Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC), Prince Edward Island

— Important Notice —

This is an office consolidation and not an official version of this Act or Regulation. While care has been taken in assembling this document, it is not warranted to be true and accurate. Official copies of all Provincial Acts and Regulations are available from Island Information Service.

All Prince Edward Island Statutes and Regulations are available on-line (in PDF format) at the Office of the Legislative Counsel.

- Updated to: May 22, 2012 -

(Approved on May 2, 2012)

(Click HERE for Previous Version of this Regulation)

CHAPTER E-9

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT
WATERCOURSE AND WETLAND PROTECTION REGULATIONS

PART 1 - DEFINITIONS

Definitions
1. In this regulations

Act
(a) "Act" means the Environmental Protection Act;

agricultural crop (b) "agricultural crop" means any crop that is cultivated for the production of food, fibre or pharmaceuticals, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes row crops;

authorization (c) "authorization" means an authorization in respect of an intensive livestock operation, granted pursuant to section 10, and includes an amended authorization, and an authorization varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

bog (d) "bog" means a wetland covered by sphagnum mosses, with peat underneath;

buffer zone (e) "buffer zone" means the 15-metre-wide area referred to in section 3;

certificate (f) "certificate" means a valid and current Watercourse, Wetland, and Buffer Zone Activity Certificate granted pursuant to section 4;

cultivate (g) "cultivate" means to dig, plant, cut, prune, irrigate, fertilize, tend, till, manage, farm, maintain, spray, plough, harvest or engage in any other activity related to growing or harvesting, and "cultivation" means the act of doing any of the above;

Department (h) "Department" means the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry;

Emergency Field Order (i) "emergency field order" means an order issued pursuant to subsection 11(5), and includes an emergency field order varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

grass headland exemption (j) "grass headland exemption" means a grass headland exemption granted pursuant to section 7 and includes an amended grass headland exemption, and a grass headland exemption varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

grass headland variance (k) "grass headland variance" means a Grass Headland Variance granted pursuant to section 7, and includes an amended variance and a variance varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

heavy equipment (l) "heavy equipment" includes

(i) excavators, mechanical tree harvesters, porters, skidders, and wood processors,

(ii) tractors over 50 horsepower, and

(iii) graders, front-end loaders, and bulldozers

but does not include wheeled and tracked equipment when being used in the active suppression of wildfire;

highway (m) "highway" means every road, street, lane, or alley which has been created by and is maintained by the federal, provincial or a municipal government, and is used by the general public for the passage of vehicles, and includes any bridges over which every such road, street, lane, or alley is laid;

inspector (n) "inspector" means

(i) a person who has been appointed as an environment officer pursuant to the Act or appointed as a conservation officer pursuant to the Wildlife Conservation Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, Cap. W-4.1, or who is an ex officio conservation officer pursuant to that Act,

(ii) a person who has been appointed as a peace officer pursuant to the Police Act R.S.P.E.I. 1988, Cap. P-11, or

(iii) a person who has been appointed as a natural resources inspector pursuant to the Wildlife Conservation Act;

landlocked pond (o) "landlocked pond" means an excavated depression or hole in the terrain, that holds water some or all of the time, and does not have any of the following characteristics

(i) an inlet or outlet,

(ii) hydric soil, or

(iii) aquatic or water-tolerant vegetation;

license (p) "license" means a Watercourse, Wetland and Buffer Zone Activity Business License granted pursuant to section 5, and includes an amended license;

licensee (q) "licensee" means a person who holds a license;

management plan (r) "management plan" means a management plan as defined in subsection 9(1), and includes an amended management plan and a management plan varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

meadow (s) "meadow" means a wetland that has fluctuating water tables, lacks trees, and is covered in water-tolerant Graminoid vegetation;

Minister (t) "Minister" means the Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry;

motor vehicle (u) "motor vehicle" means a vehicle that is powered, drawn, propelled or driven by any means other than muscular power;

officer (v) "officer" means

(i) a person who has been appointed as an environment officer pursuant to the Act,

(ii) a person who has been appointed as a conservation officer pursuant to the Wildlife Conservation Act, or who is an ex officio conservation officer pursuant to that Act;

permit (w) "permit" means a Watercourse or Wetland Activity Permit or a Buffer Zone Activity Permit granted pursuant to section 6, and includes an amended permit and a permit varied or confirmed by the Commission pursuant to section 13;

permittee (x) "permittee" means a person who has a permit granted pursuant to these regulations;

Prince Edward Island Wetland Inventory (y) "Prince Edward Island Wetland Inventory" means the geographic information system database of wetlands on Prince Edward Island maintained by the Department;

provincial parcel of land (z) "provincial parcel of land" means a parcel of land having a parcel identifier number assigned by the Provincial Treasury of Prince Edward Island;

row crop (aa) "row crop" means any crop planted in rows that are wide enough apart to allow for inter-row cultivation, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, onions, cole crops, string beans, dry beans, sugar beets, beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips, pumpkins and lettuce;

seasonally flooded flats (bb) "seasonally flooded flats" means a wetland formed by rivers overflowing their banks to a depth of at least 12 inches annually during spring, winter and late fall;

sediment bed (cc) "sediment bed" means a depression or low area of mud, silt, sand, gravel, rock or bedrock, or a combination thereof, which has a defined path which was formed or apparently formed by flowing water;

shrub swamp (dd) "shrub swamp" means a wetland containing nutrient-rich, highly decomposed woody plant and organic material and has as its dominant cover shrubs and herbaceous vegetation, including but not limited to alders;

watercourse (ee) "watercourse" means an area which has a sediment bed and may or may not contain water, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes the full length and width of the sediment bed, bank and shore of any stream, spring, creek, brook, river, lake, pond, bay, estuary or coastal body, any water therein, and any part thereof, up to and including the watercourse boundary;

watercourse boundary (ff) "watercourse boundary" means

(i) in a non-tidal watercourse, the edge of the sediment bed, and

(ii) in a tidal watercourse, the top of the bank of the watercourse, and where there is no discernible bank, means the mean high water mark of the watercourse;

wetland (gg) "wetland"

(i) an area which contains hydric soil, aquatic or water-tolerant vegetation, and may or may not contain water, and includes any water therein and everything up to and including the wetland boundary, and

(ii) without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes any area identified in the Prince Edward Island Wetland Inventory as open water, deep marsh, shallow marsh, salt marsh, seasonally flooded flats, brackish marsh, a shrub swamp, a wooded swamp, a bog or a meadow;

wetland boundary (hh) "wetland boundary" means where the vegetation in a wetland changes from aquatic or water-tolerant vegetation to terrestrial vegetation or water-intolerant vegetation;

wooded swamp (ii) "wooded swamp" means a wetland dominated by water-tolerant trees or shrubs growing in a muck soil and covered by a moss layer at least 30 centimetres thick.

Reference (2) In these regulations, any reference to a certificate, license, permit, authorization, grass headland variance or grass headland exemption or management plan, being required, means a valid and current certificate, license, permit, authorization, grass headland variance, or grass headland exemption or management plan, as the case may be.

PART II - WATERCOURSES AND WETLANDS

Prohibition 2. (1) No person shall, without a license or a Watercourse or Wetland Activity Permit, and other than in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof, alter a watercourse or a wetland, or any part thereof, or water flow therein, in any manner, or engage in any of the following activities in or on a watercourse or a wetland:

(a) drain, pump, dredge, excavate, or remove soil, water, mud, sand, gravel, stones, rubbish, rocks, aggregate or material or objects of any kind;

(b) dump or infill, or deposit soil, water, mud, sand, gravel, stones, rubbish, litter, rocks, aggregate or material or objects of any kind;

(c) construct or place, repair or replace, demolish or remove, buildings or structures or obstructions of any kind, including but not limited to bridges, culverts, breakwaters, dams, wharves, docks, slipways, decks, or flood or erosion protection works;

(d) operate heavy equipment or a motor vehicle on the sediment bed, beach or bank of a watercourse, with the exception of the operation of a motor vehicle on a beach for the conduct of activities related to the legal harvesting of a fishery resource or the legal removal of beach material, and the exception of the launching of a boat;

(e) operate heavy equipment or a motor vehicle on a wetland, except a boat on the water of a wetland;

(f) disturb, remove, alter, disrupt or destroy the ground in any manner;

(g) disturb, remove, alter, disrupt or destroy vegetation in any manner, including but not limited to the cutting of live trees or live shrubs; or

(h) carry out any type of watercourse or wetland enhancement activity, including but not limited to debris removal, habitat development, or placement of structures.

