Regulatory Corner - March 2024

Ontario – Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Changes

On February 22, 2024, as part of the broader Bill 162 Get It Done Act, the Ontario government is proposing to revoke the province’s Municipal Class Environmental Assessment and replace it with both a new regulation defining requirements for certain specified higher risk activities, while lower risk activities would be reviewed outside of the new regulation.

Of interest to the dam community is the proposal that amongst the list of higher risk activities to be included in the new Environmental Assessment Act regulation is the "construction of a new dam or weir in a watercourse”.  Details on the proposed new regulation are available at New regulation to focus municipal environmental assessment requirements | Environmental Registry of Ontario, with comments due by March 17, 2024.

Note – no changes are proposed to the Province’s Class Environmental Assessment for Waterpower.