Anne Bell presented to the Clean Air Council municipal climate staff network (in June 2023) on Leading Practices on Municipal Wetland Offsets

• Webinar Recording
• PDF of Presentation

Resources:

• A Primer on Wetland Offsetting in Ontario
• Wetland Offsetting Policies in Ontario - case studies

Below is a summary of questions/action items that came from the meeting:

1. Explore how the municipality can analyze and report on the likelihood and cost of wetlands being lost to development, either because they have not been evaluated or because they may lose their protection as provincially significant;

1. Report on how the municipality tracks (or can track) permeable and impermeable surfaces across the community over time;
2. How are/can municipal policies and zoning bylaws provide sufficient protection for wetlands, especially in light of recent provincial policy changes;
3. Ensure that stormwater plans are being updated using future climate projections as well as historical data;
4. How well does the asset management plan incorporate stormwater infrastructure, and whether the municipality is fully recovering costs associated with stormwater management;
5. Identify if wetlands and other 'green' infrastructure have been incorporated sufficiently into asset management plans;
6. Analyze and report on stormwater fees and whether they should be used in your municipality; and
7. Undertake a costs and benefits review of maintaining 'green' stormwater infrastructure and landcover permeability in comparison to needing to invest in more 'grey' infrastructure to provide the ecosystem services the wetland used to provide.

Changes to Ontario's Wetland Evaluation System and its Implications for Municipalities

• Full Meeting Notes from May 24th, OCC Meeting

Anne Bell, Director of Conservation and Education, Ontario Nature

• PDF of Presentation
  
• Presentation Recording
  

Jacqueline Wilson, Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)

• PDF of Presentation
  
• Presentation Recording

A consultation was undertaken with Ontario municipal staff to identify what municipal opportunities were available to municipalities to try and mitigate the risks to their community posed by the changes to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System. The below questions/considerations/actions were prioritized.

1. Explore how the municipality can analyze and report on the likelihood and cost of wetlands being lost to development, either because they have not been evaluated or because they may lose their protection as provincially significant;
2. Report on how the municipality tracks (or can track) permeable and impermeable surfaces across the community over time;
3. How are/can municipal policies and zoning bylaws provide sufficient protection for wetlands, especially in light of recent provincial policy changes;
4. Ensure that stormwater plans are being updated using future climate projections as well as historical data;
5. How well does the asset management plan incorporate stormwater infrastructure and whether the municipality is fully recovering costs associated with stormwater management;
6. Identify if wetlands and other 'green' infrastructure have been incorporated sufficiently into asset management plans;
7. Analyze and report on stormwater fees and whether they should be used in your municipality; and
8. Undertake a costs and benefits review of maintaining 'green' stormwater infrastructure and landcover permeability in comparison to needing to invest in more 'grey' infrastructure to provide the ecosystem services the wetland used to provide; and
9. OCC members are asked to consider what would be of assistance in advancing this conversation in your council and report back at the June 21^st OCC meeting.
10. OCC members are asked to share conversations/staff reports from their municipality on this topic and these resources will be shared on this OCC resource hub. They can be emailed to Gaby at gkalapos@cleanairpartnership.org