Sustainable Water and Waste Water Systems Improvement and Maintenance Act, 2010 Caplan, David — Bill 237 (39th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 237, 39-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 237, Sustainable Water and Waste Water Systems Improvement and Maintenance Act, 2010

Caplan, David

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[39] Bill 237 Original (PDF)

Bill 237 2009

An Act to sustain

and encourage improvement in Ontario's water and waste water services and to

establish the Ontario Water Board

Note:

This Act repeals the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act, 2002. For the

legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes –

Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice

and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

PART I

Purposes and

Interpretation

Purposes

Purposes

1. The purposes of

this Act are,

(

a) to ensure that public ownership of water

services and waste water services is maintained;

(

b) to promote full-cost recovery and full-cost

accounting of water services and waste water services;

(

c) to encourage an increase in scale and

capacity in the provision of water services and waste water services to

minimize costs to the public;

(

d) to improve transparency in the provision of

water services and waste water services to the public through the establishment

of publicly-owned corporations; and

(

e) to create an independent economic regulator

with the expertise and authority to administer this Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2. In this Act,

"Board" means the Ontario Water

Board; ("Commission")

"Minister" means the Minister of the

Environment or such other member of the Executive Council as may be assigned

the administration of this Act under the Executive Council Act ; ("ministre")

"municipal auditor" means an auditor

appointed by a municipality under

section 296 of the Municipal Act, 2001 or

section 139 of

the City of Toronto Act,

2006 , as the case may be; (" vérificateur municipal ")

"prescribed" means prescribed by the

regulations; (" prescrit ")

"professional engineer" means a

professional engineer as defined in the regulations; (" ingénieur ")

"raw water supply" includes any

ground water or surface water in the natural environment; (" source

d'approvisionnement en eau brute ")

"regulated entity" means a

municipality or group of municipalities designated as a regulated entity by

regulation; ("entité réglementée")

"regulation" means a regulation made

under this Act; ("règlement")

"source protection costs" means the

prescribed costs that relate to a source protection measure financed in whole

or in part by a regulated entity and includes any prescribed charges or fees

imposed on a regulated entity; (" coûts de protection des sources d'eau ")

"source protection measure" means a

prescribed measure to protect the quantity or quality of any raw water supply

that a regulated entity relies upon or may rely upon in the future for the

provision of water services or waste water services to the public. (" mesure de protection des

sources d'eau ")

Provision of water services

(1) The

provision of water services to the public includes any source protection

measure related to the provision of water services and extracting, treating and

distributing water.

Provision of waste water services

(2) The provision of waste water services to the public

includes any source protection measure related to the provision of waste water

services and collecting, treating and discharging waste water.

Provision of services by other person or entity

(3) A regulated entity is deemed to be providing water

services or waste water services to the public for the purposes of this Act

even if it has, before or after being designated by regulation,

(

a) transferred

all or part of its authority for doing so to a municipal service board established

under the Municipal Act,

2001 , a city board established under the City of Toronto Act, 2006 or any other

person or entity; or

(

b) entered into an agreement with a person or

entity described in clause (

a) to do so on its behalf.

Trailer parks and campgrounds

4. For

the purposes of this Act, water services or waste water services provided at a

trailer park or campground do not form part of the water services or waste

water services provided by a regulated entity unless designated as such by the

regulated entity.

Amalgamated regulated entities

5. If

two or more regulated entities amalgamate their water services or waste water

services under

section 20, they are deemed to be a single regulated entity for

the purposes of this Act.

PART II

Administration

Ontario

Water Board

Board established

(1) The

Ontario Water Board is established as a corporation without share capital under

French.

Non-application of Acts

(2) The Corporations

Act and the Corporations

Information Act do not apply with respect to the Board.

Crown agency

(3) The Board is an agent of Her Majesty in right of Ontario, and its powers may be exercised only as an agent of Her Majesty.

Board objectives

7. The

Board, in carrying out its responsibilities under this or any other Act in

relation to water services or waste water services, shall be guided by the

following objectives:

1. To protect the interests of

consumers with respect to prices and the adequacy, reliability and quality of

water services and waste water services.

2. To promote economic

efficiency and cost effectiveness in the provision of water services and waste

water services and to facilitate the maintenance of a financially viable water

and waste water industry.

3. To promote water

conservation and demand management in a manner consistent with the policies of

the Government of Ontario.

Composition

(1) The Board

shall be composed of at least five members.

Appointment

(2) A member shall be

appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Term of initial

appointment

(3) The first term of

a member shall not exceed two years.

Reappointments

(4) A member may be

reappointed for one or more terms of office, each of which shall not exceed

five years.

