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1997 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is

for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

MR. NEUFELD

BILL M 206 – 1997

FOREST RENEWAL AMENDMENT ACT, 1997

(FOREST RENEWAL EQUITABLE REINVESTMENT)

Definitions

Section 1 of the Forest Renewal Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 160, is hereby amended by adding

the following

definitions:

"forest district" means an area that has been defined to be a forest district under the

Forest Act , R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 157;

"forestry infrastructure" means infrastructure primarily intended to facilitate the

economically and ecologically sustainable use of the province's forests;

"infrastructure" means the permanent installations and utilities necessary to permit

and to sustain activities and purposes that are either industrial, or environmental

restorative, where these purposes and activities may be either continuing or transient, and includes:

(

a) any building or underground structure, including warehousing;

(

b) any road, artery, intersection, overpass or underpass;

(

c) any bridge;

(

d) any airfield or helicopter landing area;

(

e) any river-, lake- or sea-port facility;

(

f) any dam, aquifer, irrigation or sewer system, including water purification

plants;

(

g) any electrical grid or component of an electrical grid, such as a transformer

station, and energy transmission lines;

(

h) any communications grid, broadcast, transmission or retransmission tower,

antenna or unit, whether copper-wire, fiber-optical or radio-communications based;

(

i) any waste-handling or effluent treatment system;

(

j) any silviculture-related facility;

(

k) any forest-fire control or prevention facility; and,

(

l) any fence, gate, or fencing system.

Mandate

Section 4 (3) is hereby renumbered as

section 4 (4).

Section 4 (2) is hereby renumbered as

section 4 (3).

4 The following

section is hereby added, after

section 4 (1):

4 (2)

(

a) Subject to paragraph (b), for the purposes of subsection (1), "regionally

equitable" means that, in a given fiscal year, the total expenditures made by

Forest Renewal BC in each forest district of the province must be in the

same proportion to the total expenditures made by Forest Renewal BC in

that year for the whole of the province, as the revenues raised by Forest

Renewal BC in that forest district of the province are to revenues raised by

Forest Renewal BC, in that year, in the whole of the province.

(

b) For the purposes of paragraph (a), "in the same proportion" means, "in

equal proportion," however, the equality of the two proportions may vary:

(

i) with the materiality of the accounted-for sums, in accordance with

generally accepted accounting principles, and

(ii) so that the percentage of expenditures made in each forest district of

the province (as a percentage of Forest Renewal BC's total expenditures that year) does not differ from the percentage of revenues

received from that forest district (as a percentage of Forest Renewal

BC's total revenues that year) by more than plus or minus

5 percentage points; provided that, where such a surplus or deficit

occurs in a forest district in one fiscal year, a countervailing deficit or

surplus (as the case may be) shall be planned for Forest Renewal

Fund expenditures in that forest district, for the next fiscal year.

(

c) For greater certainty, in subsection (1), "expenditures" include expenditures

on forestry infrastructure.

Financial administration

Section 10 (8) is hereby amended by replacing the period at

the end of paragraph (

b) by a comma, and adding the following paragraph:

(

c) a report showing:

(

i) the percentage of Forest Renewal BC's revenues raised that year from

each forest district of the province, as a fraction of its total revenues

for that year for the whole of the province,

(ii) the dollar amounts represented by each of the percentages reported

under subparagraph (i),

(iii) the percentage of Forest Renewal BC's expenditures made that year

in each forest district of the province, as a fraction of its total expenditures for that year for the whole of the province, and,

(iv) the dollar amounts represented by each of the percentages reported

under subparagraph (iii).

Explanatory Note

This Bill provides that in order to carry out the purposes of the Forest Renewal Act , R.S.B.C.

1996, c. 160, Forest Renewal BC must plan and implement a program of expenditures that is

" regionally equitable ," in the sense that reinvestment in each forest district of BC must be in

proportion to the fraction of its revenue that Forest Renewal BC derives from that forest district .

This Bill further provides that Forest Renewal BC may direct its expenditures in a region

towards projects that create or maintain the infrastructure necessary to forest industries.

This Bill finally provides that the proportionate percentage amounts raised as revenue by

Forest Renewal BC and spent in reinvestment by it in each forest district in every year, shall be

reported annually to the Legislative Assembly in a clear manner.

Copyright © 1997: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada