BILL NO. 163

(as introduced)

2nd Session, 63rd General Assembly
Nova Scotia
68 Elizabeth II, 2019

 

Government Bill

 

Wilderness Areas Protection Act
(amended)

 

The Honourable Gordon Wilson
Minister of Environment

First Reading: October 1, 2019

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading: October 3, 2019

Third Reading: October 17, 2019 (LINK TO BILL AS PASSED)

Explanatory Notes

Clause 1 amends the definition of "structures or facilities" to include boats.

Clause 2 adds the powers under the Crown Lands Act to those powers an enforcement officer has under the Wildlife Act.

Clause 3

(a) permits the Minister of Environment, with the approval of the Governor in Council, to determine the name of a wilderness area;

(b) requires the Minister to provide the public with 60 days notice and an opportunity for consultation before naming a designated wilderness area; and

(c) moves, from the management plan Section to the designation Section, the provision requiring a socio-economic analysis before the Minster, with the approval of the Governor in Council, may make a designation of a wilderness area, add to an existing wilderness area or alter the boundaries of a wilderness area.

Clause 4 removes the provision that was added to Section 11 by Clause 3.

Clause 5 permits the Minister to designate

(a) a parking area in a wilderness area; and

(b) the trails and routes in the Grant Lake-Ross Lake Connector Trail and the Dominique Meadow Brook-Fountain Lake Connector Trail as trails and routes upon which the use and operation of vehicles is permitted.

Clause 6 clarifies the phrase "governing legislation" such that an interest issued under the Wilderness Areas Protection Act is governed by that Act and an interest issued under another Act continues to be managed under that other Act until the interest is cancelled.

Clause 7 permits the Minister to issue licences to landowners whose land is partially or substantially surrounded by a wilderness area to access their land through a wilderness area.

An Act to Amend Chapter 27
of the Acts of 1998,
the Wilderness Areas Protection Act

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 Clause 3(k) of Chapter 27 of the Acts of 1998, the Wilderness Areas Protection Act, is amended by striking out "and" in the second line and substituting ", boats and other".

2 (1) Subsection 8(3) of Chapter 27 is amended by

(a) adding "and the Crown Lands Act" immediately after "Act" in the fourth line; and

(b) adding "and Section 39 of the Crown Lands Act" immediately after "Act" in the fifth line.

(2) Clause 8(4)(a) of Chapter 27 is amended by adding "and the Crown Lands Act" immediately after "Act" in the second line.

3 (1) Subsection 11(3) of Chapter 27 is amended by

(a) striking out "and (8)" in the first line and substituting ", (8) and (9)".

(b) striking out the comma at the end of clause (d) and substituting a semicolon; and

(c) adding immediately after clause (d) the following clause:

(e) determine the name by which a designated wilderness area is to be known,

(2) Subsection 11(6) of Chapter 27 is amended by striking out "or (d)" in the second line and substituting ", (d) or (e)".

(3) Section 11 of Chapter 27 is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (8) the following subsection:

(9) A socio-economic analysis of the impact of the designation of a wilderness area must be prepared, completed and made available to the public for every area proposed to be designated as a wilderness area on Crown land after this Act comes into force, and, for greater certainty, this subsection does not apply to an additional area of Crown land added to a wilderness area if that additional area has been given to the Crown by a private landowner.

4 Subsection 15(4) of Chapter 27 is repealed.

5 (1) Subsection 23(2) of Chapter 27 is amended by

(a) striking out the period at the end of clause (b) and substituting a semicolon; and

(b) adding immediately after clause (b) the following clause:

(c) designate, construct, manage and maintain such parking areas as are, in the opinion of the Minister, required for wilderness recreation or for the management or use of a wilderness area, and upon which vehicle and bicycle use and operation is permitted.

(2) Subsection 23(4C) of Chapter 27, as enacted by Chapter 30 of the Acts of 2009, is amended by

(a) striking out the period at the end of clause (c) and substituting a semicolon; and

(b) adding immediately after clause (c) the following clauses:

(d) Grant Lake-Ross Lake Connector Trail, Ogden Round Lake Wilderness Area;

(e) Dominique Meadow Brook-Fountain Lake Connector Trail, Portapique River Wilderness Area.

6 Subsection 25(1) of Chapter 27 is amended by striking out "the governing legislation and associated policies" in the last two lines and substituting "this Act or the legislation under which the interest was issued".

7 Chapter 27 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 26 the following Section:

26A Where

(a) privately owned land is partially surrounded by or is adjacent to a wilderness area;

(b) there is no reasonable alternative for lawful access by land to such privately owned land; and

(c) in the opinion of the Minister, use of the access would have a minimal environmental effect on the wilderness area,

the Minister may issue a licence to the owner of the land allowing for such limited access, with or without conditions, as the Minister considers appropriate and the access must be carried out consistent with any applicable management plan.

 

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This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2019 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created October 29, 2019. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.