Quorum

(5) A majority of the

members constitutes a quorum for meetings of the Board and may exercise the

powers of the Board.

Chair and

vice-chairs

(6) The Lieutenant

Governor in Council shall, by order, designate a member as chair and shall

designate two members as vice-chairs.

Powers

and Duties

Public interest

9. The Board shall

exercise its powers and duties in the public interest and in accordance with

the principles of honesty, integrity and social responsibility.

Powers

(1) The

Board has the capacity and the rights, powers and privileges of a natural

person for the purpose of exercising and performing its powers and duties under

this or any other Act.

Same

(2) Without limiting

the powers or capacities of the Board, the Board may establish guidelines governing

the exercise of any of the powers and duties under this Act.

Duties

(1) The

Board shall perform any duties assigned to it under this or any other Act.

Same

(2) Without limiting

subsection (1), the duties of the Board include,

(

a) reviewing and approving business plans;

(

b) analyzing and ruling on quality management

certification;

(

c) monitoring charges for the provision of water

services and waste water services to the public;

(

d) considering requests to increase charges for

the provision of water services and waste water services for any customer or

class of customers beyond the prescribed maximum amount in accordance with the

regulations;

(

e) overseeing

the submission of progress reports and ensuring that these reports are made

available to the public;

(

f) establishing

and publishing contract templates for the provision of water services and waste

water services;

(

g) holding

hearings, receiving submissions, making decisions and preparing reports regarding,

among other things, business plans, issues of service quality, abuse of

dominant position, franchise areas, and any other decision, direction or order

that has been made under this Act;

(

h) informing

and advising the Minister with respect to matters that are of an urgent, critical

or relevant nature and that are likely to require action by the Board or the

Minister to ensure that the administration of this Act is carried out properly;

and

(

i) examining,

reporting and advising on any question respecting water referred to the Board

by the Minister.

Employees

12. The Board may appoint

employees to carry out its functions under this Act.

Delegation of powers and duties

13. The

Board may delegate in writing any of its powers and duties to any person

employed by the Board, subject to any conditions set out in the delegation.

Director

(1) The

Board shall appoint one of its employees to be the Director of the Board.

Powers and duties

(2) The Director shall perform the duties and exercise the

powers conferred or imposed on him or her under this Act.

Liability

(1) No

action or other civil proceeding shall be commenced against any of the

following persons for any act done in good faith in the exercise or performance

or the intended exercise or performance of a power or duty under any Act or

regulation or for any neglect or default in the exercise or performance in good

faith of such a power or duty:

1. A

member of the Board.

2. An

employee or agent of the Board.

Same

(2) A member of the Board is not liable for

an act, an

omission, an obligation or a liability of the Board or its employees.

Crown liability

(3) Despite subsections 5 (2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown

Act , subsections (1) and (2) do not relieve the Crown of any

liability to which it would otherwise be subject in respect of a tort committed

by any person referred to in subsection (1) or (2).

Hearings

Hearings

(1) The

chair of the Board may direct that a hearing under subsection 40 (4) be held

before a panel consisting of one or more members of the Board, as he or she may

designate.

One member quorum

(2) One member of the panel constitutes a quorum for the

purposes of a hearing.

Jurisdiction

(3) The panel has jurisdiction to determine all questions

of fact or law that arise in matters before it.

Parties

(4) The Director of the Board, the person who required the

hearing and such other persons as the panel may specify are parties to the

hearing.

Notice

(5) The Board shall give notice of the hearing to the

parties in the manner it considers appropriate.

Oaths

(6) Every member of the Board has power to administer

oaths and affirmations for the purposes of a hearing.

Order

(7) An order of the panel constitutes an order of the

Board.

Money

and Reports

Fees

(1) The

Board may charge fees to regulated entities to recover the costs incurred by

the Board in carrying out its functions under this Act.

Special purpose

(2) For the purpose of the Financial Administration Act , all

amounts collected under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be money paid to

Ontario for the special purpose of funding the Board.

Cost of funding Board

(3) The cost of funding the Board shall be paid out of

funds appropriated for such purpose by the Legislature.

Audit

18. The

accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Auditor General or by another

auditor whom the Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint.

Annual report

(1) The Board

shall submit an annual report to the Minister every year within six months

after the end of the Board's fiscal year that describes the affairs of the

Board during that year and includes the Board's audited financial statements.

Report to be laid before Assembly

(2) Within one month after receiving the annual report,

the Minister shall lay the report before the Assembly by delivering the report

to the Clerk.

Other reports

(3) The Board shall submit to the Minister all other

reports on the c

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 237, 39-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p39 s1 bill 237 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	75d424f4254f01cc8a8e54f5e96a294497f1e746

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