Bill 8 explained in plain English
Separation Distances for Natural Gas Power Plants Act, 2010
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This Ontario bill would require new natural gas power plants to be at least 1,500 metres from residential zones, schools, daycares, and healthcare facilities, with an exception for projects with prior approvals.
This bill, titled the Separation Distances for Natural Gas Power Plants Act, 2010, would establish a minimum distance requirement between new natural gas power plants and certain sensitive areas. Specifically, these plants would need to be at least 1,500 metres away from land zoned for residential use or land where an educational facility, day nursery, or health care facility is located. An exception is provided for projects that had obtained all necessary approvals before the Act comes into force. The Act defines a 'natural gas power plant' and outlines what constitutes a 'sensitive land use'.
- Prohibits the construction, installation, or expansion of a natural gas power plant unless it is located at least 1,500 metres from sensitive land uses.
- Defines 'natural gas power plant' as a facility primarily used for generating power from natural gas, excluding cogeneration plants.
- Defines 'sensitive land use' to include land zoned for residential use, or land with an educational facility, day nursery, or health care facility.
- Provides an exemption for persons who obtained all required approvals before the Act comes into force.
- Establishes that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Persons or entities involved in the construction, installation, or expansion of natural gas power plants.
- Landowners adjacent to proposed natural gas power plant sites.
- Individuals living in residential areas.
- Users of educational facilities, day nurseries, and health care facilities.
- An obligation not to construct, install, or expand a natural gas power plant within 1,500 metres of a sensitive land use (unless an exception applies).
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The transitional period exception applies to those who obtained all necessary approvals on a day before the Act comes into force.
- The bill text does not specify what happens if a 'natural gas power plant' is used for both power generation and cogeneration; it only excludes cogeneration power plants from the definition.
- The bill text does not specify the penalties for contravening the separation distance requirements.
- The bill text does not detail the process for obtaining approvals prior to the Act's commencement.
- The definition of 'property boundaries' is not further clarified within the provided text.
- The exact start date of the Act is not specified, only that it commences upon Royal Assent.
This new Act establishes rules for the location of natural gas power plants.
Source: Section 2
The Act will come into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Source: Section 3
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced