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Vol: II – Issue: I January 30, 2009

[ Previous Forestry Law Reporters ]

Year End Amendments — 2008

GENERALLY

At the end of 2008 the Government passed a dozen or so Orders in Council (OICs) that brought into force numerous amendments to BC’s forestry legislation. While many of the amendments are of the “house-keeping” variety, this edition of The Forestry Law Reporter will review those amendments that may have some significance to the BC forest industry.

BC Timber Sales

The centerpiece of the December 2008 OICs is the Government’s decision to repeal and replace the former BC Timber Sales Regulation, BC Reg. 265/88 with the new BC Timber Sales Regulation, BC Reg. 381/2008. In broad terms, the new regulation performs two tasks: (1) it tidies-up the clutter from the many amendments made to the former regulation over the years; and (2) it combines the content of the former regulation with those provisions of the Advertising, Deposits, Disposition and Extensions Regulation, BC Reg. 55/2006 applicable to BC Timber Sales into a single, stand-alone regulation. The latter task also produced many amendments to the Advertising, Deposits, Disposition and Extension Regulation.

Aside from the foregoing reorganization, there are also a few substantive changes in the new BC Timber Sales Regulation:

the qualifications for Category 1 registration are amended to eliminate any need for logging experience or ownership of a timber processing facility;
the transfer of registration is now entirely prohibited, including the family transfer formerly available for Category 2 registration;
registrants now have a positive duty, under compulsion of registration cancellation, to update registration application information that becomes inaccurate;
the two year registration term is eliminated and replaced with continuing registration that will only expire if a registrant does not apply for a timber sale within a five year period;
upon application of a registrant within a particular category of registration, the timber sales manager must cancel the person’s registration in that category.

Miscellaneous Amendments of Note

Other features of the December 2008 OICs include:

The Forest Practices Board Regulation BC Reg 15/2004 was amended to authorize the Board to undertake audits and complaint investigations in respect of compliance with, and Government enforcement of, the Wildfire Act.
Various provisions of the Forest and Range Statutes Amendment Act, 2008, (2008 Bill 8) were brought into force, including an amendment to the Forest and Range Practices Act that will allow amendments to the stocking standards specified in an expired forest stewardship plan.
The Scaling Regulation BC Reg 446/94 was amended to increase the prescribed time to deliver a scale return from 7 to 14 days, and also to increase the penalty for late delivery. The specifications for a “Premium Sawlog, Grade Code 1” in the in the Schedule of Interior Timber Grades were also amended.
Minor amendments were made to the marking procedures required under the Timber Marking and Transportation Regulation BC Reg 253/97.
The Woodlot Licence Regulation BC Reg 68/2006 was amended to include procedures that allow for the surrender of a woodlot licence.
The Cut Control Regulation BC Reg 578/2004 was amended to change the prescribed penalty for excess harvesting under short term licenses, forestry licenses to cut, and community salvage licenses. First, the over cut threshold between the lower and higher penalty was raised from 10% to 15%. Second, both the lower and higher penalties are now set at stumpage unless stumpage is greater than $4.00 per cubic metre. If so, the penalty for an over cut under the 15% threshold becomes $4.00 per cubic metre. Finally, the rules that govern the attribution of cut between forest tenures under the Cut Control Regulation were amended so that the District Manager or Regional Manager may no longer consider whether an attribution is in “the public interest”.

LOOKING AHEAD

While the headline-grabber from this year’s Truck Loggers Association Annual Convention was the Premier’s announcement of Government’s intention to reduce coastal stumpage rates, the Premier also announced changes to the Woodworker Lien Act. Specifically, the Government intends to introduce amendments that will allow “contractors” to lien harvested timber. While the details of this proposal are still sketchy, this could result in a major expansion of the Woodworker Lien Act. Currently, the Act is only available to individual “wood workers”—it does not serve large, corporate logging contractors. This restriction has historically limited the practical utility of the Act. However, if the Act is expanded so that it is also available to large, corporate logging contractors, then the woodworkers’ lien is likely to become a more powerful and useful remedy.

DISCLAIMER: This report provides general commentary only, and does not constitute legal advice. Persons requiring further information or advice with respect to their specific circumstances should consult with a lawyer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of Quickscribe Services Ltd., are only intended as general commentary on legislative changes applicable to the BC forest sector, and are not intended to necessarily reflect the official rationale of government or the legislature for any legislative change.

The content of this document is intended for client use only. Redistribution to anyone other than Quickscribe clients (without the prior written consent of Quickscribe and Westhaven Forestry Law) is strictly prohibited.

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