President's Response – Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Runway End Safety Area Project

Physical Activities

PortsToronto, formerly known as the Toronto Port Authority, is proposing the construction of a Runway End Safety Area for Runway 08/26 at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, in Ontario. As proposed, the project would include landmass extensions, breakwater structures, airside and landside road extensions, relocation of taxiway D and localizer 26, a new taxiway B, and a noise wall.

These physical activities are not prescribed by regulations made under paragraph 109(b) of the Impact Assessment Act (the IAA).

Delegation of Powers to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Under subsection 154(1) of the IAA as amended, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the Minister) may, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister specifies, delegate to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) any powers, duties, or functions that the Minister is authorized to exercise or perform under the IAA. The Minister has delegated the powers under section 9 of the IAA to the President of IAAC.

Decision

I, Terence Hubbard, President of IAAC, have decided to not designate the project pursuant to section 9 of the IAA.

Information Considered

In forming my response, I took into account the analysis prepared by IAAC (available soon).

Reasons

In making my decision to not designate the project, I considered whether the carrying out of the project may cause adverse effects within federal jurisdiction or direct or incidental adverse effects and concluded that the project may cause these adverse effects. I then considered public concerns related to these effects; adverse impacts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples; and whether a means other than an impact assessment exists that would permit a jurisdiction to address the adverse effects within federal jurisdiction and the direct or incidental adverse effects.

I decided not to designate the Project for the following reasons:

• The Project must be carried out in compliance with applicable federal and provincial legislative mechanisms and municipal policies.
• The requirements under the following legislative mechanisms, some of which include consultation with Indigenous communities and public engagement, provide a framework for addressing public concerns related to the adverse effects within federal jurisdiction or the direct or incidental adverse effects that may be caused by the carrying out of the project and adverse impacts that the project may have on the rights of Indigenous Peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
• There is a means other than an impact assessment, such as the following legislative and policy mechanisms, that would permit a jurisdiction to address the adverse effects within federal jurisdiction and the direct or incidental adverse effects that may be caused by the carrying out of the project.

• These mechanisms include:
  • federal legislation, including the environmental effects determination pursuant to section 82 of the Impact Assessment Act, Canadian Navigable Waters Act, Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act – Tripartite Agreement, Fisheries Act, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994; 
  • provincial legislation, including the Endangered Species Act, 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, and the Ontario Heritage Act; and,
  • municipal policies, including City of Toronto's Official Plan and Municipal Code.