O. Reg. 388/04: GENERAL

 

ontario regulation 388/04

made under the

assessment act

Made: December 9, 2004
Filed: December 10, 2004
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: December 25, 2004

Amending O. Reg. 282/98

(General)

1. Sections 24, 25 and 26 of Ontario Regulation 282/98 are revoked and the following substituted:

24. For the purposes of paragraph 25 of subsection 3 (1) of the Act,

“conservation land” means land that is eligible conservation land under section 26 of this Regulation.

25. (1) Land, excluding any portion of the land that has a building or other improvement on it, is eligible to be classified as eligible conservation land if,

(a) it satisfies the requirements of subsection (2) or (3); and

(b) it is maintained in a manner that contributes to the natural heritage and the biodiversity objectives for conserving the land.

(2) For the purposes of clause (1) (a), the land satisfies the requirements of this subsection if it satisfies one of the following conditions:

1. The land is identified by the Minister of Natural Resources as provincially significant wetland on the basis of the wetland evaluation system set out in the Ministry of Natural Resources document entitled “Ontario Wetland Evaluation System Southern Manual” (3rd edition), dated March, 1993, as revised in May, 1994 and December, 2002, or in the Ministry of Natural Resources document titled “Ontario Wetland Evaluation System Northern Manual” (1st edition), dated March, 1993, as revised in May, 1994 and December, 2002.

2. The land is identified by the Minister of Natural Resources as a provincially significant area of natural and scientific interest using the criteria set out in the Ministry of Natural Resources document entitled “A Framework for the Conservation of Ontario’s Biological Heritage”, dated May, 1980, or in the Ministry of Natural Resources document titled “A Framework for the Conservation of Ontario’s Earth Science Features”, dated October, 1981.

3. The land is identified by the Minister of Natural Resources as a habitat of the endangered species listed in Regulation 328 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (Endangered Species) made under the Endangered Species Act, using the criteria set out in the Ministry of Natural Resources document entitled “Guidelines for Mapping Endangered Species Habitats under the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program”, as it may be amended from time to time and set out in a Decision Notice posted on the environmental registry under the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993.

4. The land is designated as an escarpment natural area in the Niagara Escarpment Plan under the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act.

(3) For the purposes of clause (1) (a), the land satisfies the requirements of this subsection if the land is owned by a registered charity, within the meaning of subsection 248 (1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada), one of whose primary objectives is natural heritage conservation or by a conservation authority established under the Conservation Authorities Act and the land satisfies one of the following conditions:

1. It is designated as an escarpment protection area in the Niagara Escarpment Plan under the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act.

2. It is located within a Featured Area and contributes to the natural heritage protection objectives established for the Featured Area as set out in the “Ontario Living Legacy Land Use Strategy, July 1999”, published by the Queen’s Printer.

3. It is a natural heritage feature or area that meets the criteria of the natural heritage provisions of the Provincial Policy Statement as issued and re-issued under section 3 of the Planning Act.

4. It is identified by the Minister of Natural Resources as a regionally significant area of natural and scientific interest using the criteria set out in the Ministry of Natural Resources document entitled “A Framework for the Conservation of Ontario’s Biological Heritage”, dated May, 1980, or in the Ministry of Natural Resources document entitled “A Framework for the Conservation of Ontario’s Earth Science Features”, dated October, 1981.

5.   It is a habitat of species of special concern, as designated by the Ministry of Natural Resources, based on the criteria in the “Categories and Criteria for Status Assessment” of the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario.

6. It is identified as having species occurrences or ecological communities with an S-Rank designation of S1-S3, as determined by the Natural Heritage Information Centre of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

7. It is designated as a natural core area, natural linkage area or countryside in the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan under the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001.

8. It is a natural heritage area identified within a regional or watershed plan or strategy developed by a conservation authority under the Conservation Authorities Act or by another public agency under another provincial or federal statute.

9. It is designated as an environmentally sensitive area, environmentally significant area, environmental protection area, natural heritage system or another area with an equivalent designation within a municipal official plan or zoning by-law under the Planning Act.

10. It is within, abuts or abuts a road allowance that abuts a provincial park, national park, conservation reserve or provincial wildlife area and contributes significantly to the natural heritage objectives of the park, reserve or wildlife area.

11. It is an area identified under the Great Lakes Wetlands Conservation Action Plan described in the “Great Lakes Wetlands Conservation Action Plan Highlights Report (2000-2003)”, published by Environment Canada.

(4) Despite paragraph 10 of subsection (3), no part of the land that is more than 1,000 metres from the boundary of the park, reserve or wildlife area is eligible to be classified as eligible conservation land.

26. Land is eligible conservation land for a taxation year if the following requirements are met:

1. The land is eligible under section 25 to be classified as eligible conservation land for the taxation year.

2. The owner submits a completed application to the Minister of Natural Resources for designation of the land under this section for the taxation year and the application is submitted,

i. on or before February 28, 2005, if the land is described in subsection 25 (3) and the application relates to the 2005 taxation year, or

ii. on or before July 31 of the previous year, in any other case.

3. In the application, the owner undertakes,

i. not to engage in activities during the taxation year that are inconsistent with the natural heritage and biodiversity objectives for conserving the land,

ii. to allow a person selected by the Minister of Natural Resources to inspect the land, and

iii. to co-operate with the person described in subparagraph ii in the course of the inspection.

4. The Minister of Natural Resources designates the land for the taxation year for the purposes of this section.

5. The owner does not breach any undertaking given in the application.

2. This Regulation comes into force on January 1, 2005.

Made by:

Gregory Sorbara

Minister of Finance

Date made: December 9, 2004.