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Volume 44, No. 25

B.C. Reg. 286/2001

The British Columbia Gazette,

Part II

December 31, 2001

B.C. Reg. 286/2001, deposited December 10, 2001, pursuant to the FOREST PRACTICES CODE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ACT [Sections 203, 211.1 and 218]. Order in Council 1062/2001, approved and ordered December 7, 2001.

On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, orders that

(

a) The Bark Beetle Regulation in

Schedule 1 attached to this order in made;

(

b) the Operational Planning Regulation, B.C. Reg. 107/98, is amended as set out in

Schedule 2;

(

c) the Silviculture Practices Regulation, B.C. Reg. 108/98, is amended as set out in

Schedule 3;

(

d) the Administrative Remedies Regulation, B.C. Reg. 182/98, is amended as set out in

Schedule 4. — M. de JONG, Minister of

Forests; G. HOGG, Presiding Member of the Executive Council.

Schedule 1

Bark Beetle Regulation

Definitions

1 In this regulation:

"acceptable species" means

(

a) lodgepole pine or interior spruce, if lodgepole pine or interior spruce is ecologically suitable considering the site factors, or

(

b) a species approved by the district manager, if the district manager is satisfied that another species is ecologically suitable considering the site factors;

"coordinator" means the beetle management coordinator appointed by the minister to help create and oversee bark beetle management efforts;

"commencement date" means, for areas harvested under this regulation, the date when timber harvesting, excluding road and landing construction, begins;

"emergency bark beetle management area" means an area that is designated as an emergency bark beetle management area under

section 2;

"emergency management unit" means an area designated as an emergency management unit under

section 3;

"exempted area" means an area in an emergency management unit with respect to which a person, including the district manager, is exempted under

section 4 (1) from the requirement for a silviculture prescription;

"exempted person" means a person, including the district manager, exempted under

section 4 (1);

"free growing" , with respect to trees means trees that have achieved a minimum height for their species as determined in accordance with

Schedule A, and a height relative to competing vegetation within a 1 m radius of their tree trunk of 125% for the ESSF, IDF, MS, MH, PP and BG biogeoclimatic zones, and 150% for the CDF, CWH, BWBS, ICH, SBPS and SBS biogeoclimatic zones;

"net opening to be reforested" means the portion of an opening in an exempted area that does not include

(

a) an area occupied by permanent access structures, or

(

b) an area of rock, wetland or other area that in its natural state is incapable of growing a stand of trees that meets the stocking requirements specified in

section 7 (4);

"Schedule A" means

Schedule A of the Woodlot Licence Forest Management Regulation;

"well spaced" , with respect to trees, means trees that are at least 2 m apart;

"wildlife tree" means a tree or group of trees with suitable characteristics that provide a present or future wildlife habitat.

Designation of an emergency bark beetle management area

2 The minister, by order, may designate on a map, an area as an emergency bark beetle management area, if satisfied that an emergency exists because of an infestation of bark beetle in the area or a danger of such an infestation.

Designation of an emergency management unit

3 The coordinator, by order, may designate an area in an emergency bark beetle management area as an emergency management unit and must state in the order which of the following 2 categories

applies to all or part of the unit:

(

a) aggressive, in which all forest health treatments, including harvesting, may be used to control the infestation;

(

b) sanitation, in which harvesting is the primary forest health treatment used against the infestation.

Exemptions

(1) The district manager

(

a) may exempt a person, from the requirement to prepare, and to obtain the district manager's approval of, a silviculture prescription under

section 22 of the Act, for an area in an emergency management unit, if the district manager is satisfied that the criteria in subsection (2) are met, and

(

b) is exempt from the requirement to prepare a silviculture prescription under

section 22 of the Act, for an area in an emergency management unit, if the district manager is satisfied that the criteria under subsection (2) (

b) and (

c) are met.

(2) The district manager may exempt a person under subsection (1) (

a) if

(

a) the person applies to the district manager for an exemption,

(

b) the person satisfies the district manager that, based on the most recent detailed forest health survey, the area is likely to contain trees which are infested with larvae or adult bark beetles, and

(

c) the district manager is satisfied that the exemption is necessary to expedite measures to be taken to limit the spread of the bark beetle.

(3) Within an exempted area, an exempted person is exempt from the following requirements of the Act:

(

a) to provide maps and schedules in a forest development plan under

section 10 (1) (b) (i):

(

b) to identify a road on a logging plan or silviculture prescription in order to construct or modify the road under

section 58 (2) (b) (iii);

(

c) to obtain the consent, under

section 68, of the district manager to the construction of an excavated or bladed trail.

(4) The following applies to an exempted area:

(

a) harvesting in an exempted area is limited to

(

i) trees that are infested with larvae or adult bark beetles, as determined by an on the ground survey, and

(ii) those trees that must be removed incidentally to facilitate removal of the infested trees;

(

b) no more than 5 000 m 3 of timber may be harvested under the exemption from an individual opening in an exempted area, excluding the volume harvested from any road clearing width, if the road is required to facilitate the removal of timber from the area;

(

c) an opening in an exempted area may not be clearcut unless the opening, together with any adjoining opening that has been clearcut and is subject to an exemption under this section, will result in a contiguous clearcut not exceeding 15 ha.

(5) If a district manager exempts a person under subsection (1), the district manager may impose conditions to the exemption, and the exempted person must comply with the conditions.

Soil disturbance limits

(1) An exempted person must ensure that soil disturbance in an opening in the person's exempted area does not exceed 10

per cent, or a greater amount authorized in writing by the district manager, of the net opening to be reforested that is 2 hectares or larger in area.

