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2004 Legislative Session: 5th Session, 37th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational

purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE BILL BARISOFF

MINISTER OF WATER, LAND

AND AIR PROTECTION

BILL 13 – 2004

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT ACT, 2004

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 19 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out "the requirements"

and substituting "a requirement" , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(1.1) If the minister considers that a person should have temporary relief from a requirement of a code of practice, the minister may issue a variance order relieving the person in relation to the requirement of the code of practice.

Section 22 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

(

x) imposing monitoring and reporting requirements, including requirements for publication of information, in relation to

(

i) waste,

(ii) handling, treating, transporting, discharging or storing waste, and

(iii) places and things that the minister considers may be affected by the handling, treatment, transportation, discharge or storage of waste;

(

y) prescribing sampling, analytical, quality control and reporting procedures that must be followed by a person required to monitor or report under a code of practice.

Section 39 (1) is amended

(

a) by adding the following

definitions:

"approved professional" means a person who is named

on a roster established under

section 42 (2) [approved professionals] ;

"summary of site condition" means a document that

complies with subsection (3); ,

(

b) by repealing the

definitions of "contaminated site"

and "contamination" and substituting the following:

"contaminated site" means an area of the land in which the soil or any groundwater lying beneath it, or the water or the underlying sediment, contains a prescribed substance in quantities or concentrations exceeding prescribed risk based or numerical

(

a) criteria,

(

b) standards, or

(

c) conditions;

"contamination" means the presence in soil, sediment, water or groundwater of a substance prescribed for the purposes of the definition of "contaminated site" in quantities or concentrations exceeding the risk based or numerical

(

a) criteria,

(

b) standards, or

(

c) conditions

also prescribed for the purposes of the definition of

"contaminated site"; , and

(

c) by adding the following subsection:

(3) A

summary of site condition must be

(

a) prepared

(

i) by an approved professional,

(ii) in the form established in a protocol, and

(iii) in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the minister, and

(

b) signed by the approved professional.

Section 40 is repealed and the following substituted:

Site profiles

(1) When required by this

section or the minister's regulations, a person must provide a site profile that

(

a) contains the information prescribed by the minister, and

(

b) is in the form established in a protocol.

(2) A municipality, an approving officer or the commission, as applicable, must

(

a) assess in accordance with the minister's regulations a site profile received in compliance with this

section or the minister's regulations,

(

b) if the assessment under paragraph (

a) indicates that a director should review the site profile to determine whether a site investigation is required, forward a copy of the site profile to a director, and

(

c) forward a copy of the site profile to any other person specified in the minister's regulations.

(3) Subject to the regulations, a municipality, an approving officer and the commission may impose reasonable fees for an assessment under subsection (2) (a).

(4) A director may order a person to prepare a site profile and provide it to the director in the following circumstances:

(

a) the person owns or occupies land that the director considers may be a contaminated site because of a past or current use on it or other land;

(

b) the person provided a site profile that did not comply with subsection (1) (

a) and (b).

(5) If a director makes an order under subsection (4) (

a) in respect of land that is subsequently determined not to be a contaminated site, the director is not liable for any costs incurred by the person in preparing the site profile.

Section 42 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) A director may designate classes of persons who are qualified to perform classes of activities, prepare classes of reports and other documents or make classes of recommendations that by or under this Act may be or are required to be performed, prepared or made by an approved professional.

Section 44 is repealed and the following substituted:

Determinations of contaminated sites

(1) Subject to the minister's regulations, a director may determine whether a site is a contaminated site and, if so, the boundaries of the contaminated site.

(2) For the purpose of making a determination under subsection (1), a director may rely on any information the director considers sufficient for that purpose, including but not limited to, a site profile, a preliminary site investigation, a detailed site investigation and a

summary of site condition.

(3) The lack of a determination under subsection (1) does not mean that a site is not a contaminated site.

(4) Despite

section 100 [appeals to Environmental

Appeal Board] , another decision that the director must or may make for the

purpose, or in the process, of determining whether a site is a contaminated

site may not be appealed to the Environmental Appeal Board until after the determination

under subsection (1) has been made.

Section 48 (10) is amended by striking out "A person who has

submitted a site profile under

section 40 (7) [site profiles of trustee,

receiver, etc.] " and substituting "A trustee, a receiver,

a liquidator or a person commencing foreclosure proceedings, who takes possession

or control of real property for the benefit of one or more creditors and who

has submitted or is required to submit a site profile," .

Section 53 is amended

(

a) by renumbering subsection (1) as subsection (1.1) and by adding the following subsection:

(1) For the purposes of exercising powers and performing

duties under this section, a director may rely on any information the director

considers sufficient for the purpose, including, but not limited to, a preliminary

site investigation, a detailed site investigation, a risk assessment, a remediation

plan or a

summary of site condition. ,

(

b) in subsection (2) by striking out "subsection (1),"

and substituting "subsection (1.1)," ,

(

c) by repealing subsection (3) (

b) and (

c) and substituting the following:

(

c) a plan has been prepared for the purposes of containing,

controlling and monitoring any substances remaining on the site and, if required

by the director, works have been installed to implement the plan, , and

(

d) in subsection (3) (

d) by striking out "and the requirements

respecting that security prescribed in the regulations have been met,"

and substituting "in accordance with the minister's regulations," .

Section 54 (1) is amended by striking out "remediation whether"

and substituting "remediation in accordance with the minister's regulations

whether" .

Section 55 (3) (

b) is amended by striking out "and environmental

impact assessment" .

Section 59 (4) is amended by striking out "this section."

and substituting "section 58 [orphan sites] ."

12 The following

section is added:

Land Remediation Fund

61.1

(1) The minister may establish a fund to be known as the Land Remediation Fund.

(2) Money in the Land Remediation Fund must be held in trust by the government for the purposes under subsection (4).

(3) Money that under an enactment must be paid into the consolidated revenue fund, including the Sustainable Environment Fund, may not be paid into the Land Remediation Fund.

(4) The object of the Land Remediation Fund is to provide funding for the purposes of government programs in relation to the following:

(

a) brownfield development;

(

b) orphan site remediation;

(

c) domestic and commercial underground tank remediation.

(5) The Land Remediation Fund may be administered by one or more councils that may pay money out of the Land Remediation Fund for the purposes of the fund in accordance with

(

a) the minister's regulations, and

(

b) the approved policies and procedures of the council.

Section 62 (1) is amended by repealing paragraphs (

a) and (g).

Section 63 (1) is amended

(

a) by repealing paragraphs (b), (c), (

d) and (

f) to (

i) and substituting the following:

(

b) respecting site profiles, including, without limitation,

(

i) prescribing the information that must be provided in a site profile,

(ii) prescribing circumstances in which a specified person must provide a site profile to another specified person,

(iii) prescribing procedures for providing a site profile,

(iv) prescribing procedures for assessing a site profile, and

(

v) prescribing when a site profile must be provided by a specified person;

(f.1) respecting summaries of site conditions, including, without limitation,

(

i) prescribing the information that must be provided in a

summary of site condition,

(ii) prescribing circumstances in which a specified person must provide a

summary of site condition to another specified person,

(iii) prescribing circumstances in which a director may order a person to provide to the director or another person a

summary of site condition,

(iv) prescribing procedures for providing a

summary of site condition, and

(

v) prescribing when a

summary of site condition must be provided by a specified person;

(

i) respecting a determination under

section 44 [determination

of contaminated sites] , including, without limitation,

(

i) prescribing procedures for making a determination,

(ii) prescribing the persons to whom a director must

give notice of a determination under

section 44 [determinations of contaminated

sites] ,

(iii) prescribing circumstances in which a director may make a determination that a site is contaminated without following the procedures prescribed under subparagraph (i), and

(iv) prescribing circumstances in which a site is considered

to be a contaminated site without a determination under

section 44 (1); ,

(

b) in paragraph (

r) by striking out "section 64 (2)"

and substituting "section 64 (2);" , and

(

c) by adding the following paragraphs:

(

s) respecting the Land Remediation Fund, including, without limitation,

(

i) establishing the number of councillors for each council,

(ii) prescribing the manner of appointment or election of councillors,

(iii) if more than one council is established, establishing the responsibilities of each council in relation to one or more purposes of the fund and how responsibility for the administration of the fund is to be distributed between councils,

(iv) authorizing the council to pay money out of the fund subject to any conditions the minister prescribes,

(

v) establishing policies and procedures for the administration of the fund, and

(vi) authorizing a council to establish, with the prior approval of the minister, policies and procedures for the administration of the fund;

(

t) prescribing fees for computer based registry inquiries;

(

u) respecting any matter in relation to which regulations of the minister are contemplated by this Part.

15 The following

section is added:

Director's interim standards

63.1

(1) A director may make regulations prescribing substances and risk based or numerical criteria, standards and conditions for the purpose of the definition of "contaminated site" in

section 39 [definitions and

interpretation] if the director considers it necessary in the public interest.

(2) In the event of a conflict between a regulation under this

section and a regulation under

section 63 (1) (n), the regulation under this

section prevails.

