Notice of approval

Proponent: District Municipality of Muskoka
Environmental assessment file number: EA-02-08-01

Take notice that the period for requesting a hearing, provided for in the Notice of Completion of the ministry Review for the above-noted undertaking, expired on February 8, 2008.

I received no requests for a hearing by the Environmental Review Tribunal before the expiration date.

Having considered the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act, the approved Terms of Reference, the Environmental Assessment, the ministry Review of the Environmental Assessment and submissions received, I hereby give approval to proceed with the undertaking, subject to conditions set out below.

Reasons

My reasons for giving approval are:

  1. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment and the ministry Review, the proponent’s conclusion that, on balance, the advantages of this undertaking outweigh its disadvantages appears to be valid.
  2. The proponent has demonstrated that the environmental effects of implementing the preferred alternative can be appropriately prevented, changed, mitigated or remedied.
  3. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment, the ministry Review and the conditions of approval, the construction , operation and maintenance of the undertaking will be consistent with the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act (section 2).
  4. The Government Review Team has indicated no outstanding concerns that cannot be addressed through conditions of approval. The public review of the Environmental Assessment did not identify any outstanding concerns.
  5. The submission received after the Notice of Completion of the ministry Review was published is being dealt with through conditions where appropriate. I am not aware of any outstanding issues with respect to this undertaking which suggest that a hearing should be required.

Conditions

The approval is subject to the following Conditions:

1. Definitions

For the purposes of these Conditions

Director
means the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch.
EAAB
means the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch of the Ministry of the Environment.
EA
means the Environmental Assessment document titled District Municipality of Muskoka Long Range Solid Waste Management Plan Environmental Assessment, dated August 2007.
ministry
means the Ministry of the Environment.
PLC
means a Public Liaison Committee.
program
means compliance monitoring program.
proponent
means the District Municipality of Muskoka.
public record
means the record required by section 30(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act to be maintained for this undertaking.
Regional Director
means the Director of the ministry’s Southwestern Regional Office.
site
means the Rosewarne Drive Landfill, in the Town of Bracebridge.

2. General requirements

  1. The proponent shall comply with the provisions in the EA which are hereby incorporated in this approval by reference except as provided in these conditions and as provided in any other approval or permit that may be issued for the site.
  2. These conditions do not prevent more restrictive conditions being imposed under other statutes.

3. Public record

  1. Where a document is required for the public record, the proponent shall provide two copies of the document to the Director: a copy for filing within the specific public record file maintained for the undertaking and a copy for staff use.
  2. Additional copies of such documents will be provided by the proponent for public access to the:
    1. Regional Director;
    2. The District Municipality of Muskoka Municipal Office; and
    3. Public Liaison Committee, if applicable.
  3. The EAAB file number EA-02-08-01 shall be quoted on the document.
  4. These documents may also be provided through other means as considered appropriate by the proponent.

4. Compliance monitoring program

  1. The proponent shall prepare and submit to the Director for the public record, an EA compliance monitoring program.
  2. The program shall be submitted one year from the date of approval of the undertaking, or 60 days before the commencement of construction, whichever is earlier.
  3. The program shall be prepared for the monitoring of the proponent’s fulfilment of the provisions of the EA:
    1. for mitigation measures;
    2. public consultation;
    3. additional studies and work to be carried out; and
    4. all other commitments made during the preparation and review of the Environmental Assessment.
  4. The program must contain an implementation schedule.
  5. A statement must accompany the program when submitted to the Director, indicating that the program is intended to fulfil this condition.
  6. The program, as it may be amended by the Director, must be carried out by the proponent.
  7. The proponent shall make the documentation available to the ministry or its designate upon request in a timely manner when so requested by the ministry during an on-site inspection, audit, or response to a pollution incident report or when information concerning compliance is requested by the ministry.

5. Compliance reporting

  1. The proponent shall prepare an annual compliance report which describes compliance with the conditions of approval set out in this notice and which describes the results of the proponent’s program.
  2. The annual compliance report shall be submitted to the Director for placement on the public record, with the first report being due no later than one year following the submission date of the program, and shall cover all activities of the previous calendar year.
  3. The proponent shall submit annual compliance reports until all conditions set out in this notice are satisfied.
  4. When all conditions have been satisfied, the proponent shall indicate in the annual compliance report that this is its final submission.
  5. The proponent shall retain either on site or in another location approved by the Director, copies of the annual compliance reports for each reporting year and any associated documentation of compliance monitoring activities.
  6. The proponent shall make the documentation available to the ministry or its designate upon request in a timely manner when so requested by the ministry during an on-site inspection, audit, or in response to a pollution incident report or when information concerning compliance is requested by the ministry.

6. Public Liaison Committee

  1. The proponent shall make a reasonable effort to maintain a PLC in respect of the site. The PLC is to serve as the focal point for dissemination, review and exchange of information and monitoring results relevant to the site.
  2. If there is insufficient interest from the public in continuing the existing PLC or establishing and participating in a new committee it may be dispensed with.
  3. If the PLC has been dispensed with, the proponent shall publish a notice in a local newspaper, at least bi-annually, inviting expressions of interest from members of the public in forming the PLC.
  4. The proponent may cease publishing notices required under Condition 6.3 if, after the fifth year of giving sufficient notice, there is insufficient interest among members of the public in continuing or re-establishing the PLC.

7. Complaint protocol

  1. The proponent shall prepare and develop a protocol on how it will deal with and respond to inquiries and complaints received during the construction and operation of the undertaking.
  2. The proponent shall submit the complaint protocol to the Director for placement in the public record.
  3. A statement must accompany the complaint protocol when submitted to the Director indicating that the protocol is intended to fulfil this condition.

8. Leachate Treatability Study

  1. The proponent shall complete a Leachate Treatability Study for the undertaking.
  2. The proponent shall submit the Leachate Treatability Study described in Condition 8.1 to the ministry’s Water and Wastewater Unit of EAAB for review, as part of the Ontario Water Resources Act Sewage Works Certificate of Approval application.
  3. The Leachate Treatability Study shall, at a minimum, include the following:
    1. An assessment of the availability of adequate treatment capacity at the Bracebridge Wastewater Treatment Plant;
    2. An assessment of potential impacts of the leachate on the performance of the Bracebridge Wastewater Treatment Plant;
    3. An assessment of the impact of the leachate effluent on the receiving surface water; and,
    4. The Leachate Treatability Study shall be based on the predicted leachate quality and quantity and the existing conditions at the Bracebridge Wastewater Treatment Plant.

9. Further notice to Aboriginal Communities

  1. The proponent shall provide copies of the supporting information in respect of the applications for Certificates of Approval, under Part V of the Environmental Protection Act and section 53 of the Ontario Water Resources Act, in connection with the undertaking, to the aboriginal communities listed in Condition 9.5.
  2. For greater certainty, condition 9.1 includes the Leachate Treatability Study described in Condition 8.
  3. The proponent shall request that these communities forward any comments that they have in respect of the applications to EAAB.
  4. If further archaeological assessment work is required in connection with the undertaking, the proponent shall provide copies of such reports to the aboriginal communities listed in Condition 9.5.
  5. For the purposes of this condition the aboriginal communities include Wahta Mohawks, Moose Deer Point First Nation, Wasauksing First Nation (Parry Island); Chippewas of Mnjikaning (Rama); Beausoleil First Nation and any other communities that subsequently express interest in the project to the proponent or the ministry.

Dated the 17th day of December 2008 at Toronto

Original signed by:
Minister of the Environment
135 St. Clair Avenue West, 12th floor
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5