2. The following projects are exempt from the application of the first paragraph of section 22 of the Act, unless all or part of a project intended for public access or for municipal, industrial, commercial or public purposes is carried out on a bank or shore or in a floodplain within the meaning of the Protection Policy for Lakeshores, Riverbanks, Littoral Zones and Floodplains (chapter Q-2, r. 35):(1) the construction, alteration or reconstruction of a building, unless otherwise provided for in the regulations on agricultural operations made under the Act, except a building intended for industrial purposes in which an activity requiring a certificate of authorization is to be carried out;
(2) work to maintain, rebuild, repair or demolish a building, work or piece of equipment;Despite the introductory provision, even if it is carried out on a bank or shore or in a floodplain, work to maintain, rebuild, repair or demolish the components of aerial transmission or distribution systems for electricity, telecommunications or cable delivery, including the lines of those systems and their rights-of-way are also governed by this paragraph, if such work does not entail
(a) the use of pesticides on the bank or shore, or if it is carried out in a floodplain, the use of pesticides referred to in subparagraphs b to d of paragraph 10; or
(b) backfilling, trench digging, excavation, removal of topsoil or any other type of intervention likely to disturb the soil, the air or the hydraulic regime;
(3) the construction, reconstruction, widening or straightening of a road, including an interchange, ramp or other road infrastructure, except(a) any project located less than 60 m from a constant watercourse, a lake, a river or the ocean, where the road is to run thus for a distance of at least 300 m; and
(b) any project having any of the following characteristics:— the roadway is to have 4 lanes or more;
— the right of way is to have an average width of at least 35 m; or
— the project is to be carried out over a distance of at least 1 km;
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exemption provided for in subparagraph b does not apply to any project intended for forest management, mining or energy purposes or to all or part of a project located within an urbanization perimeter indicated on the land use planning and development plan of a regional county municipality or metropolitan community;
(4) the installation or use of a combustion system having a capacity of less than 3,000 kW (10,238,535 BTU/hour), except a combustion system using used oil or materials other than fossil fuels, wood, wood waste within the meaning of section 55 of the Clean Air Regulation (chapter Q-2, r. 4.1) or granules produced from lignocellulosic crops;
(5) preliminary investigation, drilling, exploration, experiments outside a mill or technical readings prior to any project;
(6) drilling authorized under the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1), except(a) drilling to explore for, or produce, petroleum or natural gas in shale; and
(b) fracturing operations intended to explore for, or produce, petroleum or natural gas;
(7) the boring of a well to obtain water;
(8) the installation of gas mains less than 30 cm in diameter designed for a pressure of less than 4,000 kPa;
(9) the digging of a ditch and the installation of underground drainage pipes;
(10) work involving the use of pesticides, except(a) (subparagraph revoked);
(b) work involving the use of pesticides belonging to Class 1 as established in the Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides (chapter P-9.3, r. 2);
(c) work involving the use of pesticides other than phytocides or Bacillus thuringiensis (Kurstaki variety) by aircraft, in a forest environment or for non-agricultural purposes; and
(d) work involving the use of pesticides in an aquatic environment having a surface outlet into a drainage basin;
(11) the construction or relocation of a switching substation or a transformer substation of less than 120 kV, of electric power transmission and distribution lines of less than 120 kV and of other, higher-voltage lines under 2 km in length;
(12) agricultural activities, unless otherwise provided for in the regulations on agricultural operations made under the Act, except(a) any operation to transform substances to be used in the cultivation of plants, except an operation to transform only manure or farm products whose volume is less than 500 m3; and
(b) the spreading of substances other than manure, liquid dairy wastes, mineral fertilizers, liming material that meets the standards of the Bureau de normalisation du Québec and compost prepared on a farm, using only farm products;
(13) forest management activities within the meaning of section 4 of the Sustainable Forest Development Act (chapter A-18.1), whether such activities are carried on in forests in the domain of the State or in private forests, except(a) the spreading of substances other than manure, mineral fertilizers, logging debris from cutting areas and liming material that meets the standards of the Bureau de normalisation du Québec;
(b) work involving the use of pesticides referred to in subparagraphs b to d of paragraph 10; and
(c) the construction, reconstruction, widening or straightening of a road located less than 60 m from a constant watercourse, a lake, a river or the ocean, where the road is to run thus for a distance of at least 300 m; and
(14) activities relating to the storage of residual hazardous materials within the meaning of section 5 of the Regulation respecting hazardous materials:— where the quantity in storage is less than 1,000 kg;
— where the activity is governed by a permit issued under section 70.9 of the Act;
— where there is an activity for which a notice must be sent to the Minister pursuant to the second paragraph of section 118 of the Regulation respecting hazardous materials; and
— where there are materials other than those mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of section 32 of the Regulation respecting hazardous materials.