Notice of approval

Proponent: The Regional Municipality of York
Environmental assessment file number: EA-02-07

Take notice that the period for requiring a hearing, provided for in the Notice of Completion of the Review for the above-noted undertaking, expired on December 9, 2011.

No submissions required a hearing by the Environmental Review Tribunal.

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. No other beneficial alternative method of implementing the undertaking was identified.
  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 the detailed design or conditions of approval. The public review and Aboriginal consultation of the environmental assessment did not identify any outstanding concerns.
  5. 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 Approvals Branch.
EAB
means the Environmental Approvals Branch of the Ministry of the Environment.
environmental assessment
means the document titled Western Vaughan Transportation Improvements Individual Environmental Assessment, September 2011.
ministry
means the Ministry of the Environment.
program
means compliance monitoring program.
proponent
means the Regional Municipality of York.
Regional Director
means the Director of the ministry’s Central Regional Office.
undertaking
means the undertaking as described in the Western Vaughan Transportation Improvements Individual Environmental Assessment (September 2011), which is generally comprised of the following elements:
  • Widening of the Highway 27 from 2 to 4 lanes between north of Nashville Road and Major Mackenzie Drive;
  • Elimination of the jog in the roadway at Major Mackenzie Drive and Highway 27;
  • Widenings to 6 lanes to accommodate additional road capacity for vehicles, dedicated transit lanes/High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and bike lanes for:
    • Major Mackenzie Drive between Highway 50 and 400;
    • Rutherford Road between Highway 50 and Weston Road;
    • Highway 27 between Major Mackenzie Drive and Steeles Avenue;
    • Pine Valley Drive between Highway 7 and Steeles Avenue; and,
    • Weston Road between Major Mackenzie Drive and Steeles Avenue.

2. General requirements

  1. The proponent shall comply with the provisions in the environmental assessment 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 undertaking.
  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:
    • Regional Director (as required);
    • Clerk of the City of Vaughan and the Regional Municipality of York (as required);
  3. The EAB file number EA-02-07 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 environmental assessment 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 environmental assessment for mitigation measures, public consultation, and additional studies and work to be carried out, and of all other commitments made during the preparation of the environmental assessment and the subsequent review of the environmental assessment for mitigation measures, public consultation, and additional studies and work to be carried out.
  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 environmental assessment compliance monitoring program.
  2. The first compliance report shall be issued no later than one year following the date of this approval, and on the date that is the anniversary of this approval thereafter, for which the compliance report shall cover the previous year to that date.
  3. The proponent shall submit the annual compliance report to the Director for placement on the public record.
  4. The proponent shall submit annual compliance reports until all conditions are satisfied.
  5. When all conditions have been satisfied, the proponent shall indicate in the annual compliance report that this is its final submission.
  6. 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.
  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 in response to a pollution incident report or when information concerning compliance is requested by the ministry.

6. Complaint protocol

  1. The proponent shalt 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.
    1. The proponent shalt submit the protocol to the Director for placement in the public record.
    2. A statement must accompany the protocol when submitted to the Director indicating that the protocol is intended to fulfil this condition.

7. Amending procedures

  1. Section 9.1 of the environmental assessment shall be revised to indicate that changes in the design of the undertaking that result in no new net effects shall also be considered minor amendments. In such cases, the proponent will be required to provide an Addendum to the ministry to document the change and demonstrate that there are no new net effects. The proponent shall consult with the ministry about any consultation requirements.
  2. The proponent shalt consult with the ministry about whether any changes described in Section 9.1 can be permitted without an amendment.
  3. The addendum for the change shall be provided to the Director for placement on the public record file.

8. Aboriginal consultation

  1. If any archaeological resources of Aboriginal origin are identified during the Stage 2 archaeological assessment, during any additional archaeological assessments that may be required, or during construction of the project, the proponent shall within 30 days of identifying the Aboriginal archaeological resources:
    1. notify the appropriate Aboriginal communities as identified during the EA process and any other Aboriginal community considered likely to be interested or which has expressed an interest in such finds; and
    2. arrange and participate in any meetings requested by any interested Aboriginal community to discuss the archaeological find(s). In particular the proponent shall consult with the Huron Wendat First Nation and the Williams Treaty First Nations about their specific archaeological interests.
  2. The proponent shall provide copies of the following documents to Aboriginal communities as identified during the EA process and any other Aboriginal communities that express an interest in receiving them:
    1. copies of the Stage 2, 3, and 4 archaeological assessment reports and any additional archaeological assessment reports that may be prepared with respect to the project;
    2. construction ,Plans for the project; and
    3. a notice of the commencement of construction activities.
  3. If any Aboriginal community requests a meeting or meetings to obtain information regarding construction plans or the results of archaeological assessment reports, the proponent shall arrange and participate in such any such meetings.
  4. Prior to construction, the proponent shall advise the Director in writing, how conditions 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 have been fulfilled.

9. Technical/monitoring/other requirements

  1. The proponent shall provide Enhanced Level 1 Treatment for stormwater management where possible.
  2. The proponent shall consult the MOE Regional Office on the development of the stormwater management strategy for the undertaking.
  3. Prior to construction the proponent shall provide the stormwater management strategy to the Regional Director for review. The final stromwater management strategy should be provided to the Director and the Regional Director for placement in the public record file.

Dated the 4th day of July 2012 at Toronto

Original signed by:
Ministry of the Environment
77 Wellesley Street West, 11th floor, Ferguson Block
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2T5