On October 1, 2021 the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks released two regulations Ontario Regulation 686/21 and 687/21.
Ontario Regulation 686/21 outlines the mandatory services and programs that conservation authorities are required to provide and that we can levy municipalities for.
This regulation also requires conservation authorities to develop agreements with their member municipalities for any additional services and programs that are not considered mandatory by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
Ontario Regulation 687/21 requires conservation authorities to transition their services to meet the requirements of these two regulations by January 1, 2024.
Maitland Conservation has prepared a transition plan to meet these regulatory requirements.
Transition Plan: Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
Introduction
Ontario Regulation 687/21 “Transition Plans and Agreements for Programs and Services Under Section 21.1.2 of the Act” requires conservation authorities to develop and implement a Transition Plan to ensure the authority’s compliance with subsection 21.1.4 (1) of the Act.
The purpose of the Transition Plan is to ensure that a conservation authority has in place the necessary cost apportioning agreements with participating municipalities within their jurisdiction as required by subsection 21.1.2 (2) of the Conservation Authorities Act. The regulation sets January 1, 2024, as the transition date.
Phase 1: Inventory of Programs and Services:
Maitland Valley Conservation Authority will provide each member municipality with an inventory of the services and programs that it provides as of February 28, 2022.
MVCA will also provide each member municipality with a list of each service and program it intends to provide as of January 1, 2024. This inventory will be provided to each member municipality for review and comment by February 28, 2022.
Timeline for comments to be submitted to MVCA: April 30, 2022.
MVCA will review the comments received from its member municipalities and determine whether to amend the list of non-mandatory services and programs.
Phase 2: Development of a Cost Apportionment Agreement for Services and Programs
MVCA will work with its member municipalities to develop an agreement that will encompass all the services and programs that MVCA intends to provide as of January 1, 2024.
Timeline: MVCA would like to finalize an agreement with all member municipalities by June 30, 2022.
Ontario Regulation 687-21 requires all conservation authorities to have agreements in place by January 1, 2024.
Reporting Requirements:
MVCA will submit quarterly progress reports to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks as outlined in Ontario Regulation 687-21.
These progress reports are to include:
- comments or other feedback submitted by a municipality regarding the inventory of services and programs;
- a summary of any changes that the authority has made to the inventory to address comments or other feedback referred to in clause (a), including the changed inventory and a clear description of the changes between the previous inventory and the amended inventory;
- an update on the progress of negotiations of cost apportioning agreements with the participating municipalities; and an outline of any difficulties that the authority is experiencing that might affect the ability of the authority to conclude any cost apportioning agreements with one or more participating municipalities by the transition date.
Progress reports are required to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks by the following dates:
- July 1, 2022
- October 1, 2022
- January 1, 2023
- April 1, 2023
- July 1, 2023
- October 1, 2023