BC Government Delays BC Hydro's Long Term Forecast
[On November 2nd] the BC Government announced that it has once again delayed the delivery of BC Hydro's Integrated Resource Plan to Cabinet until August 3, 2013 due to uncertainty of the electricity requirements for the prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects to be located in northern British Columbia. The announcement stated that Government, BC Hydro and LNG proponents are currently negotiating electricity-supply agreements. The good news for the IPP sector is that the use of electricity is under serious consideration.

The potential size of the LNG load is extraordinarily large. Yet the current electricity service to the region is insufficient to meet the potential demand. View the full article posted by Warren G. Brazier with Clark Wilson LLP.

AMEBC Releases BC Budget Consultations Paper
The Association for Mineral Exploration BC (AME BC) is pleased to provide the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services with pre-budget 2013 recommendations. View the AME BC paper.

Beyond the Beetle: An Action Plan for Healthy Forests
(by Steve Thomson, Minister of FLNRO)
With the release of Beyond the Beetle: A Mid-Term Timber Supply Action Plan, we have outlined a clear strategy to help our forests recover from the damage done by the mountain pine beetle infestation.

Unfortunately, the release of the action plan has led to the spread of misinformation and it's important for your readers to know the facts.

Government is not advocating logging in reserves. Reserves have been set up to manage crucial wildlife habitat, biodiversity, viewscapes and old growth forests. Those reserves are important and need to be kept.

If a community believes the reserves no longer serve these purposes, they can initiate a discussion with government. Only then would government consider altering any of those designations. Along with having community support, any proposed changes must be ecologically sound and supported by science. Any such proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Managing our forests is a complex issue, but the outcome we all want is simple: an industry that continues to support workers and communities. In coming up with this plan, we're building on the $884 million we have spent since 2001 fighting the infestation and its environmental and economic impacts. Read the full editorial.

West Coast Ocean Fertilization Project Defended
Dumping iron dust off BC coast violated no laws or treaties, leaders say
The leaders of a controversial ocean fertilization project off the west coast of British Columbia say they have not violated any Canadian or international laws.

In July, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation (HSRC), in conjunction with American businessman Russ George, dumped about 100 tonnes of iron dust into the Pacific Ocean.

The move, which was intended to stimulate plankton growth and help revive salmon populations, has been widely criticized by scientists as reckless and lacking scientific support. View the CBC article.

Salmon Inquiry Commissioner Critical of Fisheries Act Changes
The Cohen commission recommendations, which call for greater protection for sockeye salmon and their habitat, run headlong into federal government measures to water down environmental regulations and cut staff.

Former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen took aim at the federal government Wednesday in his much-anticipated report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye. He said he was "troubled" by recent amendments to the environmental process and the Fisheries Act by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

"Many experts have emphasized the importance of protecting fish habitat, promoting biodiversity and adopting ecosystem-based management practices," said Cohen. "However, the recent amendments to the Fisheries Act appear to be taking (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) in a very different direction."

Cohen said he was disappointed the federal government didn't wait to introduce the changes in Bill C-38 until after the inquiry was complete. Read the Vancouver Sun article.

Amendment Declares Resource Roads are not Workplaces
On October 15, 2012, Pat Bell, Minister Responsible for Labour signed Order in Council 692, approving changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 296/97. The amendment reads:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), in this Regulation, "workplace" does not include a resource road.
(3) A portion of a resource road is a workplace during any period within which it is being built, maintained, repaired, rehabilitated, stabilized, upgraded removed, or deactivated.
(4) Although a resource road does not constitute a workplace for the purposes of this Regulation, other than in one of the limited circumstances referred to in subsection (3), a reference to a workplace in this Regulation continues to include a thing or place that constitutes a workplace even though that thing, or an activity or the result of an activity initiated or carried out at that place, is in whole or in part on a resource road.

The amendment also provided the following definition:

"resource road" means a road or portion of a road on Crown land, and includes a bridge, culvert, ford or other structure or work associated with the road, but does not include a highway within the meaning of the Transportation Act.

Read the full article posted in Rumblings – Forestry TruckSafe, BC Forest Safety Council.