Rehabilitating Aggregate Sites

The Aggregate Resources Act requires every licensee and permittee in the Province of Ontario to perform progressive and final rehabilitation on the site in accordance with the Act, the regulations, the site plan and the conditions of the licence/permit to the satisfaction of MNR.

Rehabilitation is the treatment of land from which aggregate has been excavated so that the use or condition of the land:

• is restored to its former use or condition, or
• is changed to another use or condition that is or will be compatible with the use of adjacent land.

Progressive rehabilitation means to rehabilitate sequentially, in a reasonable period of time, while the aggregate is being excavated. With good planning, the extraction of aggregate proceeds in a logical sequence so that depleted areas can be rehabilitated while extraction continues in other areas of the pit or quarry. Planned stripping and replacement of topsoil, subsoil and overburden materials allows the licensee or permittee to establish vegetation in as much area as possible, and a start can be made towards developing the site for a particular after use.

Final rehabilitation is the rehabilitation that is performed, as set out by the site plan, after the site is depleted of all aggregate material. During final rehabilitation, all equipment, stockpiles and buildings (in most cases) have been removed and there may be additional vegetation (e.g. trees) to be established on the areas that have already been progressively rehabilitated.

The site plans for aggregate operations outline the specific requirements for rehabilitation.

While the Operational Standards contained in the Aggregate Resources of Ontario Provincial Standards set out minimum rehabilitation requirements, it may be appropriate to enhance or vary these requirements on a site-specific basis to achieve higher quality rehabilitation to meet objectives such as:

• restoration to former use or condition;
• compatibility with surrounding land uses, including aesthetics;
• agricultural productivity/soil capability;
• encouraging biodiversity;
• meeting the requirements of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan; and
• meeting the requirements of the Greenbelt Plan

Rehabilitation Standards

The primary objective in rehabilitating land is found in the legal definition – to restore the land to its former (or compatible) use or condition. Unless bound by other rehabilitation requirements (e.g. prime agricultural land being returned to agricultural use), the applicant may be required to have regard for biodiversity values in the development of the rehabilitation plans for the site. Consideration should also be given to the aesthetic suitability of the rehabilitation, as well as the compatibility with the surrounding landscape.

The Niagara Escarpment Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Greenbelt Plan have additional rehabilitation requirements for aggregate operations. Municipal official plans may also guide rehabilitation towards certain after-uses.

There are many factors that affect rehabilitation requirements for pits and quarries throughout the province (e.g. quality and quantity of topsoil present, climate, pits vs. quarries and intended after-use). Because of this diversity, the Provincial Standards impose minimum rehabilitation standards which can be applied to most pits and quarries. These rehabilitation standards may be changed or enhanced on a site-by-site basis using the site plan as tSeptember 26, 2007nces, wayside permits and aggregate permits outline minimum sloping requirements of 3:1 for pits and 2:1 for quarries. However, diversity, variability and creativity in landscape design should be encouraged.

For example:

• extraction below the water table with proposed rehabilitation to include fish habitat should require spawning, rearing and feeding zones which cannot be accomplished by simply requiring 3:1 sloping;
• pit slopes that are more gentle than 3:1 should be encouraged when rehabilitating a site to an agricultural use, recreational use or forestry use; or
• in some situations it may be appropriate to retain partial sheer quarry walls with talus slopes or a series of benches as part of the rehabilitation plan, rather than requiring 2:1 slopes, in order to create a more natural escarpment topography and encourage greater plant and animal diversity.

Management of Abandoned Aggregate Properties (MAAP) Program

The MAAP program, administered by The Ontario Aggregate Resources Corporation (TOARC), is dedicated to the rehabilitation of ‘abandoned pits and quarries' (pits and quarries that have not been under a licence or permit since the Aggregate Resources Act came into force on January 1 st, 1990) and to funding research on aggregate resource management, including rehabilitation.

The MAAP program is funded by the aggregate industry through the current annual licence fee structure (the program receives 1/2 cent for every tonne removed from licences and wayside permits each year).

Since 1990, over $3.7 million has been spent on rehabilitating 291 hectares of land, at an average cost of $12,747 per hectare.