Electronic Certificates of Approval Library
Regulation Number(s):
Instrument Type:
Information
Bill or Act:
Environmental Protection Act; Ontario Water Resources Act; Pesticides Act
Summary of Proposal:
The Government of Ontario is committed to protecting the environment and improving interactions between government and business thereby strengthening Ontario’s competitiveness and economy.
In support of this commitment, the Ministry of the Environment has developed an electronic Certificate of Approval (eCofA) library. The eCofA library is part of the overall Modernization of Approvals process. The eCofA library is a prototype of what is to come; a public portal to search existing Certificates of Approval issued by the Ministry. This will enhance transparency and access to public information.
All Certificates of Approval (CsofA) are public documents [Environmental Protection Acts.19(9), 19(10), 19(11); Ontario Water Resources Act s.13(1), 13(2), 13(3); Pesticides Act s.31(8), 31(9), 31(10)]. Previously only those CsofA posted to the Environmental Registry (approximately 50%) were accessible online. All other CsofA were made available to the public on individual request to the Ministry. The purpose of the library is to make every Certificate of Approval (Renewable Energy, Certificates of Approval and Section 46 EPA) issued by the Ministry of the Environment since 1999 publicly available via the internet.
This initiative supports greater transparency by:
• Enhancing public transparency by making all CsofA documents available on the Internet
• Making it easier to do business with the government by allowing free self serve access to CsofA and removing the need for time consuming, costly and administratively intensive FOI requests
• Demonstrating proactive government action designed to ease the burdens on business
As of March 15, 2010 the library will be accessible via the Ministry of the Environment's website. The following types of CsofA will be available in the eCsofA Library:
• Waste Disposal Site
• Waste Management System
• Waste Mobile Processing
• Section 9 Air/Noise
• Section 53 OWRA
• Section 46 Landfill
• Section 31 Emergency
• Renewable Energy Approvals
Further Information:
Proposal Number:
10-MOE009
Posting Date:
February 16, 2010
Comments Due Date:
February 12, 2010