Notice of approval

Proponent: Niagara Region
EA file number: EA-03-08-02

Take notice that the period for requesting a hearing, provided for in the Notice of Completion of the Review for the above-noted undertaking, expired on October 16, 2015.

Having considered the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act, the approved Terms of Reference, the Environmental Assessment, the Ministry Review of the Environmental Assessment and submissions received, I hereby give approval to proceed with the undertaking, subject to the conditions set out below.

Reasons

My reasons for giving approval are:

  1. The proponent has complied with the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act.
  2. The Environmental Assessment has been prepared in accordance with the approved Terms of Reference.
  3. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment and the Ministry Review, the proponent’s conclusion that, on balance, the advantages of this undertaking outweigh its disadvantages appears to be valid.
  4. No other beneficial alternative method of implementing the undertaking was identified.
  5. The proponent has demonstrated that the environmental effects of the undertaking can be appropriately prevented, changed, mitigated, or remedied.
  6. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment, the Ministry Review and the conditions of approval, the construction, operation and maintenance of the undertaking will be consistent with the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act (section 2).
  7. All comments from government agencies, the public and Aboriginal communities have been appropriately addressed.
  8. I am not aware of any outstanding issues with respect to this undertaking which suggest that a hearing should be required.

Conditions

1. Definitions

For the purposes of these conditions:

construction
means physical construction activities, including, site preparation works, but does not include tendering of contracts.
date of approval
means the date on which the Order in Council was approved by the Lieutenant Governor.
Director
means the Director of the Environmental Approvals Branch.
EAB
means the Environmental Approvals Branch of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
environmental assessment
means the document titled Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Expansion of the Humberstone Landfill, June 2015.
ministry
means the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
PLC
means the Humberstone Landfill Public Liaison Committee.
program
means compliance monitoring program.
proponent
means Niagara Region.
site
means the 62.1 hectare landfill facility, including the 37.8 hectare licensed waste disposal area, perimeter leachate collection system, four stormwater management ponds, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) containment cell, landfill gas collection and control system, administration buildings and buffer lands at 700 Humberstone Road in the City of Welland.
undertaking
means the construction and operation of the vertical expansion of the landfill at the site for an additional 2.4 million cubic metres of capacity, and as more specifically set out in the environmental assessment.

2. General requirements

  1. The proponent shall comply with the provisions in the environmental assessment which are hereby incorporated in this approval by reference except as provided in these conditions and as provided in any other approval or permit that may be issued for the site.
  2. The proponent shall fulfill all commitments made during the environmental assessment process.
  3. These conditions do not prevent more restrictive conditions being imposed under other statutes.

3. Public record

  1. Where a document is required for the public record, the proponent shall provide a copy of the document to the Director.
  2. The EAB file number EA-03-08-02 and the EAIMS number 14120 shall be quoted on all documents submitted to the ministry pursuant to this Notice of Approval.
  3. For every document submitted to the ministry, the proponent shall clearly identify which condition the document is meant to fulfill.
  4. Documents may be provided electronically where appropriate. The ministry may request that the document be provided in hardcopy.

4. Compliance monitoring program

  1. The proponent shall prepare and submit to the Director for the public record an environmental assessment compliance monitoring program.
  2. The program shall be submitted within one year from the date of approval, or 60 days before the commencement of construction, whichever is earlier, or by another date agreed upon by the Director.
  3. The program shall include:
    1. Monitoring of the proponent’s implementation of the undertaking in accordance with the environmental assessment with respect to mitigation measures, public consultation, and additional studies and work to be carried out;
    2. Monitoring of compliance with the conditions in this Notice of Approval; and
    3. Monitoring of compliance with all commitments made in the environmental assessment and the subsequent review of and approval process for the environmental assessment with respect to mitigation measures, public consultation, and additional studies and work to be carried out.

5. Compliance reporting

  1. The proponent shall prepare an annual compliance report outlining the results of the compliance monitoring program (Condition 4 above).
  2. The first compliance report shall be submitted to the Director for the public record no later than one year following the date of this approval. Each subsequent annual compliance report shall be submitted on the date that is the anniversary of the date of approval thereafter. Each report shall cover the previous year to the date of report submission.
  3. The proponent shall submit annual compliance reports until all conditions are satisfied.
  4. When all conditions have been satisfied, the proponent shall indicate in the annual compliance report that this is its final submission. The Director may vary the time at which the proponent is to provide its final compliance report by providing notice to the proponent in writing of the change.
  5. The proponent shall retain either on site or in another location approved by the Director, copies of the annual compliance reports for each reporting year and any associated documentation of compliance monitoring activities.
  6. The proponent shall make the compliance reports and supporting documentation available to the ministry or its designate upon request in a timely manner when requested to so by the ministry.

6. Public Liaison Committee

  1. The proponent shall maintain the PLC to provide a forum for public concerns to be raised and for mitigation measures to be discussed where appropriate.
  2. If there is no interest from the public in continuing the existing PLC or establishing and participating in a new committee (once sufficient notice has been given), the proponent may discontinue the PLC. The need for the PLC should be reviewed yearly by the proponent.
  3. If continued or re-established, the PLC shall serve as the focal point for dissemination, review and exchange of information and monitoring results relevant to the undertaking.

7. Complaint protocol

  1. The proponent shall prepare and implement a protocol on how it will deal with and respond to inquiries and complaints with respect to the undertaking.
  2. The proponent shall submit the Complaint Protocol to the Director within one year from the date of approval, or 60 days before the commencement of construction, whichever is earlier.
  3. The Director may require the proponent to amend the Complaint Protocol at any time. Should an amendment be required, the Director shall notify the proponent in writing of the amendment required and when the amendment must be completed.
  4. The proponent shall submit the amended Complaint Protocol to the Director within the time period specified by the Director.
  5. The proponent shall implement the Complaint Protocol and any amendments to it.

8. Climate change considerations

  1. The proponent shall include in its application for an Environmental Compliance Approval under section 20.2 of the Environmental Protection Act the following:
    1. An assessment of the largest ten (10) storms events in the past five (5) years and whether the proposed stormwater management facility has the capacity to contain the events. The assessment will include a discussion of potential contingency plans to address extreme weather events in the future should the frequency increase and capacity become an issue; and
    2. An assessment of the potential vulnerability to sideslope failure at the site due to extreme weather events and any appropriate mitigation and contingency measures to address such a failure. This may include any details that were provided in the environmental assessment about extreme weather assessment.
  2. The proponent shall, as part of the design of the landfill gas collection and control system for the expanded site, assess the potential for the utilization of landfill gas collected at the site for electricity generation. The proponent shall include a discussion of the assessment and the potential feasibility and/or future potential use of utilizing the landfill gas collected at the site for electricity generation in the Design and Operations Report submitted to support the proponent’s application for an Environmental Compliance Approval under section 20.2 of the Environmental Protection Act.

Dated the 12th day of April 2016 at Toronto.

Original signed by
Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
77 Wellesley Street West
11th Floor, Ferguson Block
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2T5

Approved by O.C. number: 653/2016
Date O.C. approved: May 4, 2016