MNR has put forward a public consultation proposing to revoke Class Environmental Assessments and replace it with a new Project Evaluation Policy (PEP). This aims to eliminate duplication and administrative burdens tied to various MNR permitting processes and activities.
Projects that would be exempt from PEP would still be subject to all requirements listed under MNR’s various acts (ex: Public Lands Act, Fish & Wildlife Act, Forestry Act, etc.)
The PEP would use a risk-based approach, focusing on projects with greater potential for impacts, improving efficiency, reducing duplication with other regulatory processes, and supporting meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities, stakeholders and the public.
Many RBT-related items are likely to be exempt from the PEP process which would reduce a lot of administrative burdens for operators.
Facilities and Infrastructure
- Small, private septic systems, except on at capacity lake trout lakes, where the system serves a single residential site and does not involve centralized collection, treatment, or disposal of sewage beyond the immediate site.
- Operation of facilities, including regular maintenance, repairs, upgrades or replacement provided the facility continues to serve the same purpose and function in the same way
- Upgrading (facility continues to serve the same purpose and function and the project remains within the existing general footprint) and granting permissions to construct or upgrade:
- access points (excluding expansions and those on lake trout lakes), portages and off-line ponds
- trails less than 250 metres in length
Minor/Administrative Authorizations
- Crown land camping permits
- Transfer of tenure documents
- Severance of surplus lands
- Post disposition activities (e.g. consents to mortgage, sublet)
- Voidance certificates
- Building condition extensions
- Travel permits
- Hunting and fishing licences
- Scientific collectors permits
- Trapping licences
- Type B land use permits (RLUPs)
- Release of reservations for:
- Trees of any species
- Sand and gravel
- conferring the right to use, for fishery purposes, the banks of a body of water
- conferring a right of access and free passage along the shores of rivers, stream, and lakes
- the surface rights in any public or colonization road crossing the land granted;
- a percentage of surface rights for road purposes
- a right of way for a railway line where the line is not constructed.
- Issuing a certificate under s. 38 of the Public Lands Act that, when registered, deems the lands to be public lands
- Renewing or re-issuing occupational authority for existing occupations of public lands
- Transfers of administration and control of land to, or receipt of administration and control of land from, any part of the federal Crown, or any part of the Provincial Crown
- Quit claims letters patent
- *NOTO would also love to see moving from LUPs to Leases under this list. We also want to make sure that transferring LUPs/Leases is as seamless as possible in all circumstance.
Under Fish and Wildlife
- Fish habitat enhancement
- Ongoing fish stocking conducted in accordance with an approved fisheries management plan or established management direction
- Physical control of nuisance animals (e.g., caging and removing a skunk)
- Preventing and controlling invasive species
- Research, as defined in this policy
- Non-emergency wildlife disease management (e.g., rabies control activities)
Lands and Resource Use
- Prescribed burning carried out in accordance with an approved prescribed burn plan or code of practice
- Issuing a licence to harvest wild rice on public lands
- Removing or remediating unauthorized occupations of public lands and restoring affected Crown resources
- Installing signage
- Sale of parcels of public lands 0.5 hectares or less in size to authorize existing uses
- Sale of public shoreline reserves or road allowances less than 1.0 hectare in size to the upland property owner
- Sale or lease of public lands with existing MNR facilities (e.g., Ontario Ranger Camps)
- Installation and removal of submarine cables
- Water-related excavation, dredging and filling (e.g., cottage lots, waterfront development and shoreline stabilization), where undertaken in previously disturbed areas
- Operation, regular maintenance, repairs, upgrades or like-for-like replacement of docks, boathouses and boat launches provided the facility continues to serve the same purpose and function and the project remains within the existing footprint of the structures
Please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns with the proposed exemption list stated above. We strongly encourage all operators to highlight their support for the easier renewals & transitions of crown land tenure permits & leases, Type B outpost camp permits, travel permits, allowing maintenance & repairs to infrastructure and more.