Abstract Manager

Obtaining a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Authorization for bridge construction, or other in-water activities involves a detailed and regulated process to ensure the protection of fish and fish habitats. This process is governed by the Fisheries Act, which prohibits activities that result in the death of fish or the harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction (HADD) of fish habitat without an Authorization. Applications include detailed information about the potential effects of the project on fish and fish habitats, measures to avoid and mitigate effects, and an offsetting plan for residual impacts. 

Offsetting plans are complex process which includes:

1. Characterizing residual impacts of your project. Including assessing the extent and severity of HADD that cannot be avoided or mitigated.
2. Selecting offset measures appropriate to counterbalance the residual impacts. These measures typically need to be direct area offsets within the same watershed area as the impacts.
3. Determining offset amounts based on the residual impacts. This involves quantifying the HADD and determining the equivalent amount of habitat that needs to be restored or created.
4. Developing monitoring and adaptive management plans to track the effectiveness of the offset measures over time which includes adaptive management strategies to address any unforeseen issues or changes in environmental conditions.
5. Submitting the plan for review by DFO. DFO’s expectations evolve through time and are not clearly defined. Each application has unique requirements.
6. Implementing and Monitoring the offset measures as outlined in the plan. Annual monitoring the outcomes and reporting to DFO to ensure compliance and effectiveness.

The Authorization process can take years and provides large amounts of project uncertainty and costs. Challenges include considerable effort identifying cost-effective offsetting measures, lengthy review periods risking project timelines, uncertainty of offsetting measures acceptable to DFO, and post construction maintenance and repairs, if needed. Further, offsetting measures are often vulnerable to uncontrollable extreme weather events (e.g., flood, drought) extending the monitoring period, and repairs are difficult to tie contractors. These complexities are resulting in higher bid prices for owners, delayed projects, and negatives for contractors. 

Associated Engineering and Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors have worked with DFO to develop an alternative method to develop, implement and monitor Offsetting plans which are substantially cheaper, quicker, and reduce project uncertainty.  This approach has been successfully deployed on a Design Build and Design Bid Build contracts.  The presentation will outline the process and challenges working through this alternative process.