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ARA Notes by Donna Baylis

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Published on Monday, 06 August 2012 16:15
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Notes from Donna Baylis, one of NDACT's Extraordinary Volunteers

The presentations from the various aggregate industry representatives are wonderfully orchestrated.  Key assertions are: 
 
- ARA is not broken but can be tweaked. 
- Close to market is good policy.
- Licence approval process must be streamlined; transparent and efficient.
- Changes to ARA must avoid undermining the economic health of Ontario.
- Sunset clauses are bad policy.
- Aggregate levy can be increased (equitably) but funds must go to MNR oversight and not into general government coffers.
 
The Hansard from the Kitchener-Waterloo ARA Review hearing (9-Jul-2012):
 
The Hansard from the Ottawa ARA Review hearing (16-Jul-2012):
- Committee pledges to write letters to Municipal Engineers Association of Ontario, ROMA and the City of Toronto (non-AMO) to ask the organizations why they do not make greater use of recycled aggregate product.
- Committee makes a request as suggested for a "list of licensed aggregate extraction sites that have had a significant negative impact on the environment over...the past 50 years and what those negative impacts were."  In addition to get the data in two forms: quantity and as a percentage of the total number of licences operated during that time frame.  And to determine "of the sites that did have a significant negative impact on the environment, which ones occurred during the extraction phase and which ones occurred from the after-use?"
- Rehabilitation - Ms. Laurie Scott notes that conservation authorities (CAs) are reluctant to take on quarry sites that need rehab.
 
The Hansard from the Sudbury ARA Review hearing (17-Jul-2012):
- Committee visited Lafarge, Gore Bay (ships to Toronto, Windsor and USA - 75% of cost is transportation).
- Committee asks what percentage of recycled product does Sudbury use in its road construction program?
- MTO holds 700 permits in Ontario on crown land. 
- MTO is held to a different standard than private operators.
- 25+ provincial and federal regulations apply to aggregate licences.
- Location of operation (southern vs northern vs eastern Ontario, etc.) makes a difference re: operating efficiencies and challenges.
- Aggregate industry is the only road user to contribute directly to infrastructure costs.
- As it stands, tonnage fee increase would not apply to First Nations or MTO operations putting agg. industry at a disadvantage.
- Committee asks for research on agg. import operations:  What are levies? Do they have sunset clauses? Recycling? Timeframe to get an approved licence?
 
Other: 
 
It was interesting to note that several industry speakers had the opportunity to present at two different hearings.
 
Donna Baylis