Endangered Species Amendment Act, 2012 Scott, Laurie — Bill 73 (40th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 73, 40-1

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Bill 73, Endangered Species Amendment Act, 2012

Scott, Laurie

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[40] Bill 73 Original (PDF)

Bill 73 2012

An Act to amend the Endangered Species Act, 2007

Note:

This Act amends the Endangered

Species Act, 2007 , which has not previously been amended.

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection 11 (12) of the Endangered Species Act, 2007

is repealed and the following substituted:

Feasibility

(12) The Minister shall consider social and economic

factors in reaching his or her opinion on whether something is feasible for the

purpose of subsection (7) or (9) and shall ensure that the consideration of

those factors is reflected in the strategy prepared under subsection (7) or the

statement published under subsection (8), as the case may be.

2. Subsection 12 (8) of the Act is repealed

and the following substituted:

Feasibility

(8) The Minister shall consider social and economic

factors in reaching his or her opinion on whether something is feasible for the

purpose of subsection (6) and shall ensure that the consideration of those

factors is reflected in the statement published under subsection (5).

3. Subclause 17 (2) (c) (

i) of the Act is

repealed.

(1) This

section applies only

if Bill 55 ( Strong Action

for Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2012 ), introduced on March 27,

2012, receives Royal Assent.

(2) References in this

section to

provisions of Bill 55 are references to those provisions as they were numbered

in the first reading version of the Bill.

(3) If subsection 4 (1) of

Schedule 19

to Bill 55 comes into force on or before the day

section 3 of this Act comes

into force,

section 3 of this Act does not apply.

(4) On the later of the day subsection

4 (1) of

Schedule 19 to Bill 55 comes into force and the day

section 3 of this

Act comes into force, subclause 17 (2) (a) (

i) of the Act is repealed.

Section 56 of the Act is amended by adding

the following subsection:

Rules re public notice of proposed regulation

(2.1) The following rules apply if the Minister is

required to give notice to the public under

section 16 of the Environmental Bill of Rights,

1993 of a proposal to make a regulation under clause 55 (1) (

a) of

this Act that would prescribe an area as the habitat for an endangered or

threatened species:

1. The

Minister shall give notice of the proposal to the public at least 90 days before

the proposal is implemented.

2. The

Minister shall include the following in the notice:

i. A

brief statement of the objective of the proposal.

ii. A

preliminary assessment of the environmental, social and economic consequences

of implementing the proposal.

iii. An

explanation of why the environmental objectives, if any, of the proposal would

be appropriately achieved by making the regulation.

Commencement

6. This Act comes into force on the day it

receives Royal Assent.

Short title

7. The

short title of this Act is the Endangered Species Amendment

Act, 2012 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The

Bill amends the Endangered

Species Act, 2007 in the following ways:

Currently,

the Minister is required to ensure that a recovery strategy is prepared for

each endangered and threatened species that is on the Species at Risk in

Ontario List. The Minister is also required to ensure that a recovery strategy

is prepared for an extirpated species on the List, if the Minister is of the

opinion that reintroduction of the species into Ontario is feasible. If a

recovery strategy is prepared, the Minister must publish a statement that

summarizes the actions that the Government of Ontario intends to take and the

Minister must ensure the implementation of those actions that, in the opinion

of the Minister, are feasible. Subsection 11 (12) of the Act currently permits

the Minister to consider social and economic factors in reaching his or her

opinion on whether something is feasible. That subsection is re-enacted to

make the consideration of social and economic factors mandatory and to ensure

that those considerations are reflected in a recovery strategy or statement, as

the case may be. A similar amendment is made in

section 12 of the Act, which

governs the preparation of management plans for special concern species.

Section

17 of the Act enables the Minister to issue a permit that authorizes a person

to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited. Clause 17 (2) (

c) of the Act currently describes one of the circumstances in which a permit may

be issued. That subsection requires that, although the activity's main purpose

is not to assist in the protection or recovery of a species, the Minister be of

the opinion that an overall benefit to the species would be achieved, that

reasonable alternatives have been considered and that reasonable steps are

required to minimize adverse effects on individual members of the species. An

amendment is made to remove the requirement that an overall benefit must be

achieved.

Subsection

55 (1) of the Act currently authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to

make species-specific regulations that prescribe an area as the habitat for a

species.

Section 56 of the Act governs public notice concerning proposals to

make habitat regulations for species that are listed on the Species at Risk in

Ontario List as an endangered or threatened species. If the Minister gives

notice of a proposal to make a habitat regulation, new subsection 56 (2.1) of

the Act requires the Minister to give the notice at least 90 days before the

proposal is implemented. Currently, the requirement is at least 30 days. In

addition, the subsection requires the Minister to include certain information

in the notice, including a preliminary assessment of the environmental, social

and economic consequences of implementing the proposal.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 10, 2012

Ordered referred to Standing Committee

Standing Committee on Social Policy

May 10, 2012

Second Reading

Carried on division

May 10, 2012

Second Reading

Debate

April 25, 2012

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

April 25, 2012

Committee

Second Reading

May 10, 2012

Ms. Laurie Scott, Ms. Sarah Campbell, Mr. Mike Colle, Mr. Michael Harris, Mr. Jonah Schein, Ms. Tracy MacCharles, Mr. Norm Miller, Mrs. Donna H. Cansfield, Mr. John O’Toole, Ms. Lisa M. Thompson, Mr. Gilles Bisson, Mr. John Vanthof

May 10, 2012

May 10, 2012

Carried on recorded division. Referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy.

Committee

Standing Committee on Social Policy

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 73

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Endangered Species Act, 2007

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 73, 40-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s1 bill 73 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ee88ed8dd31f5c0f41fd4677a47d817d62a2f5b8

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