Ontario's Permitting Approach to Species at Risk

With many regulating agencies, at least in Canada, expressing resistance and hesitancy relating to the issue of "precautionary" permits while also not allowing incidental take of Species at Risk, wind operators have previously... [ view full abstract ]

With many regulating agencies, at least in Canada, expressing resistance and hesitancy relating to the issue of "precautionary" permits while also not allowing incidental take of Species at Risk, wind operators have previously been left with no other option than to accept the risk associated with even a single impact to a Species at Risk.

In 2013, Ontario introduced an innovative permitting approach that, in part, addresses these unpredictable encounters with Species at Risk birds and bats at operational wind turbines. This approach maintains the proponent-driven process that is typical of Ontario's Endangered Species Act, and allows for operators to self-register a likely impact to most protected species. Following the registration of a likely impact, a detailed Operational Mitigation Plan must be prepared to outline exactly how these impacts will be documented and addressed. With few exceptions, this Operational Mitigation Plan requires review and approval by the provincial regulator, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

This innovative approach to permitting unpredictable impacts to Species at Risk maintains the responsibility on the operator to recognize and address a potential impact, protects the operator from contravening Species at Risk legislation if a mortality were to occur, all while requiring that a plan is in place to ensure any impacts are quickly identified and mitigated through the development of an approved Operational Mitigation Plan, ultimately protecting the species. This approach also allows an operator to implement other industry-accepted mitigation strategies for targeted curtailment (i.e. seasonal, turbine-specific, etc.) or for the implementation of other proven and/or innovative approaches for addressing potential impacts, rather than mandated and inflexible mitigation strategies that many jurisdictions, including Ontario, rely upon.

This poster will highlight the key aspects of the legislation that have made this an effective tool for both provincial regulators and operators of wind energy developments. It will also walk through an example mitigation strategy to demonstrate the flexibility and comprehensiveness that can be incorporated into an approved Operational Mitigation Plan, based on species considerations, project geography, or results of baseline monitoring.