(3) A regulation under subsection (1) ceases to have effect one year after the date it was made.

Section 64 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) (

b) and (

c) by striking out "prescribing"

and substituting "specifying" ,

(

b) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraph:

(

e) establishing procedures in respect of requiring,

and establishing conditions for, security. ,

(

c) in subsection (2) (

m) by adding ", site profiles, summaries

of site conditions" after "site investigations" and by striking

out "for the purposes of their entry into the site registry" ,

(

d) in subsection (2) (

n) by adding ", sediment" after

"soil" ,

(

e) by adding the following paragraph:

(o.1) summarizing or specifying activities, including

the preparation of specified reports or documents, that may or must be performed

by an approved professional; , and

(

f) by repealing the second subsection (2) and substituting the following:

(3) Section 41 of the

Interpretation Act and the Regulations Act do not apply in relation to a protocol under this section.

(4) On and after the date that a protocol under this

section is published in accordance with the minister's regulations, a director may refuse to accept anything governed by the protocol that is not in compliance with it.

Section 120 (17) (

a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) fails to submit a site profile as required under

section 40 [site profiles] or the regulations or supplies a site profile

that the person knows to contain false or misleading information, .

Section 138 is amended

(

a) in subsection (3) by adding the following paragraphs:

(

f) imposing monitoring and reporting requirements, including requirements for the publication of information, in relation to

(

i) waste,

(ii) handling, treating, transporting, discharging or storing waste, and

(iii) places and things that the minister considers may be affected by the handling, treatment, transportation, discharge or storage of waste;

(

g) prescribing sampling, analytical, quality control and reporting procedures that must be followed by a person required to monitor or report under a regulation;

(

h) authorizing the minister to amend, by setting out

opposite a prescribed industry, trade, business, activity or operation the title

of a code of practice prescribed by the minister under

section 22 [minister's

regulations – codes of practice] , a

schedule to a regulation of the Lieutenant

Governor in Council that prescribes industries, trades, businesses, activities

or operations for the purposes of

section 6 (2) or (3) [waste disposal] ;

(

i) respecting any matter for which regulations are contemplated

by this Act. , and

(

b) in subsection (4) (

a) by adding "including imposing restrictions

in relation to the facilities that may perform the procedures and prescribing

and requiring the payment of fees to defray the costs to the ministry of auditing

samples, analytical results, data and reports" after "minister" .

Consequential Amendments

Islands Trust Act

Section 34.1 (2) of the Islands Trust Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 239, as re-enacted by

section 155 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) by striking out "under

section 40 of the" wherever

it appears and substituting "under the" ,

(

b) in paragraphs (

a) and (

b) by striking out "section 40 (4)

(b)" and substituting "section 40 (2) (b)" , and

(

c) in paragraph (

c) by striking out "final".

Land Title Act

Section 85.1 (2) of the Land Title Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 250, as re-enacted by

section 156 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) by striking out "under

section 40 of the" wherever

it appears and substituting "under the" ,

(

b) in paragraphs (

a) and (

b) by striking out "section 40 (4)

(b)" and substituting "section 40 (2) (b)" , and

(

c) in paragraph (

c) by striking out "final" .

Local Government Act

Section 946.1 (2) (

b) of the Local Government Act , R.S.B.C.

1996, c. 323, as re-enacted by

section 161 of the Environmental Management Act,

S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended by striking out "section 40 (4)"

and substituting "section 40 (2)" .

Section 946.2 (2) as re-enacted by

section 162 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) by striking out "under

section 40 [site profiles]

of the" and substituting "under the" ,

(

b) in paragraphs (

a) and (

b) by striking out "under

section

40 of the" and substituting "under the" and by striking

out "section 40 (4) (b)" and substituting "section 40

(2) (b)" , and

(

c) in paragraph (

c) by striking out "final" .

Petroleum and Natural Gas Act

Section 84.1 (2) of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 361, as re-enacted by

section 168 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) by striking out "under

section 40 of the" wherever

it appears and substituting "under the" ,

(

b) in paragraphs (

a) and (

b) by striking out "section 40 (4)

(b)" and substituting "section 40 (2) (b)" , and

(

c) in paragraph (

c) by striking out "final" .

Property Law Act

Section 40 of the Property Law Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 377, is repealed and the following substituted:

Vendor disclosure

40 If a vendor of real property is required under the regulations to the Environmental Management Act to provide a site profile to a purchaser and the vendor fails to provide the site profile, the purchaser may exercise any remedies under the common law or under the regulations.

