p42 s1 bill 257 b257rep e.pdf

Ontario — Bills

1ST SESSION, 42ND LEGISLATURE, ONTARIO 70 ELIZABETH II, 2021 Bill 257

An Act to enact the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021 and to make other amendments in respect of infrastructure and land use planning matters The Hon. L. Scott Minister of Infrastructure Government Bill 1st Reading March 4, 2021 2nd Reading March 23, 2021 3rd Reading Royal Assent (Reprinted as amended by the Standing Committee on General Government and as reported to the Legislative Assembly March 31, 2021) (The provisions in this Bill will be renumbered after 3rd Reading)

This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a strikethrough for deleted text. ______________ EXPLANATORY NOTE

SCHEDULE 1 BUILDING BROADBAND FASTER ACT, 2021 The

Schedule enacts the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021. The purpose of the Act is to expedite the delivery of broadband projects of provincial significance. The Act applies with respect to broadband projects that are designa ted by regulation. Provisions are made to require co -operation from electricity distributors and transmitters to complete work that is necessary for the deployment of a project. The Minister may give a distributor or transmitter a notice requiring the comp letion of work.

A notice may be given only if the Minister has determined that the distributor or transmitter has not met a prescribed requirement relating to when something must be done. The proponent of the project and the distributor or transmitter are required to enter into negotiations to co-ordinate the work. Provision is made for the apportionment of costs of the work. If the distributor or transmitter fails to complete the work the Minister may order them to do so or may authorize the proponent to carry out the work. A distributor or transmitter who fails to complete the work is also required to compensate the proponent.

Provisions are made for requiring municipal service and right of way access. The Minister may give a municipality a notice of what the Minister has determined is required. The proponent of the project and the municipality are required to enter into negotiations to agree on terms. If terms cannot be agreed upon, the Minister may make a municipal service and right of way access order. A municipality is required to compensate the proponent if the municipality fails to negotiate as required or fails to comply with a municipal service and right of way access order.

If a municipality fails to comply with a municipal service and right of way access order the Minister may authorize a person to do the work required under the order and the municipality is required to compensate the Minister for related costs incurred by the Minister. Provisions are made relating to notifications requiring the loc ation of underground infrastructure under the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 for a proposed excavation or dig that relates to a broadband project.

If the required work is not done within 10 business days, the Minister may authorize a person to do the proposed excavation or dig. The required work must be done within 10 business days. The proponent of a project may claim compensation for prescribed losses or expenses if the required work is not done properly. Provisions providing for the following are also included: 1. The delegation of certain functions to the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation. 2. Administrative penalties. 3. The preclusion of certain causes of action. 4. Consequential amendments to other Acts.

SCHEDULE 2 ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD ACT, 1998 The

Schedule amends the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. Notably, the Act is amended by adding a new

Part VI.1 (Electricity Infrastructure). The Part applies with respect to th e development of, use of or access to electricity infrastructure that is wholly or partly for a purpose other than the generation, transmission, distribution, consumption, sale or demand management of electricity , if the development, use or access is specified by regulations made under the Part. The term “electricity infrastructure” is defined in

section 104.1 of the Part.

Section 104.5 identifies new objectives of the Ontario Energy Board in relation to its powers and duties under the Part. The new

Part VI.1 consists primarily of a broad regulation-making authority to identify and govern the electricity infrastructure development, use and access to which it applies, in

section 104.3. In addition,

section 104.4 provides discretion for the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines to compensate, in accordance with the regulations, transmitters, distributors and any other persons licensed under

Part V of the Act that may be specified by the regulations for any lost revenue arising from the application of the Part. Such compensation would be paid out of money appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose. Complementary amendments are made to

section 42 of the Electricity Act, 1998. Other amendments made to the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 include the following: 1. Amendments to sections 71 and 88 of the Act to expressly provide that the restriction on transmitter and distributor business activities in subsection 71 (1) of the Act is subject to regulations that may provide otherwise.

ii 2. A new subsection 78 (5.0.0.1) of the Act, which provides that specified payments that transmitters and distributors may be required to make under the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021 , set out in

Schedule 1 to the Bill, shall not be considered by the Ontario Energy Board in its setting of electricity rates. Finally, a number of housekeeping amendments are made to the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 , such as repealing the definition of “designated consumer” in

section 56 since the term is no longer used in the A ct. A consequential amendment is made to the Private Hospitals Act.

SCHEDULE 3 PLANNING ACT The Planning Act is amended to provide that ministerial zoning orders made under

section 47 are not required and are deemed to never have been required to be consistent with policy statements issued under subsection 3 (1). However, any part of such an order that applies to land in the Greenbelt Area is and always has been required to be consistent with a policy statement issued under subsection 3 (1).

Bill 257 2021

An Act to enact the Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021 and to make other amendments in respect of infrastructure and land use planning matters CONTENTS 1. Contents of this Act 2. Commencement 3.

Short title

Schedule 1 Building Broadband Faster Act, 2021

Schedule 2 Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998

Schedule 3 Planning Act Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows: Contents of this Act 1 This Act consists of this section, sections 2 and 3 and the Schedules to this Act. Commencement 2

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2) The Schedules to this Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.

(3) If a

Schedule to this Act provides that any provisions are to come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, a proclamation may apply to one or more of those provisions, and proclamations may be issued at different times with respect to any of those provisions.

Short title 3 The

short title of this Act is the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021.

SCHEDULE 1 BUILDING BROADBAND FASTER ACT, 2021 CONTENTS PURPOSE OF THE ACT 1. Purpose

DEFINITIONS 2.

Definitions APPLICATION OF THE ACT 3. Application DISTRIBUTOR OR TRANSMITTER CO-OPERATION 4. Notice to distributor and transmitter 5. Co-ordination 6. Timelines 7. Application for additional time 8. Apportionment of costs 9. Minister’s order or authorization 10. Compensation MUNICIPAL SERVICE AND RIGHT OF WAY ACCESS 11. Need for municipal service and right of way access 12. Notice that municipal service and right of way access required 13. Contents of notice 14. Negotiation 15. If negotiation fails 16. Municipal service and right of way access order 17. Revising or cancelling order 18. Compensation 19.

Authorization to do municipality’s work 20. Enforcement through court LOCATION OF UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE 21. Location of underground infrastructure ONTARIO INFRASTRUCTURE AND LANDS CORPORATION 22. Delegation to OILC 23. Ministerial directives ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES 24. Administrative penalties MISCELLANEOUS 25. Serving a document 26. No cause of action 27. Regulations AMENDMENTS, COMMENCEMENT AND

SHORT TITLE 28. Amendments in respect of Bill 245 — Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021 29. Amendments to Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation Act, 2011 30. Amendment to Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 31. Commencement 32.

Short title PURPOSE OF THE ACT Purpose 1 The purpose of the Act is to expedite the delivery of broadband projects of provincial significance by removing barriers and streamlining processes related to infrastructure that may result in delays to the timely completion of these broadband projects, while enhancing co-ordination and engagement with and being fair to public and private sector stakeholders.

DEFINITIONS

Definitions 2 In this Act, “actual cost” means the prescribed costs; (“coût réel”) “broadband project” means a project that deploys, or supports the deployment of, broadband infrastructure; (“projet d’Internet à haut débit”)

3 “business day” means a day from Monday to Friday, other than a holiday as defined in

section 87 of the Legislation Act, 2006; (“jour ouvrable”) “designated broadband project” means a broadband project that is designated under the regulations for the purposes of this Act; (“projet désigné d’Internet à haut débit”) “distributor” has the same meaning as in the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998; (“distributeur”) “Minister” means the Minister of Infrastructure or such other member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the administration of this Act is assigned or transferred under the Executive Council Act; (“ministre”) “municipal service and right of way access” means municipal service and right of way access referred to in

section 11; (“accès aux services municipaux et par droit de passage”) “municipal service and right of way access order” means a municipal service and right of way access order made under

section 16; (“arrêté d’accès aux services municipaux et par droit de passage”) “OILC” means the Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation; (“Société”) “prescribed” means prescribed by regulation; (“prescrit”) “proponent” means a person who carries out or proposes to carry out or is the owner or pe rson having charge, management or control of a project; (“promoteur”) “regulation” means a regulation under this Act; (“règlement”) “transmitter” has the same meaning as in the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998. (“transporteur”) APPLICATION OF THE ACT Application 3 This Act applies with respect to designated broadband projects.

DISTRIBUTOR OR TRANSMITTER CO-OPERATION Notice to distributor and transmitter 4

(1) The Minister may by notice require a distributor or transmitter to complete work if, (

a) in the opinion of the Minister, the work is necessary for the deployment of a designated broadband project; (

b) the Minister has determined that the distributor or transmitter has not met a requirement under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 or this Act with respect to when something must be done; and (

c) the requirement is prescribed by regulation under this Act for the purposes of this subsection. Form and service

(2) The notice must be in writing and must be served personally, by registered mail or by e mail. Deemed receipt

(3) A notice sent by email is deemed to have been received on the first business day after the day it was sent, unless the distributor or transmitter establishes that it, acti

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	p42 s1 bill 257 b257rep e.pdf
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p42 s1 bill 257 b257rep e.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	4ae85429229e8b4df830503cf1bee6ddadde8019

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).