O. Reg. 31/20: CONSTRUCTION

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ontario regulation 31/20

made under the

Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act

Made: February 27, 2020
Filed: February 28, 2020
Published on e-Laws: February 28, 2020
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: March 14, 2020

Amending O. Reg. 454/96

(CONSTRUCTION)

1. Section 1 of Ontario Regulation 454/96 is amended by adding the following definitions:

“alterations, improvements or repairs” includes the construction of a temporary cofferdam for the purposes of any alteration, improvement or repair; (“modifications, améliorations ou réparations”)

“wetland” means land,

(a) that is seasonally or permanently covered by shallow water, or

(b) in respect of which the water table is close to or at the surface, so that the presence of abundant water has caused the formation of hydric soils and has favoured the dominance of either hydrophytic or water tolerant plants. (“terre marécageuse”)

2. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

2.1 (1) In this section,

“incremental losses” means the greatest potential losses that could result from an uncontrolled release of the reservoir of a dam due to the failure of the dam or its appurtenances; (“pertes supplémentaires”)

“licensed engineering practitioner” means a person who holds a licence, limited licence or temporary licence under the Professional Engineers Act. (“praticien de l’ingénierie titulaire d’un permis”)

(2) For the purposes of this section, a dam has a low hazard potential classification if, incremental losses associated with the failure of the dam or its appurtenances would include,

(a) no potential for loss of human life;

(b) no more than minimal damage to the property of persons other than the owner of the dam with estimated losses not exceeding $300,000 (year 2000 dollars) adjusted for inflation to the year of the written opinion described in clause (3) (b), based on the Ontario Consumer Price Index as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act (Canada);

(c) no more than minimal loss of fish and wildlife habitat provided that such a loss would only affect habitat that has a high capability of natural restoration such that the loss would have a very low likelihood of negatively affecting the status of any fish or wildlife population; and

(d) no damage to property that is designated by the council of a municipality as being of cultural heritage value or interest under the Ontario Heritage Act unless such damage would be reversible.

(3) Despite clause 2 (1) (b), no approval is required to make alterations, improvements or repairs to a dam in the circumstances described in that clause if,

(a) at the time the alterations, improvements or repairs are commenced, the dam,

(i) is an existing earth embankment, concrete gravity, timber crib, or flow through rock fill dam,

(ii) holds back, forwards or diverts water in a river, lake, pond or stream that forms part of a wetland or is contiguous with a wetland, and

(iii) directly maintains or enhances the form or function of a wetland;

(b) the dam owner obtains the written opinion of a licensed engineering practitioner dated no more than one year prior to the commencement of the alterations, improvements or repairs stating that the dam has a low hazard potential classification;

(c) the proposed alterations, improvements or repairs will not result in a change to the hazard potential classification of the dam; and

(d) where the proposed alterations, improvements or repairs are to be made in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by a licensed engineering practitioner, the dam owner obtains a written opinion prepared by a licensed engineering practitioner dated no more than one year prior to the commencement of the proposed alterations, improvements or repairs, stating that the alterations, improvements or repairs will not result in a change to the hazard potential classification of the dam if completed in accordance with those plans and specifications.

(4) Following the completion of the proposed alterations, improvements or repairs, the dam owner shall,

(a) if the proposed alterations, improvements or repairs were to be made in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by a licensed engineering practitioner as specified in clause (3) (d), obtain, within three months after the completion of the alterations, improvements or repairs, a written opinion prepared by a licenced engineering practitioner confirming that the alterations, improvements or repairs were made in accordance with those plans and specifications and that the dam still has a low hazard potential classification; and

(b) keep for a period of 5 years from the date that the alterations, improvements or repairs are completed, the written opinion of a licenced engineering practitioner given under clause (3) (b) and, if applicable, under clauses (3) (d) and (4) (a).

(5) For the purpose of this section, the decommissioning of a dam is not an alteration, improvement or repair.

Commencement

3. This Regulation comes into force on the later of January 1, 2020 and the day it is filed.

 

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