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ARTICLE · 11 MARCH 2024

Ontario Plans To Revoke Municipal Class EA And Replace It With Municipal Project Assessment Process Regulation

Aird & Berlis LLP
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Ontario is moving forward with changes to the current environmental assessment ("EA") process for municipal infrastructure projects.

CanadaEnvironment
Kristi M. Ross
Kristi M. Ross
Jonathan Marun-Batista
Jonathan Marun-Batista
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Ontario is moving forward with changes to the current environmental assessment ("EA") process for municipal infrastructure projects.

As part of this effort, Ontario is proposing to revoke the Municipal Class EA ("MCEA") and Private Sector Developers Regulation ( O. Reg. 345/93) and make a streamlined EA regulation that focuses on certain higher-risk water, shoreline and sewage projects.

The new regulation would take a project-list approach by describing the municipal infrastructure types that would be required to be subject to the EA process. Only projects listed in the regulation would have Environmental Assessment Act ("EAA") requirements. It is proposed that some projects deemed to be low risk, which are currently subject to the MCEA, would no longer be subject to it. This would include all projects currently subject to Schedule B of the MCEA, all municipal roads or new parking lots, and all private sector infrastructure projects for residents of a

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