(2) The district manager may authorize a greater amount of soil disturbance than allowed by subsection (1) if

(

a) the disturbance is unavoidable in the process of managing the beetle infestation, and

(

b) the proposed activities will not cause or increase the risk of damage to other resource values.

(3) An exempted person must not exceed the limit for soil disturbance specified in subsection (1) or (2).

(4) If the limit for soil disturbance specified in subsection (1) or (2) is exceeded, the exempted person must

(

a) promptly notify the district manager, and

(

b) carry out any site rehabilitation measures required by the district manager.

Requirement to re-establish drainage on access trails

(1) In this

section "access trail" means a trail in an emergency management unit that

(

a) provides access for equipment between openings, or between openings and roads or landings, and

(

b) is constructed, modified or bladed, or through frequent use has become established.

(2) An exempted person must carry out measures on an access trail in the person's exempted area in accordance with subsections (3) and (4) when the trail is no longer required for the access referred to in subsection (1) (a).

(3) Despite subsection (2), the district manager may give the exempted person notification of a time period following completion of harvesting when the measures in subsection (4) must be completed, and the exempted person must comply with the notice.

(4) When required under subsection (2) or (3), an exempted person must carry out whatever measures are necessary on an access trail to

(

a) re-establish natural surface drainage,

(

b) minimize soil erosion and the risk of sediment delivery to streams, and

(

c) prevent subsurface seepage water, intercepted by the trails, from being diverted into areas that would not naturally have received the water, and that are

(

i) slopes that are unstable or potentially unstable or subject to a moderate or high likelihood of landslides, or

(ii) stream channels or gullies.

Establishing a free growing stand

(1) In this

section "free growing stand" means a stand of trees where the trees have achieved a minimum height for their species as determined in accordance with

Schedule A, and a height relative to competing vegetation within a 1 m radius of their tree trunk of 125% for the ESSF, IDF, MS, MH, PP and BG biogeoclimatic zones, and 150% for the CDF, CWH, BWBS, ICH, SBPS and SBS biogeoclimatic zones.

(2) An exempted person must establish a free growing stand on the net opening to be reforested in the person's exempted area if the opening is larger than 1 hectare.

(3) When establishing a free growing stand under subsection (2), the exempted person must establish a stand, within 7 years from the commencement date for the opening, that meets the minimum number of healthy well spaced trees of the acceptable species per hectare as determined in accordance with

Schedule A.

(4) When establishing a free growing stand under subsection (2), the exempted person must establish the free growing stand, within 15 years, that meets the minimum number of healthy well spaced trees of the acceptable species per hectare, as determined in accordance with

Schedule A.

(5) Sections 8, 11 (1), 13 (1), and (3) to (9), 28 (1) (b), (

c) and (d), of the Silviculture Practices Regulation apply to an exempted person who is required to establish a free growing stand in an opening, as if the opening were an area to be reforested under a silviculture prescription.

(6) The exempted person must carry out a survey within 7 years from the commencement date, containing sufficient information to enable the district manager to determine if the stand meets the requirements of subsection (3).

(7) The exempted person must carry out a survey within 15 years from the commencement date, containing sufficient information to enable the district manager to determine if the stand meets the requirements of subsection (4).

(8) On or before May 31 in each year, the exempted person must submit to the district manager a report in the form of a map for each area subject to an exemption under

section 4 (1) that has been harvested in the previous year, containing all of the following information:

(

a) the area and location of openings that have been harvested and are less than a hectare;

(

b) the area, location and shape of openings that have been harvested and are larger than a hectare;

(

c) the location of roads and access trails;

(

d) mappable reserves, including wildlife tree patches and riparian reserve zones.

Offence

8 A person who contravenes

section 7 (2) commits an offence and, on conviction, is liable to a fine not exceeding $100 000, or to imprisonment for not more than one year, or to both.

Schedule 2

Section 18 of the Operational Planning Regulation, B.C. Reg. 107/98, is amended by adding the following subsections:

(3) A person is not required to include the information specified in subsection (1) for an area that is subject to an exemption under

section 4 (1) of the Bark Beetle Regulation unless the district manager, by written notice, requires some or all of that information, in which case the person must comply with the requirements of that notice.

(4) For an area referred to in subsection (3), a person must ensure that a forest development plan includes all of the following:

(

a) measures that will be taken to control bark beetles;

(

b) a map showing areas within which roads may be constructed;

(

c) the general objectives respecting the target levels of retention, including volume and piece size for coarse woody debris and wildlife trees;

(

d) the general objectives for riparian management zones, including the range of basal area retention by riparian class;

(

e) the known objectives for known ungulate winter range;

(

f) for community watersheds, the known water quality objectives;

(

g) the site condition that must exist, if any, after a harvest or site treatment to accommodate forest resources, and resource features;

(

h) actions, if any, that are necessary to adequately manage and conserve archaeological sites.

Schedule 3

Section 1 (2) of the Silviculture Practices Regulation, B.C. Reg. 108/98, is amended, in the definition of "silviculture treatment" by striking out "or" at the end of paragraph (b), by adding "or" at the end of paragraph (c), and adding the following paragraph:

(

d) carried out under an exemption from a silviculture prescription made under the Bark Beetle Regulation.

Schedule 4

1 The

Schedule to the Administrative Remedies Regulation, B.C. Reg. 182/98, is amended by adding the following:

Bark Beetle Regulation

(1) Exceeding 10% soil disturbance limit

100 000

(3) Exceeding specified soil disturbance limit

100 000

5 (4) (

b) Failure to carry out site rehabilitation

50 000

(2) Failure to carry out measures on access trail

10 000

(2) Failure to establish free growing stand as required

100 000

(6) Failure to carry out 7 year survey

2 000

(7) Failure to carry out 15 year survey

2 000

(8) Failure to submit report as required

1 000

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