Approval of amendments to the Class EA for GO Transit (2005)
The ministry’s approval of changes to the class environmental assessment for GO Transit projects, including rail/bus stations and infrastructure improvements.
Notice of amendment
GO Transit proposed two amendments to the GO Transit Class Environmental Assessment document, December 2003 (Class EA) to:
- Switch new maintenance or storage yards for bus service from Group C to Group B; and
- Remove the reference to Part II Order requests from the initial project overview notices.
On April 7, 2005, GO Transit posted a Notice of Proposed Amendment in the Toronto Star. The notice explained the rationale for the proposed amendments and invited comments from any interested persons. On May 24, 2005, the 45-day public comment period ended. No comments were received.
On August 8, 2005, the Minister of the Environment approved the proposed amendments to the Class EA. In making this decision, the Minister determined that the proposed amendments were within the scope of the amending procedure outlined in the Class EA and there were no anticipated environmental effects associated with the proposed amendments.
The Class EA has been amended as follows:
- New maintenance and storage yards for buses have been made Group B projects and will require the completion of the Class EA process rather than individual environmental assessments.
- The Part II Order information has been removed from the initial project overview notices but remains in notices that are provided at the end of the planning process. This is similar to other approved Class EAs.