2009 Year-End Natural Gas and
Oil Rights Sales Hit $893M
B.C.'s natural gas and oil rights sales for December generated $172.3 million in bonus natural gas bids, bringing the 2009 calendar year total to just under $893 million, making it the third-best calendar year total in history, it was recently announced. See the News Release.

New Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation
Has Come into Force
The Reporting Regulation (see B.C. Reg. 272/2009 below) is a new regulation under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Cap and Trade) Act that has come into force and will require facilities to start quantifying emissions on January 1, 2010. The regulation will require facilities in British Columbia that emit over 10,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually to report their emissions. It is expected that approximately 200 facilities will be required to report annually under this regulation. The regulation has been designed to allow for a single reporting window with Environment Canada and for reporting simplicity for industry stakeholders. The regulation sets out requirements for facilities with greenhouse gas emissions from most activities within B.C. to report greenhouse gas emissions to the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. See the COFI newsletter.

B.C. Introduces New Recycling Regulations
Antifreeze and lead-acid batteries will be required to be part of producer-led recycling programs as a result of changes to B.C.'s recycling rules, it was recently announced. The addition of lead-acid batteries and antifreeze to the recycling regulation will require producers to develop, and submit for approval, recycling programs for these products by July 2011. This is the same year manufacturers will be required to add a bittering agent to ethylene glycol antifreeze under the antifreeze regulation, which was approved earlier this year to protect pets and children from the risk of poisoning. Antifreeze containers will also be included in recycling regulations. By July 2011, people will be able to recycle antifreeze and its container as easily as oil, pesticides and paint. See the News Release.

Reinstate B.C. Green Rebates: Advisory Group
There's a call for the B.C. government to reinstate a program that encourages energy conservation by offering homeowners up to $2,000 to retrofit their homes. The Citizens' Conservation Councils on Climate Action, an advisory group created by the B.C. government, is pushing to have the rebates brought back. The LiveSmart BC program was such a hit with the public that it ran out of money in August, two years before the end of the program's anticipated three-year lifespan. See the News Story as reported by the CBC.

Pacific Carbon Trust Sees Offset
Opportunities in Forest Products
Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT) is a Crown corporation set up to deliver quality BC-based greenhouse gas offsets to help clients meet their carbon reduction goals and support growth of BC’s low-carbon economy. By 2011, PCT expects to deliver as much as 1 million tonnes in carbon offsets to its corporate and public sector clients. See the COFI newsletter.

TimberWest wins Vancouver Island tax fight
in B.C. Supreme Court
Ruling is first victory by a forest company
in revolt against municipal rates
The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a tax hike levied against TimberWest Forest last year by the municipality of Campbell River is illegal, ordering the Vancouver Island city to reconsider the levy. The TimberWest ruling marks the first victory by a forest company in the growing tax revolt against municipal tax rates that the industry claims is driving it out of business. Justice Laura Gerow ruled that Campbell River city council had used its tax bylaw as a weapon to force TimberWest to rezone some if its forest lands within the municipality to residential use. TimberWest is not the only forest company to have challenged what it considers to be unfair tax rates. Catalyst Paper, with operations in four coastal forest communities, has also gone to court in its bid to have tax rates lowered on industrial operations, but lost and has appealed to the province to step into the fight. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Municipal Taxation Bylaws Upheld in BC Supreme Court;
Catalyst Paper Will Appeal
The right of three more municipalities to tax a major industry to the hilt has been confirmed by B.C. Supreme Court. Rulings by Justice Peter Voith were released recently, dismissing almost all the points in three separate petitions where Catalyst Paper Corp. sought relief from high municipal taxes in Campbell River, Port Alberni and Powell River. Voith made a similar ruling concerning North Cowichan in October. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Cosmetic Use of Pesticides in B.C.
Public Consultation Paper
In the August 25th 2009 Speech from the Throne, the B.C. government committed to consult British Columbians on "new statutory protections to further safeguard the environment from cosmetic chemical pesticides." The Ministry of Environment has prepared background information and identified consultation issues for discussion to build understanding about the subject and provide a structure for comments and feedback. See a PDF of the Consultation Paper.