Threats to health and safety, not imminent
 23.18 (1) This section applies with respect to the following activities that are necessary to avoid or reduce a threat to human health or safety in situations where the threat is not imminent but is likely to have serious consequences in the short or long term if the activity is not carried out: 1. Work undertaken to prevent the contamination or pollution of the earth, air or water or to remove or clean an area that has been contaminated or polluted or any other work undertaken to protect the quality of the earth, air or water, but not including any part of the work that relates to the construction of new infrastructure. 2. Work undertaken to prevent the spread of disease, such as eliminating or removing bacteria, species or other disease causing agents from structures, buildings, lands or water and cleaning and disinfecting after their removal. 3. Work to maintain, repair, remove or replace an existing structure or any infrastructure described in subsection (2), including the decommissioning of a mine, or to upgrade an existing structure or any infrastructure described in subsection (2) to meet a safety standard, if, i. the maintenance, repair, removal, replacement, decommissioning or upgrade does not require, A. a temporary or permanent change to the location of the structure or infrastructure, or B. a temporary or permanent extension of the area the structure or infrastructure occupies, except in the case of the replacement of an existing culvert with a new culvert that is larger than the one it replaces, or ii. in the case of work to maintain, repair, replace or upgrade a structure or infrastructure, the work does not alter the way in which the structure or infrastructure is used or operated. 4. Work to protect against drought, flooding, forest fires, unstable slopes and erosion as long as the protection does not include the building of new infrastructure. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (2) Paragraph 3 of subsection (1) applies to infrastructure that is part of or related to, (a) a communications system; (b) an electric power system, oil or gas pipeline, alternative energy system or renewable energy system; (c) a road or railway system; (d) water works, wastewater works, stormwater works and associated facilities; or (e) drainage works designed to control surface water runoff, other than a drainage work to which section 23.9 applies. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (3) Subject to subsection (8), clause 9 (1) (a) and subsection 10 (1) of the Act do not apply to a person who, while carrying on an activity described in subsection (1), kills, harms, harasses, captures or takes a member of a species that is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as an endangered or threatened species, or damages or destroys the habitat of such a species, if all of the conditions set out in subsection (5) are satisfied. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (4) Subclauses 9 (1) (b) (i) and (ii) of the Act do not apply to the possession or transport of a member of a species if, (a) pursuant to subsection (3), clause 9 (1) (a) and subsection 10 (1) of the Act did not apply with respect to the member of the species or its habitat; or (b) the possession or transport of the member of the species is necessary in order to satisfy the conditions set out in subsection (5). O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (5) The following are the conditions that a person who carries on an activity described in subsection (1) must satisfy for the purposes of subsection (3): 1. Before commencing the activity, the person must, i. give the Minister notice of the activity by submitting a notice of activity form available on the Registry to the Minister through the Registry, and ii. in the case of an activity described in paragraph 3 of subsection (1) that results in the upgrade or removal of a structure or infrastructure, the decommissioning of a mine or the replacement of an entire structure or infrastructure, have a mitigation plan prepared in accordance with subsections (6) and (7). 2. The person must ensure that the notice of activity form includes, i. the proposed start and end dates of the activity described, ii. a description of the activity and of the area in which it will be carried out, and iii. the name of every species listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as endangered or threatened species that will likely be affected by the activity. 3. The person must follow the requirements set out in section 23.3 with respect to the completion of the notice of activity form, the keeping of records relating to the notice of activity form and the updating of the information on the Registry. 4. Once the mitigation plan is prepared, the person must, i. ensure that the activity is carried out in accordance with the mitigation plan, ii. retain a copy of the mitigation plan for at least five years after the activity is complete, and iii. provide a copy of the mitigation plan to the Ministry within 14 days of receiving a request for it. 5. While carrying out the activity, the person must take reasonable steps to minimize the adverse effects of the activity on a species identified in the notice of activity form, including, i. taking steps to minimize or avoid killing, harming or harassing a member of the species and to avoid damaging or destroying its habitat, during a time of year when the species is likely to be carrying out a life process related to hibernation or reproduction, including rearing, ii. if the person encounters an animal that is a member of a species while carrying out the activity, ceasing from carrying out the activity in the area of the encounter and providing the animal with a reasonable amount of time to leave the area before continuing with the activity, iii. if, after providing an animal with a reasonable amount of time in accordance with subparagraph ii the animal does not leave the area, taking measures to relocate the animal to a nearby location that is suitable and safe for the animal, iv. if the person encounters a moss, lichen or vascular plant that is a member of the species in the course of carrying out the activity and it is not necessary to kill or harm the member for the purpose of carrying out the activity, A. ceasing the activity in the area of the encounter, B. installing and maintaining barriers or other structures to create a protective zone around the species, and C. after establishing the protective zone referred to in sub-subparagraph B, continuing the activity in a manner that does not impair the ability of the species to carry out its life processes, including reproduction, v. if it is necessary to kill or harm a moss, lichen or vascular plant referred to in subparagraph iv for the purpose of carrying out the activity, relocating the moss, lichen or vascular plant to a nearby location within the species’ habitat that is suitable and safe for the species so that it is not killed or harmed, provided it is feasible to do so, vi. making the determination under subparagraph v as to whether it is feasible to relocate a moss, lichen or vascular plant using the best available information with respect to the suitability of relocating that species, including information obtained from the Ministry, vii. ensuring that the relocation of an animal or of a moss, lichen or vascular plant in accordance with subparagraph iii or v is undertaken by or in consultation with a person knowledgeable about, or having training in, the handling of members of the species, viii. taking steps to exclude members of the species from the area in which the activity is being carried out or is likely to be carried out, such as installing temporary fencing to prevent members of the species from accessing the area, ix. refraining from carrying out work during a period of hibernation or reproduction, including rearing, for the species or any other sensitive period for the species unless the restriction on work would result in a delay that would render the threat to human health or safety unavoidable and unacceptable in the circumstances, and x. if the activity is the maintenance, repair, replacement or upgrade of infrastructure, keep a schedule of the work or a copy of an engineer’s report outlining the work that must occur and make the schedule or report available to the Ministry within 14 days of receiving a request for it. 6. If the person or an employee or agent of the person observes a species identified in the notice of activity form in the course of carrying out the activity, the person must ensure that, within three months of the observation, the Ontario Species at Risk Observation Reporting Form available on a website maintained by the Government of Ontario is completed, detailing the species and number of individual members that were observed, the date and location of observation and any other information requested on the form. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14; O. Reg. 218/18, s. 15 (1); O. Reg. 831/21, s. 17. (6) A mitigation plan shall be prepared by one or more persons with expertise in relation to every species that is the subject of the plan, using the best available information on steps that may help minimize or avoid adverse effects on the species, which includes consideration of information obtained from the Ministry, aboriginal traditional knowledge and community knowledge if it is reasonably available. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (7) A mitigation plan prepared with respect to an activity described in subsection (1) must include the following information: 1. A description of the activity and its main purpose and an explanation of the threat to human health or safety that requires that the activity be carried out and of the serious consequences that would result, in the short or long term, if the activity was not carried out. 2. The proposed start and completion dates of the activity. 3. A description of all of the stages of the activity and a timeline for the stages. 4. A list of all the species that are listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as endangered or threatened species and that are likely to be affected by the activity. 5. An assessment of the activity’s likely effects on members of each species identified under paragraph 4. 6. A map indicating the geographic location of the activity on the property where it will occur. 7. Details of how the person will carry out the steps described in paragraph 5 of subsection (5) that are required to minimize the adverse effects of the activity on a species identified under paragraph 4, including, i. the dates on which, and locations at which, each step will be carried out, and ii. the times during the year when the species is likely to be carrying out a life process related to hibernation or reproduction, including rearing, and during which the person must avoid killing, harming or harassing members of the species. O. Reg. 176/13, s. 14. (8) Subsection (3) does not apply with respect to a species identified in Columns 3 and 4 of the Table to this subsection by its common and scientific names, and belonging to the species grouping referred to in Column 2 of the Table opposite the identified species: table   Species to which subsection 23.18 (3) does not apply  Column 1   Item   Column 2   Species Grouping   Column 3   Common Name   Column 4   Scientific Name 

