St. Marys Cement Inc. - Permit for activities to achieve an overall benefit to a species

Description

St. Mary’s Cement Inc. is seeking a permit under clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act, 2007 concerning Blanding’s Turtle in order to extract aggregate on Lots 1 and 2, Concession 3 and Lots 1 and 2, Concession 4 in the County of Brant.

Decision

This notice will be updated when more information is available.

Purpose of the Notice

The purpose of this notice is to ensure that the public is made aware of, and given an opportunity to comment on, the Endangered Species Act permit application.

The proposed permit would allow St. Marys Cement Inc. to destroy up to 58 ha of habitat for Blanding’s Turtle (the species) in order to develop an approximately 135 ha pit to extract up 1 million tonnes of aggregate per year for 30 years.

The permit will be issued under clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act.

Other information

The proposal is likely to adversely affect Blanding’s Turtle.

Blanding’s Turtle is listed as Threatened on the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List.

The proposal would result in a contravention of subsection 10(1) of the Endangered Species Act through destruction of habitat.

This damage will be a result of vegetation removal and active aggregate operations.

A government response statement published under subsection 11(8) of the Endangered Species Act does not currently exist for Blanding’s Turtle

The Endangered Species Act allows some activities to proceed under a clause 17(2)(c) permit with specific conditions if: avoidance and reasonable alternatives have been considered; adverse effects will be minimized; and an overall benefit will be achieved for the species in Ontario. Providing an overall benefit to a protected species under the Endangered Species Act involves undertaking actions to improve circumstances for the species in Ontario. Overall benefit is more than “no net loss” or an exchange of “like for like”. Overall benefit is grounded in the protection and recovery of the species at risk and must include more than mitigation measures or “replacing” what is lost.

The Minister may issue a permit under clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act that authorizes a person to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited by sections 9 or 10 of the Endangered Species Act if the Minister is of the opinion that:

(i) an overall benefit to the species will be achieved within a reasonable time through the conditions of the permit;

(ii) reasonable alternatives have been considered, including alternatives that would not negatively affect the species, and the best alternative has been adopted; and,

(iii) reasonable steps to minimize negative effects on individual members of the species are required by conditions of the permit.

Reasonable alternatives are being considered, including alternatives that would not adversely affect the species, and may include:

• not operating the pit at the proposed location.

Potential approaches to minimize adverse effects on the Species and its habitat may include:

• reducing the total extraction area by 2.5 ha.to avoid areas of aquatic and terrestrial habitats,
• limiting the extent of disturbance to avoid impacts to any of the wetlands areas on the site as well as a 30 m buffer around those wetlands,
• installation of exclusion fencing to prevent the species from entering the area during site preparation and active operations,
• limiting speed of vehicles at the site, and
• installing a conveyor system (i.e. as opposed to the operation of heavy machinery) to allow for haulage of aggregate across a creek).

Potential approaches to achieve an overall benefit for the Species may include:

• creating additional movement habitat by expanding (i.e. widening) an existing riparian corridor at the site,
• creating more movement habitat by establishing new movement corridors between existing and new ponds and wetlands at the site,
• creating a new pond with to support foraging, and
• creating new nesting sites for Blanding’s Turtle.

Please note that the posting of this proposal on the Environmental Registry does not imply that a permit will be approved; a permit may only be issued where the legal requirements set out in clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act have been satisfied.