Overall Benefit Permits. 257 Proponents proposing to pursue activities that may be prohibited under the ESA 258 may seek to acquire an overall benefit permit under clause 17 (2) (c). Overall 259 benefit permits can be issued for activities that are likely to have an adverse 260 effect on species at risk or their habitat and where the purpose of the activity is 261 not for the protection or recovery of a species, but through the conditions set out 262 in the permit an overall benefit to the affected species will be achieved. 263 Safe harbour habitat conditions will only be considered within overall benefit 264 permits where the initial impact to the listed species habitat is temporary in 265 nature and thus the original habitat will be restored upon completion of the 266 activity as part of the permit conditions (e.g. temporary right of way). This reflects 267 that the benefit provided for within a safe harbour habitat may be temporary, as 268 the tool provides the authority for that habitat to be removed at a later date. Safe 269 harbour habitat conditions should not be considered in overall benefit permits in 270 situations where there are permanent losses to a listed species habitat. 271 Therefore the temporary nature of the safe harbour habitat offset being created 272 or enhanced must be considered when assessing and determining whether an 273 overall benefit will be achieved for that particular species. The potential adverse 274 effects of the enabled future damage or destruction of the safe harbour habitat 275 must be assessed when evaluating whether the overall benefit is likely to be 276 achieved, and should be considered when establishing the conditions of the 277 instrument. 278 Additionally, there may be a number of elements within a safe harbour overall 279 benefit permit scenario that increase the overall risk and uncertainty in being able 280 to achieve an overall benefit (length of time to establish habitat, ability to remove 281 habitat after the conservation period, etc.), which in turn would influence the 282 assessment of whether an overall benefit is likely to be achieved (please refer to 283 “Endangered Species Act Submission Standards for Activity Review and 17 (2) 284 (c) Overall Benefit Permits” (OMNR, 2012) for guiding principles related to risk 285 and uncertainty). The conditions of the safe harbour instrument should reflect this 286 assessment (e.g. increase in size of overall benefit habitat areas, longer habitat 287 protection period). 288 All conditi...
