City of Richmond Hill - Permit for activities to achieve an overall benefit to a species

On July 18, 2023, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued an overall benefit permit to the City of Richmond Hill under subsection 17(1) of the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA), in accordance with the criteria in clause 17(2)(c) of that Act. The permit is concerning:

• Eastern Small-Footed Myotis
• Little Brown Myotis
• Northern Myotis
• Tri-colored Bat

The permit authorizes the City of Richmond Hill to:

• incidentally harm or harass SAR bat individuals
• remove up to 54 suitable roost trees

The pre-screening acoustic monitoring confirmed the presence of:

• Northern Myotis
• Tri-coloured bat

It did not identify:

• Little Brown Myotis
• Eastern Small-footed Myotis

However, unidentified high-frequency species were recorded.

Since all these species could potentially use the area for maternity roost and foraging activities, this permit takes all SAR bats into consideration.

Protecting species under the Endangered Species Act

The Ontario government is committed to protecting species at risk and providing strong environmental oversight, while working to support municipal infrastructure and public safety in the province.

Ontario provides protections for species at risk and their habitats under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA). Sections 9 and 10 of the ESA provide protection for individual members of a species and their habitat if that species is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario list as either:

• extirpated
• endangered
• threatened

All four SAR bat species are listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as endangered; therefore, they are protected.

Habitat protection under subsection 10(1) of the ESA applies to all four SAR bat species.

Issuing a permit under the ESA

Under clause 17(2)(c) of the ESA, the Minister may issue a permit authorizing a person to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited by sections 9 or 10 of the ESA if the minister believes that:

• an overall benefit to the species will be achieved within a reasonable time through the conditions of the permit
• reasonable alternatives have been considered, including alternatives that would not negatively affect the species, and the best alternative has been adopted
• reasonable steps to minimize negative effects on individual members of the species are required by conditions of the permit

Providing an overall benefit to a protected species under the ESA means improving circumstances for the species in Ontario. Overall benefit is:

• more than "no net loss" or an exchange of "like for like"
• grounded in the protection and recovery of the species at risk
• more than mitigation measures or "replacing" what is lost

Actions to minimize adverse effects to species

The permit requires the City of Richmond Hill to carry out actions to minimize adverse effects on the species, including:

• removing habitat at a time of year when the species is unlikely to be present (i.e. outside of the active season)
• retaining professionals with education and expertise in the species to carry out permit conditions
• installing four anthropogenic roosting structures on site to provide roosting for the species

Actions to achieve an overall benefit to the species

The permit requires the City of Richmond Hill to take actions to achieve an overall benefit for the species within a reasonable timeframe, including:

• enhancing 1.14 hectares of SAR Bat habitat
• planting a minimum of 162 trees, a replacement ratio of 3:1, which will become suitable roosting habitat
• planting shrubs, emergent aquatics, marginal perennials and submergent aquatics to enhance existing foraging habitat

These actions are expected to enhance the habitat for the species to:

• roost
• forage
• raise pups

This will help increase the number of individuals of the species in the wild in Ontario.

Other information

Reasonable alternatives were considered, including alternatives that would not adversely affect SAR Bats and their habitat. These alternatives include:

• doing nothing
• maintaining the facility as a dry pond system but dredging and upgrading the South Pond
• modifying the South Pond to a hybrid wetland system
• modifying the South Pond to a wet pond system

All three rehabilitation alternatives include:

• decommissioning and naturalizing the North Pond
• constructing a permanent access route to the South Pond

This is the only way to address berm stability and maximise the storage volume.

Doing nothing is not a feasible alternative as it would not address the public safety and flood risk concerns identified at the facility.

The best alternative is to proceed with the project as proposed, by:

• maintaining the facility as a dry pond system
• rehabilitating the South Pond

This alternative addresses the public safety and flood risk concerns, while minimizing impacts to SAR Bats and their habitat.

The ministry has published government response statements (GRS) under section 12.1 of the Endangered Species Act, 2007 with respect to:

• Little Brown Myotis and Tri-coloured Bat
• Eastern Small-footed Myotis
• Northern Myotis

The permit reflects the following commitments in the GRSs for these species:

• coordinating and conducting standard inventory and monitoring of populations in historic, current, and potentially inhabited locations, including monitoring species’:
• population trends
• distribution
• threats
• habitat preferences and prevalence of use
• encouraging this data to be submitted to the central repository at the Natural Heritage Information Centre