b"COVER STORYSetting the Record Straight ON AGGREGATEWhere it's used, annual volumeBy Warren Heeleyused and licensing requirementsA ggregate.Ontarianssimplyof AhundredyearsagowhenanewroadToday,theAggregate Resources Act (ARA) cannotlivewithoutit.neededtobebuilt,oranewhousingstandsattheheartofasophisticatedand Aggregateorstone,sanddevelopmentwasplanned,alocaldepositrigorouslegislativeandpolicyframework and graveltouches almost aggregate would be found to supply thethatsetsstringentrequirementsthatmust every aspect of our lives insand, stone and gravel for the road, buildingsbe met before aggregate licences are issued. one way or another. We all use or come inandotherinfrastructure.ThesematerialsThe act, and its accompanying regulations, touch with aggregate every day, whetherwereminedatthesiteandtransportedacontainspoliciesandstandardsgoverning it is the roads we drive on or the homesshort distance to where they were needed.aggregate pits and quarries on both private welivein.Considerthis:youcanstepWhen the job was done, the site where theandprovincialland.Thejurisdictionof onto your front porch, look around, andaggregate was produced would simply be leftthe ARA, which was originally focused on findmorethan20usesofaggregateallto eventually be reinhabited by native plantssouthern Ontario, has been expanded to now aroundyou. and trees. include nearly every area of the province."