FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

ANNEX 4
Introduction
Annex 4
Mitigation and Adaptive
Management Action Plans
This annex includes prototypes of mitigation and adaptive management plans. The International Joint
Commission (IJC) would rely on agencies from both Canada and the United States if it were to pursue
mitigation or adaptive management, and practical plans could be developed only as the result of those
negotiations; they cannot be rigorously defined in the abstract by the Study Board.
The Study Board articulated its philosophy on mitigation in its fourth guiding principle, including the idea
that mitigation would be required for those who suffered disproportionate losses from the change in
regulation plans. The great majority of Study Board members felt that none of the candidate plans creates
disproportionate loss or requires mitigation, but those who felt mitigation was necessary identified coastal
stakeholders. The mitigation plan outlined in this annex calls for regulatory process relief (not a reduction
in environmental protection) from state, provincial and federal authorities for the people who live along the
shoreline, and an extension of the Corps of Engineers “Advance Measures” flood protection program,
which are initiatives that the Board feels could be pursued without a finding of disproportionate loss.
The prototype action plan for adaptive management presented in this annex is a template developed by the
Plan Formulation and Evaluation Group (PFEG). It was not reviewed and discussed by the full Study Board
and therefore should not be construed as having full Board endorsement.
Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows
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