Ecoplans News      
March 2007 		                   Ecoplans

   
 Published Paper -   
Habitat Creation   
and Wildlife   
Crossings   
 		  A paper titled "Bayview Avenue Extension, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Habitat Creation and Wildlife Crossings in a Contentious Environmental Setting: A Case Study" was presented in 2005 in San Diego at the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation. The paper was authored by:
        R. Geoffrey Gartshore, Ecoplans Limited
        Michelle Purchase, Ecoplans Limited
        Robert I. Rook, McCormick Rankin Corporation
        Leslie Scott, McCormick Rankin Corporation

The paper has been published in the Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, Eds. Irwin CL, Garrett P, McDermott KP. Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC: pp. 55-76. An abstract and electronic copy of the paper can be found on the University of California, Davis, Road Ecology Center's eScholarship Repository Web site at: http://repositories.cdlib.org/jmie/roadeco/Gartshore2005a.
 		 
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 Code of Practice -   
Environmental   
Management   
of Road Salt    		  On April 3, 2004 the Minister of the Environment (Environment Canada) issued the Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts.  The main recommendations of the Code are:

 		 
  1. the development and implementation of Road Salt Management Plans which take into consideration all activities potentially resulting in the release of road salts into the environment, such as storage, application of salts on roads, and disposal of snow containing road salts;  
  2. the implementation of Best Management Practices related to these activities to protect the environment;  
  3. the establishment of procedures to monitor and report on progress accomplished; and  
  4. a review after 5 years to consider the level of implementation of best management practices and to determine if other steps are needed to further prevent or reduce negative impacts of road salts on the environment.

 		 
   The Code of Practice is intended for organizations that use more than 500 tonnes of road salts on public roads annually, or which have vulnerable areas on their territory as per guidance provided in Annex B of the Code.  Background infromation, copies of the Code and links to the issuing notice can be found at Environment Canada's Road Salts Working Group Web site.  Bob Hodgins of Ecoplans is the Technical Advisor to the Road Salts Working Group.         
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 Syntheses of   
Best Practices   
Road Salt   
Management   
 		 The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has released their Syntheses of Best Practices Road Salt Management.  They are a series of Syntheses of Best Practices related to the effective management of road salt use in winter maintenance operations.  The Syntheses are provided as advice to road maintainers for consideration when developing their own Salt Management Plan.  The Syntheses are not intended to be used prescriptively but are to be used in concert with the legislation, manuals, directives and procedures of individual road agencies.  Syntheses of Best Practices have been produced on Salt Management Plans, Training, Road and Bridge Design, Drainage and Stormwater Management, Pavements and Salt Management, Vegetation Management, Design and Operation of Road Maintenance Yards, Snow Storage and Disposal Sites and, Winter Maintenance Equipment and Technologies.  Further information is also avaialble in TAC’s Salt Management Guide – 1999.  The nine Syntheses of Best Practices documents are available online from the TAC Reading Room.  Ecoplans was TAC's primary consultant and author for the Syntheses of Best Practices development project.

 		 

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