Mines Act Amendment
The government's recently introduced Bill 17, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, proposes to amend the Mines Act by giving the Lieutenant Governor in Council the authority to prescribe fees and charges through regulation for services provided and duties performed under the Mines Act. The amendment also intended to ensure that fees are paid prior to the issuance of a permit or permit revision. The primary purpose of this amendment is to facilitate the introduction of fees for Mines Act permits to maintain timely and efficient service.

BC Fracking Challenged by Environmental Groups
in Court – Water Act
A coalition of environmental groups will be in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver [March 17] arguing against the use of river and lake water for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas.

Ecojustice first filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and the Sierra Club of BC against BC's Oil and Gas Commission and energy company Encana Corp last November.

The groups claim the commission and Encana, are in violation of the province's century-year-old Water Act because of the repeated use of short-term permits allowing millions of litres of fresh water to be drained from lakes, streams and rivers and mixed with chemicals and sand and injected under high pressure into the ground to release natural gas.

Morgan Blakley, a lawyer who represents the coalition, says his clients believe repeatedly granting short-term water withdrawal permits to the same company for the same reason is illegal. View the article on CBC News website.

Federal Government Announces Approval of
Four Long-term LNG Export Licences
On March 26, 2014, the Government of Canada approved four long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licences for Pacific NorthWest LNG, Prince Rupert LNG, WCC LNG and Woodfibre LNG. The four export licences authorize the export of a total of up to 73.38 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG.

This approval by the Government of Canada is the last step in the approval process for the issuance of a LNG export licence. While obtaining a long-term National Energy Board (NEB) export licence is one key step in the approval process for these LNG projects, additional permits and approvals are still required. The outstanding project approvals will focus on facility and construction approvals and environmental assessments from provincial and federal regulators, including upstream approvals for pipelines. Read the full article by Gordon Nettleton and Kimberly Howard of McCarthy Tetrault. 

Administrative Remedies in the BC Forest Industry:
Where Are We 20 Years after the Forest Practices Code
The Ministry of Forests, Range and Natural Resource Operations (the "Ministry") enforces numerous environmental and financial obligations imposed upon the holders of Crown forestry tenures in BC. With the enactment of the former Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act (the "Code") some 20 years ago, the Ministry began to acquire what has become a surprising array of administrative remedies to enforce compliance with these obligations. These remedies enable the Ministry to pursue compliance and enforcement action against those in the BC forest industry without the need to first resort to the courts – what was then a novel concept.

While the possibility of a traditional prosecution or civil law suit before a judge still remains, it has become more theoretical than real. The Ministry no longer needs to persuade the Ministry of Attorney General that evidence exists to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that someone committed an environmental offence, or that an alleged contravention is otherwise of sufficient importance to warrant a prosecution. The Ministry can simply act on its own and exercise any of a number of administrative remedies. And once the Ministry does act, the onus is placed on the person subject to the Ministry's authority to take positive steps to ensure the Ministry has exercised its authority appropriately. Read the Forestry Law Bulletin published by Davis LLP.  

DFO "Fudging the Numbers," Court Finds;
Bars Commercial Fishery Off Vancouver Island
An unprecedented court injunction has barred the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from opening a commercial fishery off Vancouver Island after a judge concluded DFO was "fudging the numbers" and that the federal minister declared it open against her own bureaucrats' advice.

The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, whose herring-roe fishery has been closed since 2006, went to court last month seeking the injunction.

The ruling has prompted the Haida First Nation to threaten similar court action. And the central coast First Nations say they'll do whatever it takes to protect their fisheries. The First Nations say the fisheries should not be opened because they have not recovered enough to allow harvesting safely. Read the Globe and Mail article. 

Haida Nation to Enforce Forestry Laws
in Tandem with BC Government
The provincial government is giving a first nation a direct role in enforcing environmental laws on Haida Gwaii.

Under a new program that is being tried for the first time in British Columbia, the law-enforcement arms of the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Environment will be run jointly by the province and the Haida Nation.

The approach calls for the Council of the Haida Nation to fund and appoint a conservation officer who will join a small provincial team that is already in place on the remote archipelago off BC's north coast.

"What we'll see is more day-to-day involvement by the Haida in compliance and enforcement activities," said Gordon Hitchcock, an inspector with the Conservation Officer Service. Read the full article in the Globe And Mail. 

Water Use in BC: BC Tables Long-Awaited
Water Sustainability Act
On March 11, 2014 the BC government introduced a first reading of the Water Sustainability Act, Bill 18, the culmination of a 4-year initiative to modernize the 100-year old Water Act. Followers of this blog or BC water issues will know that the government released a comprehensive "proposal" regarding the new statute in the fall of 2013 (see previous blog post here). The Water Sustainability Act is no less comprehensive – more than 150 pages long, with 15 pages of definitions alone. Given its knee-buckling scope, this blog focusses on the new statute in comparison to the fall 2013 legislative proposal, with a more fulsome comparison to the current Water Act to follow when the Water Sustainability Act becomes law.

In general, the Water Sustainability Act repeals most of the 1909 Water Act; re-enacts the Water Act's regulatory scheme for the diversion and use of stream water; extends that regulatory scheme to groundwater; authorizes the establishment of "water objectives" and their consideration in water-use decision-making; requires the consideration of "environmental flow needs" of streams in issuing licenses; moves certain Fish Protection Act provisions to the new statute; establishes new powers to modify existing precedence of water use to protect streams, aquifers and essential domestic uses of water; and establishes an administrative penalty scheme. Read the full article by Jeff Christian of Lawson Lundell LLP.

Environmental Appeal Board Decisions
There was one Environmental Appeal Board decision released in the month of March.

• Halme's Auto Service Ltd.; Petro Canada Limited, now known as Suncor Energy Inc. v. Regional Waste Manager, Waste Management Act [Final Decision – 1998-WAS-018 Dismissed; 1998-WAS-031 Allowed]