A provincial regulation that was meant to prevent commercial “mining” of Prince Edward Island’s beach sand won’t apply to “bona fide” farmers using it for traction on their farms.
P.E.I. Environment Minister Richard Brown on Friday issued a permit that allows “all bona fide farmers in the province to gather beach sand” for their own on-farm use.
“Earlier this year, government amended regulations in order to stop commercial sand mining on our beaches, but the intent was never to ban the small-scale use of beach sand by farmers,” he said in a release.
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Farmers taking sand for traction on their farms are required to use their own equipment to do so, Brown specified.
“Island farmers have historically had access to this resource and we will continue to allow those with bona fide status to gather sand for use on their farms. Government is confident that our farmers will continue to be good stewards of our beaches.”
Provincial Agriculture Minister George Webster noted in the same release that Brown’s ministerial permit will allow farmers to operate as they always have, until their sand access rights are formalized.
That’s expected to happen in a separate regulatory amendment early in 2010, Webster said.
