From Town of Halton Hills…

From Town of Halton Hills Planning Staff:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed updates to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System. The Town conducts wetland evaluations and assessment according to the OWES and reviews/ utilizes any available evaluations completed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Conservation Authorities as part of Scoped Subwatershed Studies in support of Secondary Plan processes. In addition, through development applications, the completion of wetland evaluation using OWES may be required as part of site-specific Environmental Impact Studies. The OWES is used by trained wetland evaluators when undertaking an evaluation and the Town agrees that ensuring a streamlined process is beneficial and can assist with expediting the planning approval process. It is also important though that key natural heritage features and functions continue to be protected as part of an overall systems based approach. Below please find the Town of Halton Hills’ comments:

Changing the approval of evaluations from the MNRF

The Town has concerns with this proposal. It is not clear which decision maker will be transferred the responsibilities previously assigned to the MNRF, including confirming provincially significant wetlands. It is important that there be oversight and review of the OWES submissions that are included as part of a complete development application. It is anticipated that if the responsibility is now assigned to municipalities, the municipalities may be required to hire third-party reviewers to review and evaluate OWES submissions that are part of a complete development application. Given most municipalities are not appropriately resourced to complete these tasks, the additional time required to have the submissions peer-reviewed may further delay the planning approval process. The CAs would be a logical candidate to assist in this regard subject to appropriate MOUs setting out clear expectations and deliverables.