OFA has provided comments to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks as part of the consultation process for new regulation to focus municipal environmental assessment requirement.

OFA raises concerns with the proposed changes to municipal environmental assessment requirements. We maintain our longstanding position that all proposed projects must complete a mandatory Agricultural Impact Assessment where there is potential to affect agricultural lands, activities, or systems. In addition, any potential Source Water Protection–related impacts on agricultural properties arising from these projects must be assessed.

OFA strongly believes that notice and consultation requirements should extend beyond “adjacent landowners” to include all landowners who may be affected by a proposed project. Finally, OFA is pleased that the revised consultation recognizes the need for proponents to address outstanding concerns through the inclusion of a “time-out” option and acknowledges that some issues may require more time to resolve than the initially proposed 30-day timeframe.