15. A quarry or sand pit must be located at a minimum distance of 30 m from a lake, a steady-flow watercourse, a riparian shrub swamp of one of those environments or a marsh and 100 m from an open peatland situated south of the 50th parallel and 30 m from such a peatland situated north of the 50th parallel.
The first paragraph does not prevent the operation of a quarry or sand pit within the distances prescribed in that paragraph in the following cases:(1) the quarry or sand pit was established before 17 August 1977 and activities related to that operation were already carried out within those distances on 18 April 2019. From that date, the distance between the site of the activities and the environment concerned must however be maintained;
(2) the quarry or sand pit has been authorized to operate within those distances before 18 April 2019.
In the case referred to in subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph, the operator of the quarry or sand pit must, not later than on 18 April 2022, cause a georeferenced plan to be prepared by a professional or the holder of a university degree in biology or environmental science who has the qualifications required in the field, indicating the distance between the site of the activities and the environment concerned. The plan must be kept until 18 months following the closure of the quarry or sand pit and be provided to the Minister on request.
236-2019O.C. 236-2019, s. 15.