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Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Department of Civil Engineering

CVL300: Environmental Science and Impact Assessment

Tutorial #9 TOR of Hwy 407 East Extension

1. List those who provided public participation opportunities and the process involved.
Answer:
a. Canadian Environment Assessment Agency provided the public with two opportunities to
comment and participate: An opportunity to comment on the Project and the conduct of the
comprehensive study was provided between July 19 and August 20, 2010 and an
opportunity to comment on the draft CSR prepared by the MTO was provided between
December 2 and December 22, 2010. A third and final public participation opportunity is
the comment period on this CSR.
b. Public participation opportunities were provided by the MTO at every stage during the
provincial EA. The
c. Ontario Ministry of Environment also provided opportunities for the public to comment on
the Project and its environmental effects pursuant to its EA requirements.

2. What are the environmental effects which were determined to have the greatest degree of
residual effect? It claimed the effects would be small and insignificant. What is the concern of
this claim?
Answer:
The most concerns during the comprehensive study process were:
• Effects on air quality and climate (including consideration of climate change);
• Potential project interactions with groundwater and surface water (including consideration of
quality and quantity);
• Loss of vegetation, wetlands and impacts to wildlife habitat (including consideration of wild
life movement corridors)
The concern is the cumulative effect can be detrimental to the environment.

3. A follow-up program is required for the project. If the follow-up program indicates the
environmental effects and/or mitigate measures are not correctly predicted, how will the
problem be resolved?
Answer. Section 8.2, P.135
8.2 Compliance with Provincial Conditions of Approval
MTO must submit an annual report outlining compliance with provincial conditions of
approval to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Regional Director for the public record
on or before May 31st of each year, with the first report being due in May 2011. This report
will include progress and results on the development and implementation of detailed
monitoring and mitigation plans in relation to surface water; major biological features;
vegetation restoration; construction noise, vibration and air quality impacts. The monitoring

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and annual reporting pursuant to provincial Conditions of Approval are expected to support
adjusting mitigation measures as construction proceeds, which is known as adaptive
management.

4. List the federal agencies’ roles in the follow-up program?

Answer: Section 8.4
Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada:
TC and DFO are responsible for the implementation of the follow-up program based on the
reports that the MTO has committed to provide. DFO will be responsible for posting a Notice
of Availability on the CEAR Internet website on an annual basis once the reports become
available.
Environment Canada:
EC will be responsible for providing assistance, pertinent to areas of its mandate described
below, as required by the responsible authorities. This assistance would normally consist of
providing input to the objectives and design of monitoring studies, receiving the results of such
studies, reviewing the results, and providing recommendations to the responsible authorities on
any further actions required.
EC provided advice to the responsible authorities on the potential effects of the Project’s
construction, maintenance and operation related to water quality, air quality and toxics
management, migratory birds, and, species at risk and adequacy of proposed mitigation and
monitoring. In its advice, EC recommended that follow-up be undertaken to verify the
effectiveness of thermal mitigation in regard to discharges into sensitive cold water aquatic
habitats from stormwater treatment facilities, and to verify the effectiveness of mitigation to
address physical loss and impaired ecological function of terrestrial and wetland vegetation
and associated wildlife habitats (i.e., minimum of 1:1 ratio for replacement of area lost).
Natural Resources Canada:
NRC provided advice to the responsible authorities regarding groundwater issues and will
continue to provide assistance on these issues, as required by the responsible authorities. This
assistance would normally consist of providing input to the objectives and design of monitoring
studies, receiving the results of such studies, reviewing the results, and providing
recommendations to the responsible authorities on any further actions required. Specifically,
NRC will provide a technical review of the Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) and
related groundwater monitoring programs, as well as review compliance and follow-up studies
and reports as they relate to hydrogeology and to groundwater issues associated with deep cuts
and large fill areas. Following the technical review of these reports, NRCan will provide the
responsible authorities with its expert advice and recommendations on the groundwater follow-
up program study program and results, the associated impacts of the Project, the effectiveness
of related existing mitigation measures and the need for any additional actions.
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency:
The Agency has a coordination role to ensure responsible authorities fulfill Registry
requirements.