The Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) acknowledged the comprehensive government response to the Report on the Review of the Aggregate Resources Act and said it stands ready to help implement key recommendations.
Tabled by the Honourable David Orazietti, Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) in the Ontario Legislature, the Comprehensive Government Response to Standing Committee on General Government’s Report on the Review of the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) offers the provincial government’s initial reaction and next steps on the 38 recommendations made by the standing committee last October.
“The response recognizes that we’re a highly-regulated industry that works hard day-in and day-out to be good stewards of the land and good neighbors in the communities in which we operate,” said OSSGA CEO Moreen Miller.
However, Miller also noted that is has been almost two years since the standing committee began its review and Ontario’s transportation, transit and housing infrastructure needs remain unabated.
“That’s why we’re keen to see the recommendations come to fruition as they balance complex land-use planning issues with the mineral aggregate policies of the Provincial Policy Statement,” said Miller. “Toward that end, OSSGA and the Minister of Natural Resources’ office have been working positively together and look forward to continuing to do so.”
The Standing Committee on General Government commenced its review of the ARA in March 2012, held public hearings across the province and toured a number of operating and rehabilitated aggregate sites. The all-party Committee’s report was tabled in the Ontario Legislature on Oct. 30, 2013.
The last major revisions to the ARA were made in 1997.