ENVIROFOR REPORTER

ENERGY AND MINES NEWS
B.C. to continue 'fracking' for gas, despite bans elsewhere British Columbia has no worries about the controversial use of hydraulic fracturing in natural gas production, even though other governments have recently instituted moratoriums on the process, says Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman. Quebec has halted the use of so-called "fracking" technology, which involves pumping large volumes of water, sand and chemicals into shale gas deposits to fracture the rock and force the gas into collection pipes. A number of jurisdictions have worried that the method may lead to the contamination of groundwater supplies and there have been periodic complaints from neighbours, including allegations of gas seeping from domestic water taps. But Coleman said B.C. gas extraction companies have been using fracking for many years without problems and have to meet what he termed "the world's most stringent environmental regulations." See the full story as posted by the Vancouver Sun.
ENERGY AND MINES
Act or Regulation Affected	Effective Date	Amendment Information
Gas Utility Act	Apr. 1/11	by 2007 Bill 41, c. 36, s. 65.1 only Final Agreement Consequential Amendments Act, 2007 (Reg 51/2011); as enacted by 2007 Bill 45, c. 43, s. 22 only Maa-Nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act
FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Log Shortage Halts Work For Many In British Columbia Arnold Bercov, president of the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada Local 8, is very concerned that shipping raw logs out of British Columbia is coming at a cost to many local mills. Bercov said he was informed by Western Forest Products that their Ladysmith mill is one of several mills on Vancouver Island that will be down for at least a week due to low inventories of logs. Meanwhile, Island Timberlands, next door to the Ladysmith mill, is busy loading raw logs onto ships. Those logs will be processed at a mill overseas, rather than at home in British Columbia. See the full story as posted by ForestTalk.com. Implementation of Federal Environmental Enforcement Act Begins Implementation of the federal Environmental Enforcement Act(the "EEA"), first passed in June 2009, has recently begun. The EEA amends the enforcement and penalty regimes of nine federal environmental acts by introducing stiffer fines, new sentencing powers and considerations, and measures aimed at strengthening the government's ability to investigate and prosecute violations. The EEA is also intended, in part, to make the environmental enforcement regimes more consistent across all federal legislation, particularly on the matter of director and officer liability. Specifically, the EEA increases maximum fine amounts and establishes minimum fines for certain offences, establishes the liability of corporate directors and officers, and provides sentencing guidance for courts by establishing principles and purposes of sentencing and by identifying relevant factors, such as prior convictions, that should be taken into account when determining sentence. The EEA also directs fines to the Environmental Damages Fund which funds community organizations in environmental restoration and research projects. See the full article as posted by Davis LLP.
FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENT
Act or Regulation Affected	Effective Date	Amendment Information
Designation and Exemption Regulation (168/90)	Apr. 1/11	by Reg 56/2011
Forest Act	Apr. 1/11	by 2007 Bill 41, c. 36, ss. 64.1 and 64.2 only (Reg 51/2011) only Final Agreement Consequential Amendments Act, 2007; as enacted by 2007 Bill 45, c. 43, s. 21 only Maa-Nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act and 2008 Bill 8, c. 4, s. 4 only (Reg 51/2011) Forests and Range Statutes Amendment Act, 2008
Protected Areas of British Columbia Act	Apr. 1/11	by 2007 Bill 41, c. 36, s. 155.1 only Final Agreement Consequential Amendments Act, 2007 (Reg 51/2011); as enacted by 2007 Bill 45, c. 43, s. 28 only Maa-Nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act; as amended by 2009 Bill 10, c. 19, s. 7 only Protected Areas of British Columbia Amendment Act, 2009; as amended by 2010 Bill 20, c. 21, s. 6 to 8 only Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 3), 2010.
Water Act	Apr. 1/11	by 2007 Bill 41, c. 36, ss. 178.4 only (Reg 51/2011) only Final Agreement Consequential Amendments Act, 2007; as enacted by 2007 Bill 45, c. 43, s. 29 only Maa-Nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act
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Vol: IV – Issue: III – March 2011

ENVIROFOR NEWS: MLAs return to Legislature on April 27 Politicians will return to work at the B.C. legislature from April 27 to June 2, the government just announced. The legislature will reconvene at 1: 30 p.m., continuing a session it adjourned Feb. 17 in advance of the Liberal party's leadership vote, which crowned Christy Clark as premier. Clark has indicated that MLAs will continue to debate former finance minister Colin Hansen's so-called "status quo" budget and she does not plan to draft her own budget until at least after the HST referendum in the summer. See the full story as posted by the Times Colonist. June 24th Early Vote on HST to be held between June 13 and July 22 – Results expected in August British Columbians will have an earlier vote on the HST than previously scheduled and it will be conducted under the authority of the Referendum Act, Attorney General Barry Penner announced. The Referendum Act ensures a simple majority vote will determine the outcome of the referendum. Further details on the referendum will be finalized by an order-in-council, but the government is working toward a date of June 24. See the news release. The vote will include the following: Referendum question – No change. The referendum question will be exactly the same as drafted by the acting chief electoral officer: "Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) and reinstating the PST (Provincial Sales Tax) in conjunction with the GST (Goods and Services Tax)? Yes/No." Voting process – Mail-in ballot. Moving to a mail-in ballot is expected to save taxpayers $18 million and address potential voter fatigue. It will be undertaken by Elections BC in a neutral fashion. More HST referendum vote details confirmed The process by which British Columbians will cast their ballot was also announced. Ballots will start to be mailed out June 13 and must be returned by Friday, July 22 at 4:30 p.m. It will take several weeks for Elections BC to count the ballots, so results are not expected until August. See the news release. For more information on the HST, visit: Your Questions About the HST in B.C. BC Legislative Digest – Sneak Peek As you are aware by now, we have been working on a project that we believe will revolutionize the way you track and research legislative changes. We continue to take advantage of the lack of legislative activity at the moment to further refine your new site. In the meantime, we want to share with you some screen shots of how some of these new features/services will look. Keep in mind some of the details and text displayed in these samples will likely change before we go live but we felt it important to give you a sneak peak on where we are headed. See the BC Legislative Digest. Tip: Log in to EnviroFor Online prior to clicking Reporter links

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