Idem (2) No person shall, without a license or a Watercourse or Wetland Activity Permit, and other than in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof, cause or permit the engaging in any of the activities listed in subsection (1).

Exemption (3) The cutting of live trees and live shrubs in a wooded swamp is exempted from the prohibition in clause (1)(g).

Exception (4) Notwithstanding clause 2(1)(a), a person may remove sand, gravel, stones, rocks, aggregate or material from a beach if the sand, gravel, stones, rocks, aggregate or material is

(a) removed from below the high water mark;

(b) utilized for personal domestic non-commercial purposes;

(c) transported directly from the beach to the point of use;

(d) hauled with a motor vehicle that has a load capacity not larger than a single axle light duty truck;

(e) loaded manually through the use of hand tools; and

(f) of a volume that does not exceed on cubic meter. (EC553/09)

PART III - BUFFER ZONES

Application for prohibitions 3. (1) Where a watercourse is solely a landlocked pond

(a) the prohibition in subsection (3) does not apply to cultivating an agricultural crop; and

(b) the prohibitions in clauses (4)(d), (f), (g), and (h) do not apply.

Idem (2) Where a wetland is solely a landlocked pond or solely or a combination of seasonally flooded flats, a shrub swamp, a wooded swamp, a bog or a meadow

(a) the prohibition in subsection (3) does not apply to cultivating an agricultural crop; and

(b) the prohibitions in clauses (4)(d), (f), (g), and (h) do not apply.

Idem (3) No person shall, without a license or a Buffer Zone Activity Permit, and other than in accordance with the conditions thereof, alter or disturb the ground or soil within 15 metres of a watercourse boundary or a wetland boundary, or cause or permit the alteration or disturbance of the ground or soil, therein, in any manner.

Idem (4) No person shall, without a license or a Buffer Zone Activity Permit, and other than in accordance with the conditions thereof, engage in or cause or permit the engaging in any of the following activities within 15 metres of a watercourse boundary or a wetland boundary:

(a) drain, pump, dredge, excavate, or remove soil, water, mud, sand, gravel, stones, rocks, or aggregate;

(b) dump or infill, or deposit soil, water, mud, sand, gravel, stones, rubbish, litter, rocks, aggregate or material or objects of any kind;

(c) construct or place, repair or replace, demolish or remove, buildings or structures or obstructions of any kind, including but not limited to bridges, culverts, breakwaters, dams, wharves, docks, slipways, decks, or flood or erosion protection works;

(d) operate heavy equipment or a motor vehicle, other than

(i) upon a highway,

(ii) upon a private road, right-of-way, or driveway which was approved prior to the enactment of these regulations by the provincial government or a municipal government in a building permit or a subdivision plan, or

(iii) for the conduct of activities directly related to the legal harvesting of a fishery resource, the legal removal of beach material, or the cultivating of an agricultural crop;

(e) disturb, remove, alter, disrupt or destroy the ground in any manner;

(f) cut down live trees or live shrubs;

(g) cultivate an agricultural crop;

(h) spray or apply pesticides in any manner.

Measurement (5) The land within 15 metres of a watercourse boundary or a wetland boundary referred to in subsections (3) and (4) shall be known as a buffer zone.

Permitted activities (6) For the avoidance of doubt, clause (4)(f) does not prohibit the pruning of trees or shrubs in a buffer zone, provided it is undertaken without engaging in any of the other activities prohibited by subsections (3) and (4).

Exemption (7) The planting of grass, trees or shrubs is exempted from the prohibitions in subsection (3) and clause (4)(e), provided it is undertaken without engaging in any of the other activities prohibited by subsections (3) and (4), and provided that only hand tools are used.

Idem (8) The use of a ride-on lawn mower to cut grass in a buffer zone is exempted from the prohibition in clause (4)(d).

PART IV - WATERCOURSE, WETLAND AND BUFFER ZONE ACTIVITY CERTIFICATE

person, defined 4. (1) For the purposes of subsection (2), "person" does not include a corporation.

Certificate (2) The Minister may grant a Watercourse, Wetland, and Buffer Zone Activity Certificate to a person who provides

(a) a completed application, on a form approved by the Minister, accompanied by the application fee of $200;

(b) satisfactory proof of successful completion, within four years prior to the date of submission of the application, of a watercourse, wetland and buffer zone activity and alteration training course acceptable to the Minister; and

(c) any further documentation requested by the Minister.

Expiry (3) A certificate expires on the earlier of

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