ORBA applauds new water-taking regulations

MISSISSAUGA, ONT.—The Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) is applauding recent regulatory changes for short-term water -taking activities that used to be subject to a Permit to Take Water (PTTW).

Working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, ORBA submitted two stakeholder papers throughout the various consultation periods.

"We are pleased to have worked together with the ministry to deliver solutions that will improve the co-ordination and operations in the road building industry," said Allan West, ORBA president, in a statement. "With the new Permit to Take Water regulations, our ORBA members will see more streamlined processes and substantial wait time reductions."

ORBA also hosted an Open for Business Roundtable with the government earlier this year where the issue of PTTW came up.

"The roundtable process identified opportunities to streamline processes and improve operations in order to reduce burden on, and create tangible, positive impacts for, ORBA members," the release reads.

According to ORBA, the new regulations clarify or exempt certain activities from the requirements to obtain a permit and require other activities to be registered on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR). The ministry developed the EASR, an online registry that replaces the requirement to obtain an Environmental Compliance Approval or PTTW. The process can be completed in minutes, the release reads.

The registry allows people involved in watering to register with the ministry instead of applying for a PTTW, explains ORBA. There is a registration fee of $1,190 for the EASR. Under the PTTW model, applications could take up to 90 days for approvals. The EASR makes the process a lot faster, ORBA states, as registration is done immediately and operations can begin three months earlier.