The Ministry of Transportation - Permit for activities to achieve an overall benefit to a species

The MTO is seeking an overall benefit permit under clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act, 2007. The permit would authorize impacts to three species at risk bats that may occur in widening two sections of Highway 400, from six to ten lanes, along the stretch of highway between King Road and Lloydtown-Aurora Road

Project activities are expected to include:

• vegetation removal (including trees)
• site grading
• installing additional lanes of paved road

Approximately 2.98 hectares of habitat of the following three species at risk bats is expected to be adversely impacted by the project:

• Little Brown Myotis
• Northern Myotis
• Tri-colored Bat

Habitat for the species that is anticipated to be impacted is made up of several non-contiguous forested patches.

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 development opportunities 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 (SARO) list as either:

• extirpated
• endangered
• threatened

Little Brown Myotis, Northern Myotis and Tri-colored Bat are all listed as Endangered on the SARO list.

The main threat to the survival of these three species is disease resulting from a fungal infection, also known as white-nosed syndrome.

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 achieve an overall benefit to species

The MTO is seeking ways to provide an overall benefit to the species, including:

• creating new forested habitat within the Oak Ridges Conservation Corridor Reserve
• installing anthropogenic roosting structures (i.e. bat rocket boxes) both offsite and within the project area.

This is expected to:

• provide new, contiguous suitable habitat for the species
• support additional roosting opportunities in the anthropogenic roosting structures

Reasonable alternatives being considered

The MTO has explored other alternatives, including those that would not adversely impact the species.

The MTO considered narrowing the project footprint to avoid forested habitat for the species. However, this option presented technical and safety challenges as it would require steeper highway embankments and likely also steel guardrails. This option was not preferred due to safety concerns.

The MTO considered not proceeding with the broader highway widening project, and instead, diverting traffic to other roads or expanding public transit. The MTO indicated that:

• diverting traffic to other roads would likely require upgrades to existing infrastructure elsewhere, some of which may adversely impact species at risk
• improvements to public transit alone were not likely to address congestion challenges due to the diverse origins and destinations of highway users

The MTO has concluded the best alternative is to proceed with the project using a final design proposal which has been refined to reduce the anticipated area of impact from 3.2 to 2.98 ha of habitat for the species.

Actions to minimize adverse effects on the species

The MTO is seeking ways to minimize adverse effects on the species and their habitat, including:

• reducing the anticipated area of impact by 0.22 ha
• undertaking habitat removal at a time of year when the species is unlikely to be present (i.e. outside of the active season)
• revegetating approximately half (i.e. 1.47 ha) of the forested habitat that will be removed with native vegetation

Other information

A government response statement (GRS), which outlines protection and recovery actions the government will take and support, exists for:

• Little Brown Myotis, Northern Myotis, Tri-colored Bat

The GRS will be considered before a decision is made on whether to issue a permit.

Posting this proposal on the Environmental Registry of Ontario does not imply that we will issue a permit. A permit may only be issued where the legal requirements set out in clause 17(2)(c) of the Endangered Species Act, 2007 have been satisfied.

More information on species at risk overall benefit permits.