Federal Court of Appeal Lifts Injunction on
Alberta's "Turn Off the Taps" Legislation
On April 26, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal (the FCA) in Alberta (Attorney General) v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2021 FCA 84 overturned the injunction granted by the Federal Court of Canada (the FC), in favour of British Columbia (BC), against Alberta's Preserving Canada's Economic Prosperity Act, SA 2018, c P-21.5 (the Act). The Act empowers Alberta to establish a licencing regime that permits Alberta to restrict exports of natural gas, crude oil, and refined fuels from the province. The FCA determined that BC's application, which also sought a declaration that the Act was unconstitutional, was premature as Alberta had not yet implemented an operational regulatory regime that would actually limit exports of natural gas, crude oil, or refined fuels to BC. Overturning the FC decision and lifting the injunction placed on the Act represent a small victory for Alberta. However, contrary to some media coverage, the FCA did not uphold or otherwise make a declaration on the constitutional validity of the Act. Rather, the FCA merely lifted the injunction placed on the Act by the FC, while holding that it would be premature to render a declaration on the Act's constitutionality in the absence of its operational provisions. Red the full article by Michael A Marion and Brett Carlson with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Are Electric Vehicle Charging Services Regulated "Suppliers" of
Electricity? Provincial Energy Regulators Are Saying No
Canadian electric vehicle (EV) sales have accelerated over the past decade, with no signs of slowing down. Between 2011 and 2020, the total number of EVs sold in Canada skyrocketed from 460 up to over 53,000 per year. With nearly 200,000 EV motors now whirring along Canada's roads, more and more EV charging stations have sprung up to power them. As of March, 2021, Canada has 6,029 EV charging stations, and counting – a year over year increase of 15%. When EV drivers go to the "pump", they don't fill a tank by the litre. They fill a battery by the kilowatt (kW) – a fact which has raised novel legal questions for EV charging suppliers and electricity regulators across Canada. The sale or supply of electricity in all jurisdictions is legislatively confined to authorized electrical utilities, who are typically subject to careful regulatory oversight and price control. The owners and operators of EV charging facilities tend not to be authorized utilities, yet facilitate the delivery of electricity to their customers for compensation, a set of circumstances generally attracting regulatory prohibition or regulatory oversight. Read the full article by Chris Hummel and Ian A. Mondrow with Gowling WLG. 

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

• INDB 2021-17 – New Landslide Susceptibility Map for Oil and Gas Industry Working in NEBC
• INDB 2021-18 – Amendment Application Submission Requirements
• INDB 2021-19 – Updates to Area-Based Analysis

New Forest Policy to Redistribute Forest Tenures to
Small Operators and Indigenous Communities
The BC government has announced significant changes to forest policy, outlined in a new intentions paper. The proposed changes include what it calls a compensatory framework to redistribute forest tenures to Indigenous Nations, forest communities and small operators. The new policy will also provide for more government control over management of the sector. The goal will be to increase forest tenure held by Indigenous Peoples in BC from 10% to 20%. Other proposed changes will provide for increased access to wood fibre for value-added domestic manufacturers and an audit process of the fee-in-lieu it charges companies when unprocessed logs are exported out of BC. New legislation reflecting these new policies is expected to be introduced in the fall. A summary presentation of government's intentions paper is available here: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Modernize_Forest_Policy_Presentation.pdf.

U.S. Move to Double Tariffs on Canadian Softwood Lumber
Is "Egregious", Says BC Lumber Trade Council
The president of the BC Lumber Trade Council says a move by the United States to double tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber is "particularly egregious" given current record high lumber prices. Susan Yurkovich says the dramatic increase in the "all others" preliminary countervailing and anti-dumping rate to 18.32 per cent from 8.99 per cent will hurt American consumers who are faced with a market where prices are at record heights because supply can't keep up with demand. Read the Global News article.

