On June 25, the Ontario government posted a discussion paper to inform proposed regulations to govern the development of offshore wind facilities in Ontario on the Environmental Registry. There is a 60 day comment period – extending over much of the summer. The basic tenant of the discussion paper is imposition of a five kilometre exclusion zone from the shoreline of the Great Lakes and other inland lakes such as Lakes Simcoe, St. Clair, Nipigon and Lake of the Woods. The exclusion zone would also apply to large islands. In addition, wind energy proponents would have to conduct site-specific studies to assess potential impacts and implement measures to mitigate any potential impact to ecological features.
While the devil is always in the details, a five kilometre exclusion zone should exclude wind facilities from the most significant areas for birds and wildlife on the Great Lakes on other lakes in Ontario. Nature Canada and Ontario Nature have been advocating exclusion of wind facilities from Important Bird Areas, (IBA) and migratory corridors. Most IBAs on the Great Lakes and other Lakes in Ontario would be protected within this five kilometre exclusion zone. The near-shore and coastlines also tend to be the most significant area for migrating and feeding birds. There are some areas beyond the five kilometre buffer that are important for birds or which might fall within a migratory corridor, but in general, those areas will be well known, and exceptional (e.g. Pelee archipelago in Lake Erie, Three Sister Islands Lake of the Woods, islands in extreme Eastern Lake Ontario). The requirements for site-specific assessments should pick these areas up. That said, an effort needs to be made to map migratory corridors as soon as possible before proposals get the green light.
Much less understood is how offshore facilities could impact bat populations. Highly technically challenging issues of monitoring impacts and mitigating threats that could occur when weather conditions conspire with a particularly heavy migration movement – (e.g. – low ceiling forces migrants into lower flight paths through turbine blads) need to be addressed if we are to have confidence that offshore wind facilities are not inflicting an impact on specific populations of wildilife. Also the complex assessment of cumulative effects of numerous offshore and on-shore projects in Canada and the United States must be considered and factored into approvals of specific projects.
Nature Canada will carefully assess this policy and provide detailed comments to the government of Ontario. That said, the first impression is that this is a positive move that should protect wildlife, particularly birds, from the potential damaging impacts of wind facilities.
