Ontario: Province Relaxes Approvals For Routine Water-Taking

On April 16, 2016, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change MOECC) passed a regulation to ease or remove the requirement for permits to take water (PTTW) for certain routine water takings which do not pose a significant environmental risk.

The regulation allows certain short-term, non-recurring water taking activities (including surface water takings for road construction and construction dewatering) to instead be registered on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR

An accompanying Technical Discussion Paper covers in greater detail the proposed regulatory changes, as well as modifications to the PTTW program and EASR requirements.