  0.1   Lichens   Golden-eye Lichen (Great Lakes population)   Teloschistes chrysophthalmus 

  1.   Vascular plants   Bird’s-foot Violet   Viola pedata 

  2.   Vascular plants   Bluehearts   Buchnera americana 

  3.   Vascular plants   Forked Three-awned Grass   Aristida basiramea 

  4.   Vascular plants   Heart-leaved Plantain   Plantago cordata 

  5.   Vascular plants   Juniper Sedge   Carex juniperorum 

  6.   Vascular plants   Spotted Wintergreen   Chimaphila maculate 

  7.   Vascular plants   Virginia Goat’s-rue   Tephrosia virginiana 

  8.   Vascular plants   Virginia Mallow   Ripariosida hermaphrodita 

  8.1   Vascular Plants   Gillman’s Goldenrod   Solidago gillmanii 

  8.2   Vascular Plants   Hairy Valerian   Valeriana edulis ssp. ciliata 

  9.   Molluscs   Proud Globelet   Patera pennsylvanica 

  9.1   Molluscs   Carolina Mantleslug   Philomycus carolinianus 

  9.2   Molluscs   Eastern Banded Tigersnail   Anguispira kochi kochi 

  9.3   Molluscs   Shagreen   Inflectarius inflectus 

  9.4   Molluscs   Toothed Globe   Mesodon zaletus 

  10.   Insects   Mottled Duskywing   Erynnis martialis 

  10.1   Insects   Hoptree Borer   Prays atomocella 

  10.2   Insects   Lake Huron Grasshopper   Trimerotropis huronia 

  10.3   Insects   Nine-Spotted Lady Beetle   Coccinella novemnotata 

  10.4   Insects   False-foxglove Sun Moth   Pyrrhia aurantiago 

  10.5   Insects   Transverse Lady Beetle   Coccinella transversoguttata 

  10.6   Fishes   Lake Whitefish (Opeongo Lake Large-bodied populations)   Coregonus clupeaformis 

  10.7   Fishes   Lake Whitefish (Opeongo Lake Small-bodied populations)   Coregonus clupeaformis 

  11.   Reptiles   Massasauga (Carolinian population)   Sistrurus catenatus O. Reg. 179/14, s. 9; O. Reg. 308/16, s. 10; O. Reg. 218/18, s. 15 (2); O. Reg. 328/22, s. 5.