Amendment of approval – terms of reference

May 14, 2010

Ms. Adrian Coombs, P. Eng.
Senior Project Manager
Environmental Services
Capital Planning & Delivery
17250 Yonge Street
Newmarket, Ontario
L3Y 6Z1

Dear Ms. Coombs:

I am writing to you to provide clarification regarding the Notice of Approval (Notice) for the amended Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) Terms of Reference (ToR) for an Environmental Assessment (EA) that was signed by the Minister of the Environment on March 11, 2010. In particular, the purpose of this letter is to clarify an administrative error that appears in the Notice (attached) that was recently brought to the Ministry of the Environment’s attention.

As you are aware, the UYSS ToR was approved by the Minister with three amendments. These amendments, which are set out on the first page of the Notice, generally require that the Regional Municipality of York (York Region) consider the use of innovative wastewater treatment technologies in the evaluation of alternatives to the undertaking and alternative methods of implementing the undertaking.

Following the approval of the ToR, it was brought to the ministry’s attention that the Notice includes an administrative error. Specifically, the first paragraph on the second page of the Notice states that:

Pursuant to subsection 6.1(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act, any environmental assessment for the above-noted undertaking, submitted to the Ministry of the Environment pursuant to subsection 6.2(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act, must be prepared in accordance with the Terms of Reference as hereby approved with the following amendments:

as hereby approved with the following amendments repeats an earlier reference to the following amendments that was inadvertently included in this subsequent paragraph. This sentence should read:

Pursuant to subsection 6.1(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act, any environmental assessment for the above-noted undertaking, submitted to the Ministry of the Environment pursuant to subsection 6.2(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act, must be prepared in accordance with the approved Terms of Reference.

Accordingly, the ministry is confirming that the only amendments to the ToR are those set out in (i), (ii) and (iii) of the Notice. For the sake of clarity, the ministry would appreciate it if this letter was made available with any copies of the Notice that are distributed by York Region.

Should you have any questions about the amended ToR or the next steps in the EA process, please contact Mr. D. Jeffrey Dea, Project Officer, of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch at 416-314-7213 or jeffrey.dea@ontario.ca.

Yours sincerely,
Agatha Garcia-Wright
Director
Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch