LEGACY PITS & QUARRIES
LEGACY PITS & QUARRIES
When the ARA was put into effect, the aggregate industry represented by the Ontario Sand & Gravel Association (formerly the Aggregate Producers Association of Ontario), agreed that ½ of a cent of the total 11.5 cent/tonne levy paid by the aggregate producers would be allocated to a legacy site rehabilitation program. In 2018, the portion of the levy for the MAAP program was set to $0.06 per tonne and collected in 2019. Since then, contributions to the MAAP program have been adjusted based on an inflation index.
These monies are held in a dedicated account known as the Abandoned Pits & Quarries Rehabilitation Fund. In addition to the rehabilitation of abandoned pits and quarries, monies from the fund also supports research into ways and means of undertaking new and creative approaches to rehabilitation in the often harsh environments created in post extraction sites (see further details under the Research and Publications section). Originally The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) accepted the task of running this program, but in 1997 the MNR built a partnership with private industry to manage certain administrative functions and programs to better focus their resources.
In 1997, the MNR created The Ontario Aggregate Resources Corporation (TOARC) to maintain the administrative functions of the Aggregate Resources Trust and The Management of Abandoned Aggregate Properties (MAAP) program run by TOARC to manage the rehabilitation of legacy sites in Ontario and conduct rehabilitation research.
Click here to read the MAAP brochure!
At the outset, The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) undertook the original inventory of site disturbances that were thought to be the result of aggregate extraction. That investigation formed a basis from which to begin a systematic assessment of sites, the establishment of priorities regarding which sites to tackle first and the creation of plans and procedures for undertaking the task.
The inventory of sites first undertaken by the MNR has been expanded to incorporate other areas of the Province as they have been designated under the ARA; most notably new areas in northern Ontario in 2007. A history of these more recently designated areas can be found under the Designated Areas section.
