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1. MUNICIPAL
CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: PROPOSED MAJOR AMENDMENT TO INCLUDE TRANSIT
PROJECTS ÉVALUATION ENVIRONNEMENTALE MUNICIPALE DE PORTÉE
GÉNÉRALE : IMPORTANT PROJET DE MODIFICATION VISANT À INCLURE LES PROJETS DE
TRANSPORT EN COMMUN |
Committee recommendation
That Council
endorse the proposal by the Municipal Engineers Association to include transit
projects in the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process.
Recommandation du Comité
Que le Conseil appui la proposition
de l'association des ingénieurs municipaux visant à soumettre les projets de
transport en commun au processus d'évaluation environnementale municipale de
portée générale.
Documentation
1.
Deputy
City Manager's report Planning, Transit and the Environment dated
25 April 2007 (ACS2007-PTE-POL-0028).
2.
Extract of Draft Minutes,
Transit Committee Meeting of 16 May 2007.
Report to/Rapport au :
Comité du transport en commun
and Council / et au Conseil
25 April 2007 / le 25 avril 2007
Submitted by/Soumis par: Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice
municipale adjointe,
Planning, Transit and the Environment/Urbanisme, Transport en commun et
Environnement
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Vivi Chi, Manager/Gestionnaire, Transportation and
Infrastructure Policy/Politiques d’infrastructure et des transports
Planning, Environment and Infrastructure
Policy/Politiques d’urbanisme, d’environnement et d’infrastructure
(613) 580-2424 x21877, vivi.chi@ottawa.ca
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That Transit Committee recommend Council endorse the proposal by the Municipal Engineers Association to include transit projects in the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process.
RECOMMANDATION DU
RAPPORT
Que le Comité du transport en commun recommande
au Conseil d'appuyer la proposition de l'association des ingénieurs municipaux
visant à soumettre les projets de transport en commun au processus d'évaluation
environnementale municipale de portée générale.
On behalf of proponent municipalities, the Municipal Engineers Association (MEA) developed the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) for roads, water, and wastewater projects in Ontario. This process has been in use since 1987, with several updates and the most recent being in 2000.
Currently, municipal transit projects are not included in the Municipal Class EA process. This means that all municipal transit projects must follow the Individual EA process, which requires the development of a study Terms of Reference (ToR) at the outset. The project must also receive the Minister of the Environment’s approval for both the ToR and the final EA Report before it can proceed to implementation. These required approvals can add a minimum of 42 weeks (12 weeks for the ToR and 30 weeks for the EA review and decision) to a project in comparison to the Municipal Class EA process.
A Municipal Class EA, on the other hand, is a self-assessment process and does not require additional Ministry approval. While the level of effort to undertake the Individual EA and a Municipal Class EA (Schedule C) is virtually the same, there are substantial savings in the approval timelines for Municipal Class EAs.
As such, the MEA, on behalf of municipal proponents (including the City of Ottawa), is preparing a submission to the MOE for approval of a new Municipal Class EA chapter specifically for municipal transit projects – with the exception of subways. MOE’s position is that subways are too large in scale, and undertaken infrequently by proponents, to be included in the Municipal Class EA process and need to continue to be assessed under the Individual EA approach.
The new Municipal Class EA chapter for municipal transit projects is being proposed as a major amendment to the existing Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Document – with the transit chapter referred to as Part D (a draft is attached as Document 1). As before, Part A of the Document defines the Class EA process, Part B refers to road projects, and Part C refers to water and wastewater projects. This staff report addresses Part D only.
The proposed new Municipal Class EA transit chapter is still undergoing consultation and likely will not be finalized until May/June. Should Part D change significantly from the time that Council endorses this approach, a memo will be prepared to advise Council of such change.
BACKGROUND
In
March 2005, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE)’s Environmental Assessment
Advisory Panel provided recommendations on improving Ontario’s environmental
assessment program. One of the
recommendations is for the MOE to work with the MEA to include municipal
transit projects into the Municipal Class EA process. This is intended to streamline the process for transit projects,
and allow the municipalities to implement those projects without additional
approval from the MOE under the EA Act, provided that the planning process in
the Class EA is followed.
There
are currently three types of Municipal Class EA projects, depending on the
level of environmental impact:
Schedule
A: Generally operational and
maintenance activities. Environmental
effects are usually minimal, and therefore these projects are pre-approved.
Schedule
B: Generally includes improvements and
minor expansions to existing facilities.
There is potential for adverse environmental impacts, and therefore the
proponent is required to proceed through a screening process and consult with
anyone who may be affected.
