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voice - (416)447-5728
Internet: <steve.hartwell@canrem.com> or
          <construction.network@canrem.com>

EBR Registry Number: SA4E0001

Type: Statement of Environmental Values

Ministry: MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

               Ministry of Environment and Energy
               Statement of Environmental Values
                         DRAFT

Part I - Background

  The Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) was proclaimed in February
  1994.  The founding principles of the EBR are stated in its Preamble:

     The people of Ontario recognize the inherent value of the natural
     environment.

     The people of Ontario have a right to a healthful environment.

     The people of Ontario have as a common goal the protection,
     conservation and restoration of the natural environment for the
     benefit of present and future generations.

     While the government has the primary responsibility for achieving this
     goal, the people should have means to ensure that it is achieved in an
     effective, timely, open and fair manner. 

  The EBR has three main purposes:

     To protect, conserve and where reasonable, restore the integrity of
     the environment; 

     To provide sustainability of the environment; and 

     To protect the right to a healthful environment.

  These purposes are to be achieved by the means provided in the EBR,
  including enhanced public participation in environmentally significant
  government decisions and increased governmental accountability for those
  decisions.  Statements of Environmental Values are a means for government
  ministries to record their commitment to the environment and be
  accountable for ensuring consideration of the environment in their
  decisions.  
     
  The EBR requires a Statement of Environmental Values (SEV) from 14
  government ministries.  The SEV explains:

     How the purposes of the EBR will be applied when decisions that might
     significantly affect the environment are made in the Ministry; and

     How consideration of the purposes of the EBR will be integrated with
     other considerations, including social, economic and scientific
     considerations, that are part of decision-making in the Ministry. 

  It is each Minister's responsibility to take every reasonable step to
  ensure that the SEV is considered whenever decisions that might
  significantly affect the environment are made in the ministry.


Part II - Ministry Mandate

  The mandate of the Ministry of Environment and Energy is to protect the
  quality of the natural environment so as to safeguard the ecosystem and
  human health; coordinate the government's energy supply and demand-
  related activities; and foster the efficient use and conservation of
  resources. 


Part III - Guiding Principles for the Ministry of Environment and Energy 

  The Ministry of Environment and Energy will strive to achieve the
  purposes of the EBR - protection, conservation, restoration,
  sustainability and a healthful environment - through the following
  guiding principles: 

     THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH

     The Ministry will adopt an ecosystem approach to environmental
     protection and resource management.  This approach views the ecosystem
     as composed of air, land, water, and living organisms, including
     humans, and the interactions among them.  

     When making decisions, the Ministry will consider: the cumulative
     effects on the environment; the interdependence of air, land, water
     and living organisms; and the interrelations among the environment,
     the economy and society.

     Environmental Protection
  
     The Ministry's environmental protection strategy will place priority
     first on preventing and second on minimizing the creation of
     pollutants that can damage the environment.  When the creation of
     pollutants cannot be avoided, the Ministry's priority will be first to
     prevent their release to the environment and second, to minimize their
     release.  

     In the event that significant environmental harm is caused, action
     will be taken to ensure that those responsible for the harm remediate
     it and to prevent a recurrence.

     The Ministry will exercise a precautionary approach in its decision-
     making.  Especially when there is uncertainty about the risk presented
     by particular pollutants or classes of pollutants, the Ministry will
     exercise caution in favour of the environment.

     Resource Conservation

     The Ministry will seek to ensure a safe, secure and affordable supply
     of energy in an environmentally sustainable manner.  It will also
     promote energy and water conservation, as well as encourage the use of
     the 3Rs - reduction, reuse and recycling - to divert materials from
     disposal.  

     The Ministry recognizes the value of an open and consultative process
     in the implementation of these principles.


Part IV - Integration with Other Considerations

  In its decision-making, the Ministry of Environment and Energy will take
  into account social and economic impacts. 

  In making decisions, the Ministry will use science that meets the
  demanding standards of the scientific community.  It will support
  scientific research, the development and application of technologies,
  processes and services, and the development of green industries in
  Ontario consistent with the guiding principles set out in Part III. 

  The Ministry of Environment and Energy will promote and implement the
  principles of the Statement of Political Relationship and will develop,
  with First Nations and Aboriginal communities in Ontario, a government-
  to-government forum.  Within this context, the Ministry will evaluate the
  impact of proposed decisions on First Nations and Aboriginal communities.
  

Part V - Application

  The Ministry will apply the guiding principles listed in Part III and
  integrate them with those considerations set out in Part IV, as it
  develops Acts, regulations, and policies.  The principles and
  considerations will also guide the Ministry's internal management
  practices.

  Instruments such as certificates of approval, permits, licences and
  orders are issued under the authority of Acts and made pursuant to
  specific Ministry policies and regulations.  As the guiding principles in
  Part III are incorporated into the development of Acts, regulations and
  policies, decisions on instruments will in turn reflect these principles.
     

  In fulfilling its mandate, the Ministry will continue to enforce its
  environmental laws, and will consider the use of a wide range of
  measures, including regulation, economic incentives and disincentives,
  educational programs and programs to encourage voluntary actions.  The
  Ministry will continue to monitor and assess changes in the environment,
  and it will review and report on its progress in implementing the
  Statement of Environmental Values.

  
  Members of the public are invited to comment on this Statement of
  Environmental Values by writing before August 15, 1994 to:

           Robert Shaw
           Environmental Bill of Rights Office
           14th Floor 
           2 St. Clair Avenue West
           Toronto, Ontario 
           M4V 1L5

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