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Bill 32, Carbon Budget Accountability Act, 2021

Schreiner, Mike

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Original

Bill 32 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts the Carbon Budget Accountability Act, 2021 .

The

Act requires the Premier and the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and

Parks to ensure that Ontario’s total net emissions of greenhouse gases do not

exceed the specified carbon budget.

The

Minister is required to prepare a carbon budget report each year and lay the

report before the Assembly before March 31 in each year. If the Minister does

not meet the report deadline, the Minister and the Premier are required to pay

into the Consolidated Revenue Fund a penalty equal to 10 per cent of their

annual salary.

The

Auditor General shall review the most recently published carbon budget report

before a general election and release a statement describing the results of the

review. The Auditor General shall also release annual written reports relating

to compliance with the Act.

Bill 32 2021

Act with respect to a carbon budget for Ontario

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

this Act,

“carbon

budget” means the greenhouse gas emissions limits set out in

section 3; (“budget

carbone”)

“greenhouse

gas” means,

(

a) carbon

dioxide,

(

b) methane,

(

c) nitrous

oxide,

(

d) hydrofluorocarbons,

(

e) perfluorocarbons,

(

f) sulphur

hexafluoride, and

(

g) any

other prescribed gas; (“gaz à effet de serre”)

“Minister”

means the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks or such other

member of the Executive Council as may be assigned the administration of this

Act under the Executive Council Act . (“ministre”)

Purpose

of Act

The purpose

of this Act is to ensure that Ontario’s total net emissions are consistent with

global warming of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Carbon

budget rules and requirements

Overall

carbon budget

(1) The

Premier and the Minister shall ensure that Ontario’s total net emissions of

greenhouse gases on and after 2023 do not exceed 1,630 megatonnes.

Carbon

budgets for certain years

(2) In

complying with the overall carbon budget established in subsection (1), the

Premier and the Minister shall ensure that,

(

a) Ontario’s

total net emissions of greenhouse gases from 2023 to 2029 do not exceed 926 megatonnes;

(

b) Ontario’s

total net emissions of greenhouse gases from 2030 to 2034 do not exceed 422 megatonnes;

(

c) Ontario’s

total net emissions of greenhouse gases from 2035 to 2039 do not exceed 223 megatonnes;

(

d) Ontario’s

total net emissions of greenhouse gases from 2040 to 2044 do not exceed 59 megatonnes;

and

(

e) Ontario’s

total net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2045 and in each year thereafter shall

not exceed 0 megatonnes.

Calculation

(3) Subject

to subsection (4), Ontario’s total net emissions of greenhouse gases for a year

shall be calculated in accordance with the most recent guidelines on the

calculation of greenhouse gas emissions published by the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change.

Limit

on offsets

(4) In

calculating Ontario’s total net emissions of greenhouse gases for the purposes

of this section,

(

a) a

maximum of 10 per cent of Ontario’s total actual emissions of greenhouse gases

may be offset by carbon sequestrations; and

(

b) carbon

sequestrations may only be used to offset actual emissions if they remove

greenhouse gas from the atmosphere for a period of at least 100 years.

Carbon

budget report

(1) Each

year, the Minister shall prepare a carbon budget report on,

(

a) how

Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions in the previous calendar year compare with

the applicable carbon budget; and

(

b) the

policies the Government of Ontario will implement to ensure that Ontario’s

greenhouse gas emissions stay within the applicable carbon budget.

Same

(2) The

Minister shall lay the report before the Assembly no later than March 31 in

each year and shall publish it on a website of the Government of Ontario.

Financial

penalty for missed deadline

(1) If

the Minister does not meet the report deadline set out in subsection 4 (2), the

following rules apply:

1. The

Minister shall pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund a penalty equal to 10 per

cent of the annual salary payable to the Minister under subsection 3 (1) of the

Executive Council Act .

2. The

Premier shall pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund a penalty equal to 10 per

cent of the annual salary payable to the Premier under subsections 3 (1) and

(2) of the Executive Council Act .

Timing

of payment

(2) The

Minister and the Premier shall make the payments required under subsection

(1) within 30 days of the deadline that was not met.

Personal

payment

(3) An

amount payable under this

section shall be paid personally and shall not be

paid or reimbursed, directly or indirectly, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Oversight

by Auditor General

Pre-election

review by Auditor General

(1) Before

a general election under subsection 9 (2) of the Election

Act , the Auditor General shall review the most recently published carbon

budget report to determine whether it is reasonable, and shall release a

statement describing the results of the review.

Auditor

General Act

(2) Sections

10, 11 and 11.1 of the Auditor General Act apply,

with necessary modifications, with respect to the Auditor General’s review.

Annual

report on compliance

(3) Each

year, the Auditor General shall release a written report about such matters as

the Auditor General considers appropriate relating to the Premier’s and the

Minister’s compliance with the requirements of this Act.

Regulations

The

Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing anything that

may be prescribed under this Act.

Commencement

and

Short Title

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Carbon Budget

Accountability Act, 2021 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

November 1, 2021

Second Reading

Vote

Lost on division

October 28, 2021

Second Reading

Deferred vote

October 28, 2021

Second Reading

Debated

October 26, 2021

First Reading

Vote

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

October 26, 2021

Committee

Second Reading

October 28, 2021

Mr. Mike Schreiner, Ms. Andrea Khanjin, Ms. Marit Stiles, Mme Lucille Collard, Ms. Jessica Bell, Ms. Sandy Shaw

Vote deferred.

November 1, 2021

Lost on division.

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

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