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VICTORIA – British Columbia is continuing to combat
climate change with new initiatives, including the introduction of the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Emissions Standards) Statutes Amendment Act, which is
designed to address some of the key commitments outlined in the 2008 throne
speech and the 2007 Energy Plan.
With a focus on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from certain types of industrial operations while
opening opportunities in the bio-energy sector, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction
(Emissions Standards) Statutes Act makes amendments to the following
legislation:
Environmental
Management Act (EMA)
·
Owners
or operators of waste management facilities – including landfills, composting
facilities and sewage treatment plants – will be required by regulations to
manage waste-generated greenhouse gases (GHGs), either by reducing emissions or
capturing them, with the option of tapping into their energy-generation potential.
·
As
committed to in the 2007 Energy Plan, coal-fired electricity generation
facilities will be required to capture and sequester GHG emissions from the
combustion of coal. Facility operators will be required to report on their
emissions tracking and management activities.
·
Following
through on a second Energy Plan commitment, the proposed act will require that
electricity generation facilities that use other fossil fuels have “net zero”
emissions, which means that they must use offsets to balance their GHG
emissions.
·
New
electricity generation facilities and expansions to existing facilities will be
subject to the “net zero” requirement as soon as it comes into force. Existing
facilities will be given until 2016 to become “net zero.”
·
Failure
to comply with this new legislation may result in fines of up to $1 million or
imprisonment for a term of up to six months, or both. In addition,
administrative penalties will be applicable to enforce the offset provisions
pertaining to electricity generation facilities.
Forest Act
and Forest and Range Practices Act
·
New forestry legislation will support the growth of a
wood bioenergy sector by encouraging the use of wood residue as a potential
energy source.
· A new form of the “licence to cut” tenure will be created, providing access to unwanted timber left at the roadside or landing, and updating existing provisions to allow access to roadside and landing waste.
· Scaling requirements will be updated to facilitate the measurement of wood chips and other materials.
· Harvesting beetle-attacked timber will be encouraged by enforcing the chief forester’s partition of the allowable annual cut for certain purposes – such as the harvest of beetle wood.
· To avoid duplication, the government will have the authority to enter into a forest licence with the successful applicant of a BC Hydro call for power.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction
(Emissions Standards) Statutes Amendment Act was prepared jointly by the
ministries of Environment and Forests and Range, in consultation with officials
of the Climate Action Secretariat and the B.C. Utilities Commission.
To learn more about B.C.’s climate
change initiatives, please visit the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action
Secretariat websites at www.gov.bc.ca/env
and www.climateactionsecretariat.gov.bc.ca.
For all the details on this and
other new legislation, please visit www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/votes/progress-of-bills.htm.
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Media Relations 250 953-4577 |
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