Investigation Finds Old Growth, Biodiversity at 
Risk near Port Alberni – FPB
An investigation of a complaint about BC Timber Sales' (BCTS) logging of large old growth trees in the Nahmint River Watershed has found that BCTS's forest stewardship plan (FSP) is not consistent with the Vancouver Island Higher Level Plan Order and does not adequately protect old forest and biodiversity values in some ecosystems. Read the Forest Practices Board news release.

Environmental Appeal Board Decisions
The following Environmental Appeal Board decisions were made recently:

Environmental Management Act

• Christine McLean v. Director, Environmental Management Act [Preliminary Issue of Jurisdiction – Appeal Dismissed]

Integrated Pest Management Act

• Robert Todd Lang v. Administrator, Integrated Pest Management Act [Consent Order – Penalty Confirmed]

Water Sustainability Act

New Public Health Orders
The Public Health Office (PHO) recently issued the following orders & Guidelines:

Orders:

• Gatherings and Events – May 28, 2021 (PDF, 425KB)
  • Variance: Indoor Worship Services – May 26, 2021 (PDF, 191KB)
  • Variance: Outdoor Worship Services – May 26, 2021 (PDF, 226KB)
  • Indoor Exercise Requirements – May 27, 2021 (PDF, 462KB)
  • Extension of the Variance Suspension: Indoor Worship Services on Four Days – April 19, 2021 (PDF, 208KB)
  • Read related Public Heath guidance
• Food and Liquor Serving Premises – May 24, 2021 (PDF, 339KB)
  • Read related Public Heath guidance
• Long-Term Care Facility Staff Assignment – April 15, 2020 (PDF, 274KB)
  • Variance of the Facility Staff Assignment Order – May 16, 2021 (PDF, 256KB)
  • Amendment: Deployment and redeployment of staff - October 26, 2020 (PDF, 444KB)
• Industrial Camps – May 12, 2021 (PDF, 394KB)
  • Delegation: Industrial Camps – June 9, 2020 (PDF, 216KB)
• Workplace and Post-Secondary Institution Safety – May 2, 2021 (PDF, 339KB)
• Advanced Care Paramedic and Critical Care Paramedic SARS-CoV-2 Swabbing – May 2, 2021 (PDF, 222KB)

Public Health Guidance:

• Guidance for Holding Low Risk Worship Services – May 26, 2021 (PDF, 384KB)
• Guidance for Outdoor Assemblies, Rallies, and Protests – May 17, 2021 (PDF, 370KB)

Visit the PHO website to view these and other related orders and notices.

2021 New or Revised ACGIH Threshold Limit
Values and BC Exposure Limits
The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation provides that, except as otherwise determined by WorkSafeBC, an employer must ensure no worker is exposed to a substance exceeding the Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) prescribed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Each year, the ACGIH publishes a list of substances for which they have set new or revised TLVs. When the new or revised TLVs for substances are adopted, these TLVs are referred to as BC Exposure Limits (ELs). An EL is the maximum allowed airborne concentration for a chemical substance for which it is believed that nearly all workers may be exposed over a working lifetime and experience no adverse health effects. ELs may be set out as an 8-hour time-weighted average concentration, a 15-minute short-term exposure limit, or a ceiling limit. Read the full WorkSafe news release.

OHS Policies/Guidelines – Updates
WorkSafeBC recently issued the following OHS Updates:

OHS Guidelines – Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

The following guidelines were retired:

• Part 8 Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment
  • G8.21 Leg protection (retired)
• Part 29 Aircraft Operations
  • G29.12 Unstable materials (retired)

Editorial revisions were made to the following guidelines:

• Part 3 Rights and Responsibilities
  • G3.16(1.1) Basic requirements to meet schedule 3-A
• Part 26 Forestry Operations and Similar Activities
  • G26.21-26.22 Faller training - Application
  • G26.28 Summoning qualified assistance
  • G26.65(1) Certified welding inspector

Check the WorkSafe BC Updates page to explore these and other important OHS updates.