Regulation - LGIC

Proposed changes to Regulation 244/97 (under the Aggregate Resources Act) regarding aggregate fees and royalties

Regulation Number(s):
Instrument Type:
Regulation - LGIC
Bill or Act:
Regulation under the Aggregate Resources Act
Summary of Decision:
A decision was made to proceed with the proposal to increase annual licence fees and wayside permit fees, equalize annual permit fees with those of licences, phase-in annual royalty charges for existing aggregate sites that also have mining leases and index annual fees and royalties to the Ontario Consumer Price Index. The proposal was implemented by an amendment to O.Reg 244/97 (under the Aggregate Resources Act) by O.Reg. 269/17.

A modification was made to respond to concerns about a proposed mid-year change to aggregate fees. Increases to annual fees will come into force on January 1, 2018 (instead of July 1, 2017, as was originally proposed).
Further Information:
Proposal Number:
17-MNRF019
Posting Date:
Summary of Proposal:
Proposed Annual Fees for Licences and Issuance Fees for Wayside Permits:
• Holders of Class A licences would pay an annual fee of 19.8 cents per tonne or $689, whichever is greater
• Holders of Class B licences would pay an annual fee of 19.8 cents per tonne or $344, whichever is greater
• Applicants for wayside permits are required to pay an issuance fee of 19.8 cents per tonne (based on the maximum amount authorized in the permit) or $689, whichever is greater
• Annual fees collected from Class A and Class B licences and issuance fees for wayside permits are disbursed to parties as follows:
o Local municipality (twenty-thirtythirds or 12¢/tonne)
o County or Regional Municipality (five-thirtythirds or 3¢/tonne)
o Aggregate Resources Trust, for rehabilitation and research (one-thirtythird or 0.6¢/tonne)
o Provincial government (remainder, min. 4.2¢/tonne)

Proposed Annual Fees for Aggregate Permits:
• Sites authorized to remove over 20,000 tonnes per year would pay 19.8 cents per tonne or $689, whichever is greater
• Sites authorized to remove 20,000 tonnes per year or less would pay 19.8 cents per tonne or $344, whichever is greater
• Exceptions:
o provincial ministries would not pay the minimum fee or any portion of the fee that would be disbursed back to the Crown
o permits involving provincial projects and forest access roads on Crown land open to the public will not be required to pay the municipal portion in areas where there is no municipality, however, they will always pay at least the minimum rate
• Annual fees collected from aggregate permits would be disbursed to parties in the same way as detailed above for licences.

Effective Dates:
The proposed regulatory changes to annual licence fees and annual permit fees would come into effect on July 1st, 2017. This means that in 2018, payments due would be as follows:
• For licences (private land): New rates would be applied to aggregate removed between July - Dec 2017. Aggregate removed Jan - June 2017 would be subject to the old rates.
• For aggregate permits (for Crown land): New rates would apply in the same way as licences, however, the amount payable in 2018 will be the total amount due minus any annual fee already paid for 2017 (i.e., the flat rate of $200 will be credited if it has already been paid).
• New annual fees for licences and aggregate permits would apply to full years beginning in 2019, on aggregate removed in 2018 (not including material that wasn't originally extracted from the site).
• For wayside permits: new rates will apply starting January 1st, 2018 upon issuance of new wayside permits.

Indexation:
Effective January 1st, 2020, fees and royalties will be indexed as follows:
• Indexing will be to the Ontario Consumer Price Index (all items, averaged over a 12-month period ending September 30 of the previous calendar year)
• The indexed amount will be rounded to one tenth of a cent
• Rates would not be indexed downward.

Royalty on Sites Subject to Mining Leases:
Should Bill 39 pass, the ministry intends to phase-in royalty payments on existing ARA sites removing material that is also subject to a mining lease. This phase-in would begin in 2019 and extend over a three year period (e.g., 33% of royalty would be due in first year, 66% of royalty in second year, and in the third year the full royalty rate would apply).
Contact Address:
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Rebecca Zeran, Senior Policy Advisor
Resource Development Section
300 Water Street, 2nd Floor South, Peterborough, ON
K9J 3C7

Phone: 705-755-1754
Effective Date:
January 1, 2018
Decision:
Approved