Copper Mountain signs impact benefit agreement
with Upper Similkameen Indian Band
Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (the "Company") announces that the Upper Similkameen Indian Band and the Company have concluded a mutually beneficial Impact Benefits Agreement for the development of the Copper Mountain Project located 20 km south of the town of Princeton in southern British Columbia. See the full article as published by MABC.

Contaminated Sites Update: Requisite forms for notification
of independent remediation & offsite migration
The BC Ministry of Environment recently issued Protocol 17, which will come into force on September 1, 2010. Protocol 17 standardizes the content and format of the forms to be used when reporting: 1. independent remediation; and 2. actual or likely offsite migration. The protocol states that anyone who undertakes independent remediation of contaminated land must notify the Director of Waste Management at the Ministry of Environment in writing prior to initiating remediation and within 90 days of completing it. See the full article written by Lindsay Johnston and Richard Bereti of Harper Grey LLP's Environmental Law Practice Group.

Updated procedures for meeting legal obligations
when consulting First Nations released
The Ministry of Aboriginal Relations & Reconciliation (MARR) has released updated provincial procedures for consultation. MARR released the update to First Nations on July 22; all provincial staff responsible for Aboriginal consultation have received training. See the full article as published by the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

$53 million for July natural gas and petroleum sale
The July 2010 natural gas and petroleum sale resulted in over $53 million in bonus bids, bringing the calendar year-to-date total to over $662 million and exceeding expectations for this month's sale. The July 21 sale offered 37 parcels in northeast B.C., covering 38,608 hectares, and sold 31 parcels covering 36,413 hectares. The average price per hectare for this sale is approximately $1,462. See the news release.

B.C. will hit industrial emitters from two directions –
But a government official says cap-and-trade program,
carbon tax will be mutually exclusive
British Columbia industries will face two sets of environmental regulations for their greenhouse gas emissions. At a recent conference call by the Environment Ministry's Climate Action Secretariat, a government official said B.C.'s major industries will still pay carbon taxes after the 2012 introduction of a cap-and-trade program regulating their smokestack emissions. Cap-and-trade regulations will apply to emissions from stationary assets such as smelters and gas processing plants, while the carbon tax would apply to transportation fuel such as diesel for large mining trucks. See the full story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

BC forest sector jobs increase in 2010
Jobs in B.C.'s forest sector seemed to hit bottom last year, but the numbers have been climbing, slowly. Here are some forestry job stats from British Columbia: 2005 - 79,700; 2006 - 81,617; 2007 - 84,275; 2008 - 64,917; 2009 - 51,958; 2010 (Jan to May) – 55,200. See the full story as reported by the Globe & Mail.

Government of Canada launches investments
in forest industry transformation program
The Government of Canada recently launched a $100-million program to help expand opportunities for Canada's forestry sector through the development of innovative projects and technologies. The purpose of the IFIT program is to demonstrate and deploy new and advanced technologies in the forest sector through investments in innovative processes. See the full story as reported by marketwire.

Group fears new sewer laws may poison water
New provincial rules no longer require people to hire a licensed professional to install their septic tank, and that will inevitably end up poisoning groundwater supplies. So say B.C.'s septic-tank installers, who call the move a bunch of crap. "People are going to cut corners to save money when they install their septic tanks themselves," says licensed installer Greg Philip. "Homeowners are going to install systems incorrectly and poison the groundwater." See the full story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

What will be the consequences of a gutted Forest Service in BC?
A recent article published in Focus Online by Briony Penn explores how the impact of recent cuts and government ideologies could lead to more privitization. The combination of a gutted Forest Service, vast areas of not sufficiently restocked forest lands, a quirky loophole in the Kyoto Protocol and a provincial government ideologically driven to sell off public assets has created the perfect opportunity for forest industrialists to burn down the last barriers to privatization of BC's Crown forests. See the full article.

The Strategy for China
The province's foresters are gambling that new demand generated by China's rapidly expanding economy can wrench towns like Mackenzie out of the worst slump in their history. See the full story as reported by the Globe & Mail.

Contaminated Sites Update: Requisite forms for notification
of independent remediation & offsite migration
The BC Ministry of Environment recently issued Protocol 17, which will come into force on September 1, 2010. Protocol 17 standardizes the content and format of the forms to be used when reporting: 1. independent remediation; and 2.actual or likely offsite migration. The protocol states that anyone who undertakes independent remediation of contaminated land must notify the Director of Waste Management at the Ministry of Environment in writing prior to initiating remediation and within 90 days of completing it. See the full article written by Lindsay Johnston and Richard Bereti of Harper Grey LLP's Environmental Law Practice Group.

Webinar offered for Ministry of Forest & Range Staff:
Ministry of Forest & Range staff are encouraged to take advantage of an upcoming webinar training session on EnviroFor this September. This short, 25-minute session will provide valuable tips and tricks on using this legislation resource. To learn more or to sign up for one of the two available sessions please go to http://www.quickscribe.bc.ca/webinar.