  Reserve virgin aggregate, a 
non-renewable resource, for use within Canada.
 
4. Prohibit aggregate extraction below 
the water table without a full Environmental Assessment and full understanding 
of the impact on all areas, near and far.  
 
5. Prohibit aggregate extraction below 
the water table in drinking water source 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.  Require that new aggregate proposals 
demonstrate need for additional resource extraction in meeting the demands of 
the Ontariomarket.
 
8.  Mandate that an Environmental Assessment occur for all new or expanding 
aggregate operations.
 
9.  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.
 
10. Develop a 
comprehensive “Aggregate Master Plan” and disallow new aggregate mining licenses 
within environmentally protected spaces until the “Aggregate Master Plan” has 
been fully approved by the people and the province.  Align the “Aggregate Master Plan” with 
existing environmental protection legislation including the Greenbelt, the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges 
Moraine.
 
11. Provide an 
assessment of the cumulative affects (dust, noise, air quality, traffic 
emissions; effects on water) of industrial projects including the “Aggregate 
Master Plan” on Ontarioresidents by district and take those impacts into account in the 
decision-making process.
 
12.  Full cost accounting:  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.  
 
13.  Implement “social licencing” where 
operators must earn the right to continue extraction through responsible 
operation, and timely and progressive 
rehabilitation.
 
14. Establish an end to each aggregate 
licence through a “sunset clause”.  It is unfair to local residents and communities when an aggregate 
operation can exist for an indefinite period.  Operators have a tendency to keep near 
exhausted sites active enough to avoid rehabilitation expense.  Or they apply to go deeper/wider and 
extend the life of the operation.  Or they accept commercial fill (the more contaminated/suspect the fill 
the higher the fee earned). Or they stockpile licences indefinitely causing 
problems when communities build up around the site.  Such never-ending aggregate practices 
have a negative impact on local communities.  Give communities a light at the end of 
the tunnel.  
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