Forest and Environment News:

Legislation Changes – Effective March 31, 2005:

• the Range Act [RSBC 1996] c. 396 was repealed and replaced by the Range Act [SBC 2004] c. 71. To access the old Range Act, please refer to the “Repealed” folder in your “Archives” section
• the Wildfire Act [SBC 2004] c. 31 and Wildfire Regulation 38/2005 came into force
• the Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Regulation 169/95 was repealed
• the Streamside Protection Regulation 10/2001 was repealed
• the Riparian Areas Regulation 376/2004 came into force

Forest Practices Code (Pre-January 31) – Clients may be happy to know that we are in the process of converting the pre-January 31, 2004 version of the BC Forest Practices Code (currently in PDF format) into a fully searchable database format. You can expect to see this completed within the next few weeks.

Mountain Pine Beetles in BC – The Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan for 2005-2010 is now available. It guides and sets out the next steps to be taken – both immediate and five-year – for mitigating beetle impacts to forest values, communities and the provincial economy.

Labour and Company News:

Corporate Online – A new release of Corporate Online was implemented on April 11, 2005. Occasional users can access the new Corporate Online main menu directly, while BC OnLine users will continue to access the services menu from their BC OnLine logged in session.

Local Government News:

Agreement Signed On New Deal For Cities And Communities – Prime Minister Paul Martin, Premier Gordon Campbell and Aaron Dinwoodie, President of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), recently signed an agreement on federal gas tax investments in B.C.’s cities and communities. The agreement addresses issues related to how the gas tax funds will be used in B.C. to support environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure.

See also the recent Tax Rates on Motor Fuels Bulletin.

Land Title & Survey Authority Fee Structure – The Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia is an independent, not-for-profit corporation which has responsibility for B.C.'s Land Title Division, Surveyor General Division and Corporate Services Division. As such, their fee structure is different from that listed in the legislation. A link to the Land Title & Survey Authority Fee Structure is provided for your convenience.

Motor Vehicle News:

Federal Gas Taxes – Prime Minister Paul Martin, Premier Gordon Campbell and Aaron Dinwoodie, President of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), recently signed an agreement on federal gas tax investments in B.C.’s cities and communities. The agreement addresses issues related to how the gas tax funds will be used in B.C. to support environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure.

See also the recent Tax Rates on Motor Fuels Bulletin.