Schedule C: Generally includes the construction of new facilities and major expansion to existing facilities. There is potential for adverse environmental impacts, and therefore a full environmental assessment is required.
As part of the review and update of the Municipal Class EA Document, it is proposed that an additional sub-category be introduced:
Schedule A+: Very similar to Schedule A projects (pre-approved), however, the public is to be advised prior to project implementation.
This proposed change came about as result of feedback received over time, which suggested that the current process could be improved if existing project activities were reviewed in terms of whether or not they reflected local options that were best to be resolved by municipal Councils, based on local needs and requirements rather than by an appeal to the MOE for a decision. This change would affect projects that are currently identified in Schedules A and B of the existing Municipal Class EA Document. Transit projects in Part D will also use this proposed new category.
Under the proposed new Class EA process, many transit projects will be grouped under Schedules A, A+, and B (see attached Document 1 for examples). Larger projects (new facilities, for example) would shift from the Individual EA process to a Schedule C of the Class EA process. Development of the study Terms of References would no longer be required for any municipal transit project. Therefore, the new Municipal Class EA transit chapter will result in considerable project time savings by expediting many of the hundreds of transit projects undertaken each year across the province and allow these environmentally friendly projects to be put into service sooner.
One of the drawbacks of transit being part of a Municipal Class EA process is that there will now be a shelf life for the EA – currently five years. Since transit projects typically require significant capital funding, which may take time to bring together, MEA is seeking an extension of the shelf life for all Municipal Class EA projects to 10 years. Preliminary discussions with MOE indicate that this request is reasonable. After 10 years, if the project has not advanced to the implementation phase, it is prudent planning in any case to revisit the project assumptions as conditions, policies, and goals/targets may have changed over this extended period of time.
Municipal Class EA projects are also susceptible to Part II Order (“bump up”) requests to the Minister of the Environment (whereas Individual EAs are not). While these requests need to be addressed, it typically does not require as much time to resolve in comparison to the time that is required for MOE to approve the study Terms of Reference (12 weeks minimum) and the final EA Report (30 weeks minimum). One of the advantages for the City of Ottawa, being a proponent of the Municipal Class EA, is that its Schedule A and A+ projects are unconditionally approved and cannot be bumped up to a higher schedule or an Individual EA.
The new Part D includes:
After MEA has completed the consultation on the draft Part D, a final copy will be submitted to the MOE in the summer of 2007 and the final 30-day public review period will be initiated. A Ministry decision/approval is expected by early Fall.
Subject to MOE confirmation, it appears that municipal transit studies currently underway may need to continue with the Individual EA process particularly if the Terms of Reference have already been approved – even if the new Class EA process for transit is adopted in the meantime. Proponents may have the option to withdraw the ToR and start afresh under the new Class EA process should it make sense to do so, time-wise. However, MOE has warned that it is illegal to start the transit study as a Municipal Class EA prior to the process being approved by the Ministry.
The Municipal Class EA process is subject to periodic reviews and updates every five years. Therefore, after the Transit Class EA process has been adopted and applied, there will be opportunities to review its effectiveness and recommend further improvements.
CONSULTATION
No
consultation took place in the development of this staff report.
MEA
and MOE have provided public notification and consultation is taking place on
the new Class EA for transit. Notice of
Study Commencement was advertised in the Ottawa Citizen on 8 November
2006, as well as other publications in Ontario. In addition, the study website (www.mrc.ca/transitea.html) was
active prior to the newspaper publication of the Notice. A copy of the Notice was available in PDF
format on the website and was also placed on the Ministry’s Environmental Bill
of Rights Registry. A questionnaire/survey was sent to stakeholders and
municipalities throughout the province at the same time.
Another
advertisement was placed on 13 April 2007 to inform the public of the
opportunity to review the draft Part D, with a deadline for comments being 2
May 2007.
MEA established a Transit Sub-committee comprised of representatives from proponent municipalities, the Toronto Transit Commission, and the MOE to review and guide the development of the Municipal Class EA transit chapter.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The City of Ottawa contributed $20,000 (out of a total cost of $165,000) to MEA for the development of the new Municipal Class EA transit chapter. Other funding contributions came from the MOE (in addition to $60,000 of services in kind), the City of Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission, the Region of Waterloo, Region of York, the City of Mississauga, and the City of Hamilton.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
DISPOSITION
Staff will inform MEA of Council’s endorsement of the Transit Class EA process. If Part D is revised and has significant changes to what is being presented to Transit Committee today, staff will prepare a memo to inform Committee of those changes.