Vancouver Charter

Section 571B (2) of the Vancouver Charter , S.B.C. 1953, c. 55, as re-enacted by

section 173 of the Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53, is amended

(

a) by striking out "under

section 40 of the" wherever

it appears and substituting "under the" ,

(

b) in paragraphs (

a) and (

b) by striking out "section 40 (4)

(b)" and substituting "section 40 (2) (b)" , and

(

c) in paragraph (

c) by striking out "final" .

Commencement

26 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Environmental Management Act,

section 19]

authorizes the minister to temporarily vary a code of practice as it applies

to a person;

corrects a drafting error.

SECTION 2: [Environmental Management Act,

section 22] adds, to

the minister's codes of practice authority, regulation making powers in respect

of monitoring and reporting.

SECTION 3: [Environmental Management Act,

section 39] adds

definitions

of "approved professional" and "summary of site condition" and repeals and replaces

the

definitions of "contaminated site" and "contamination" to omit references

to hazardous waste.

SECTION 4: [Environmental Management Act,

section 40] moves to

the minister's regulations the specific circumstances in which a site profile

is required.

SECTION 5: [Environmental Management Act,

section 42] expands

the matters that an approved professional may be required or empowered, under

the Act, to deal with to include classes of reports and documents and classes

of recommendations.

SECTION 6: [Environmental Management Act,

section 44] moves to

the regulations the procedures for determining whether a site is contaminated

and expands the types of information a director may rely on to make a determination

to include any information the director considers sufficient.

SECTION 7: [Environmental Management Act,

section 48] is consequential

to the amendments to

section 40 of the Act made by this Bill.

SECTION 8: [Environmental Management Act,

section 53]

authorizes the director to rely on information the director considers sufficient

for the purpose of issuing approvals in principle and certificates of compliance;

clarifies that it is the minister who prescribes security requirements.

SECTION 9: [Environmental Management Act,

section 54] adds a

requirement that independent remediation be carried out in accordance with the

regulations.

SECTION 10: [Environmental Management Act,

section 55] deletes

an obsolete reference.

SECTION 11: [Environmental Management Act,

section 59] corrects

a drafting error.

SECTION 12: [Environmental Management Act,

section 61.1] adds

an authority for the minister to establish a trust fund, the Land Remediation

Fund, for the purposes of supporting specified environmental programs.

SECTION 13: [Environmental Management Act,

section 62] deletes

regulation making powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council that are moved

to the minister's jurisdiction.

SECTION 14: [Environmental Management Act,

section 63]

expands the minister's regulation making authorities in relation to site

profiles and determinations of contaminated sites;

provides the minister with regulation making authorities in relation to

summaries of site condition, fees for computer based registry inquiries and

the Land Remediation Fund;

corrects a drafting error.

SECTION 15: [Environmental Management Act,

section 63.1] empowers

a director to make regulations for the purposes of the definition of "contaminated

site" on an interim basis.

SECTION 16: [Environmental Management Act,

section 64]

adds an authority to make protocols in respect of requirements for security;

authorizes protocols establishing formats for summaries of site conditions;

authorizes a protocol respecting the activities of approved professionals;

corrects a drafting error.

SECTION 17: [Environmental Management Act,

section 120] is consequential

to moving site profile requirements to the minister's regulations.

SECTION 18: [Environmental Management Act,

section 138] authorizes

regulations

respecting monitoring and reporting requirements;

respecting procedures for monitoring and reporting;

authorizing the minister to amend the

schedule to a regulation of the Lieutenant

Governor in Council to add the title to a code of practice, prescribed by

the minister, opposite a prescribed industry, trade, business, activity or

operation;

clarifies that the regulations may require that testing be done by specific

laboratories and that the ministry may impose fees for the cost of auditing.

Islands Trust Act

SECTION 19: [Islands Trust Act,

section 34.1] makes amendments

consequential to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

Land Title Act

SECTION 20: [Land Title Act,

section 85.1] makes amendments consequential

to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental Management Act

made by this Bill.

Local Government Act

SECTION 21: [Local Government Act,

section 946.1] makes amendments

consequential to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

SECTION 22: [Local Government Act,

section 946.2] makes amendments

consequential to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Act

SECTION 23: [Petroleum and Natural Gas Act,

section 84.1] makes

amendments consequential to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

Property Law Act

SECTION 24: [Property Law Act,

section 40] reenacts the

section

to make amendments consequential to the amendments to

section 40 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

Vancouver Charter

SECTION 25: [Vancouver Charter,

section 571B] makes amendments

consequential to the amendments to sections 40 and 44 of the Environmental

Management Act made by this Bill.

Copyright (c) 2004: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada