BC Delays Carbon Tax Increase to
Help with COVID-19 Recovery
The BC government is hitting pause on a scheduled increase in the carbon tax, as residents and businesses continue to struggle financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The province announced Wednesday [September 2] that it has officially pushed back the next jump in price to April 2021, a full year after the change was supposed to happen. Until then, the carbon tax rate will remain at $40 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e.) "This change will give businesses and families more time to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, while still meeting the required federal carbon-pricing backstop rate of $50 per tCO2e by 2022," the finance ministry said in a press release. Read CBC article. 

Recent BCOGC Bulletins
The BCOGC has recently issued the following bulletins:

• INDB 2020-19 – New BC Production Data Now Available
• IB 2020-06 – Geothermal Application Process Streamlined
• IB 2020-07 – Reminder of Methane Leak Detection and Repair Requirements
• INDB 2020-20 – Oil and Gas Road Regulation Amended
• INDB 2020-21 – Fiscal 2020/2021 Orphan Site Restoration
• IB 2020-08 – Dam Emergency Response Plan Composition and Submission
• INDB 2020-22 – Process Change for Proposed Activities Located within Established s. 16/17 Land Act Dispositions
• INDB 2020-23 – Updates to Hydraulic Fracture Data Submission

1. A notice given under section 52(2) of the Public Health Act;
2. A state of emergency declared under section 9(1) of the Emergency Program Act;
3. A state of local emergency declared under section 12(1) of the Emergency Program Act; or
4. An emergency declared under section 173 of the Vancouver Charter.

For the presumption to be applicable, the worker must be working in a process or industry in the geographic area and time subject to the above where there is a risk of exposure to a source or sources of infection significantly greater than that to the public at large. Read the full article by Richard Savage with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. 

WorkSafe BC Discussion Paper: Consequential Policy Amendments to
Implement the Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2020 (Bill 23)
The Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2020 (Bill 23) received Royal Assent on August 14, 2020, immediately bringing into effect 32 legislative changes to the Workers Compensation Act (Act). To implement these changes, WorkSafeBC must amend our policies to reflect the legislation. Two changes to the Act with respect to benefits will come into effect on January 1, 2021. Consultation on these changes will take place in the fourth quarter of 2020. This current consultation is on proposed changes to policy in the Prevention Manual, Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual, Volume II, and Assessment Manual to ensure our policies are consistent with the amendments to the Act now in effect. For more information, including a link to the discussion paper, visit the WorkSafeBC website. 

New Residential Construction Safety
Guidelines in British Columbia
WorkSafeBC recently announced updates to safety protocols for residential construction work. It released a new publication - entitled Safe Work Practices for Residential Construction - as well as a Notice of Project (NOP) postcard. The aim of these measures is to improve health and safety standards and limit preventable workplace accidents in British Columbia. According to WorkSafeBC, wood-framed constructions pose significant hazards. Over 1,200 work-related injuries and deaths occurred on such projects over the past five years. Therefore, the new publication contains many safety guidelines specific to wood-framed construction. These include safety protocols related to:

• Planning
• Site preparation
• Construction
• Tool and equipment safety
• Working at high elevation

Read the full article by Overholt Law. 

Workplace Safety is a Two-way Street and Can
Warrant Employee Discipline or Discharge
An employee purposely coughing on another would result in cause for termination — and could even lead to criminal charges. September marks the opening of most remaining workplaces as well as schools across this country. With greater social contact comes greater risk of COVID-19 transmission, and the concomitant increased need for employees to follow safety rules. I have been fielding calls from employer clients since the beginning of the pandemic, explaining their obligations to keep employees safe and their corresponding rights to refuse unsafe work. But too little attention has been paid to workers' obligation to keep themselves and their coworkers safe. Read the Financial Post article by Howard Levitt.