BILL 31 – 2002
ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT ACT, 2002

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 118, is amended

(a) by repealing the definition of "conservation officer" and substituting the following:

"conservation officer" means a person designated as a conservation officer under section 8.1 (3) (a) and includes the chief conservation officer, an auxiliary conservation officer and a special conservation officer; , and

(b) by adding the following definitions:

"auxiliary conservation officer" means a person designated as an auxiliary conservation officer under section 8.1 (3) (b);

"chief conservation officer" means the person appointed as chief conservation officer under section 8.1 (2) (a);

"Conservation Officer Service" means the Conservation Officer Service established under section 8.1;

"special conservation officer" means a person designated as a special conservation officer under section 8.1 (3) (c); .

2 The following sections are added:

Conservation Officer Service

8.1 (1) There is established as the enforcement program for the ministry a body of conservation officers to be known as the Conservation Officer Service.

(2) The Conservation Officer Service consists of

(a) a person employed in the ministry who is appointed by the minister as the chief conservation officer, and

(b) the persons designated under subsection (3) (a).

(3) Subject to the direction of the minister, the chief conservation officer has general supervision over the Conservation Officer Service and may do all of the following:

(a) designate persons employed in the ministry, each of whom the chief conservation officer considers suitable, as conservation officers;

(b) designate persons, or a class of persons, employed in the ministry as auxiliary conservation officers;

(c) designate persons, or a class of persons, as special conservation officers;

(d) impose and confer on an auxiliary or a special conservation officer, or a class of auxiliary or special conservation officers, any of the duties and powers given to a conservation officer under this Act;

(e) establish procedures, including, but not limited to, establishing training and retraining standards and specifying operational procedures for the efficient discharge of duties and functions by the Conservation Officer Service and its members;

(f) specify equipment including, but not limited to, uniform apparel, vehicles and firearms to be used by members of the Conservation Officer Service;

(g) establish rules for the prevention of neglect and abuse by members of the Conservation Officer Service.

(4) An auxiliary or a special conservation officer may perform and exercise the duties and powers imposed and conferred on the officer under subsection (3) (d).

(5) Members of the Conservation Officer Service

(a) may exercise the powers and perform the duties of a conservation officer under this Act or any other enactment,

(b) are peace officers for the purpose of carrying out the powers and duties of a conservation officer under this Act or any other enactment, and

(c) have the immunities of, and are authorized to exercise the powers and perform the duties of, a peace officer exclusively for the purpose of carrying out the powers and duties of a conservation officer under this Act or any other enactment.

Interagency agreements

8.2 (1) Subject to the direction of the minister, the chief conservation officer and any other person designated by the minister may enter into agreements with other agencies of government, including those of the federal government and of provincial, municipal and first nations governments, respecting

(a) law enforcement delivery related to environmental protection or natural resource use,

(b) activities that may be carried out by an officer, as defined in the Wildlife Act, related to wildlife-human conflict response and management, and

(c) cooperative working agreements between the Conservation Officer Service and another enforcement agency that are within the mandate of either agency.

(2) Agreements entered into under subsection (1) may contain provisions setting out requirements for compensation or other legal recourse in the event that the agreement is breached by one or more of the parties to the agreement.

3 Section 9 is repealed and the following substituted:

Enforcement

9 (1) A conservation officer may exercise the powers and perform the duties of the specified official under any of the Acts or regulations referred to in the Schedule.

(2) On information on oath that there is reasonable cause to suspect that an offence under this Act or an Act or a regulation referred to in the Schedule has occurred or is about to occur, a justice, on being satisfied that an entry and a search is likely to provide evidence of the commission of an offence under the Act or regulation, may issue a warrant authorizing a conservation officer

(a) to enter and search property specified in the warrant, and

(b) to seize and remove anything that the conservation officer has reasonable or probable grounds for believing may provide evidence of the commission of an offence under the Act or regulation.

(3) A person required by an Act or a regulation referred to in the Schedule to keep records must submit the records to a conservation officer for inspection on request.

(4) If a person refuses to submit records for inspection as required under this section, a justice, on being satisfied that an inspection of the records is necessary for the administration of the Act or regulation that requires them to be kept, may issue a warrant authorizing a conservation officer to enter property specified in the warrant and to seize the records.

(5) The forms referred to in section 21 of the Offence Act, and sections 22 to 24.2 of the Offence Act, apply to a search and anything seized under this section, with the necessary changes and so far as applicable, as if those provisions were enacted in and formed part of this Act, except that a thing ordered detained by a justice under section 24 (2) (a) of the Offence Act may be detained for up to one year before an order authorizing continued detention is required under section 24 (3) of the Offence Act.

(6) Despite section 24.2 of the Offence Act, if the chief conservation officer considers anything seized

(a) to be a pollutant or an environmental hazard, it must not be returned, and the person claiming it is not entitled to compensation, or

(b) to be contaminated by a pollutant, it must not be returned unless it is decontaminated at the expense of the person entitled to it.

Conservation officers exempt

9.1 The offence provisions of this Act or an Act or a regulation referred to in the Schedule do not apply to a conservation officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties under this Act or an Act or a regulation referred to in the Schedule.

Conservation officers entering land

9.2 Despite any other enactment, a conservation officer exercising duties under an Act or regulation referred to in the Schedule may enter any land, whether enclosed or not, but, at the request of the owner or occupier of the land, the conservation officer must produce proof of identity.

4 Section 10 (1) (a) is amended by adding "the chief conservation officer," after "minister,".

5 Section 14 (1) (e) is amended by striking out "section 8." and substituting "section 8 or 9.2.".

6 Section 15 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(d) adding enactments and officials to, and removing enactments and officials from, the Schedule.

7 The following Schedule is added:

Schedule

(Section 9 (1))

In this Schedule, the reference to an Act, or to a portion of an Act, includes regulations made under the Act and, in the case of a portion of an Act, regulations that apply to that portion of the Act.

	Official	Act or Regulation
1	peace officer	Ecological Reserve Act
2	conservation officer	Firearm Act
3	inspector of fisheries	Fisheries Act
4	inspector	Fish Inspection Act
5	designated environment official	Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, Part 6 only
6	Provincial constable	Land Act
7	peace officer	Liquor Control and Licensing Act, sections 40, 41, 44, 67, 69, 70 and 72 only
8	peace officer	Motor Vehicle Act, sections 13, 24, 33, 70, 71, 73, 84, 123, 204 and 210 only
9	enforcement officer	Motor Vehicle (All Terrain) Act
10	peace officer	Offence Act
11	park officer	Park Act
12	inspector	Pesticide Control Act
13	inspector	Transport of Dangerous Goods Act
14	peace officer	Trespass Act
15	officer	Waste Management Act
16	officer	Water Act
17	officer	Water Protection Act
18	conservation officer	Wildlife Act
19	designated environment official	Forest Recreation Regulation
20	designated environment official	Forest Service Road Use Regulation
21	park ranger	Park and Recreation Area Regulation

Consequential Amendments

Firearm Act

8 Section 1 of the Firearm Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 145, is amended in the definition of "conservation officer" by striking out "under the Wildlife Act;" and substituting "defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act;".

 
Fisheries Act

9 Section 1 of the Fisheries Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 149, is amended in the definition of "conservation officer" by striking out "under the Wildlife Act;" and substituting "defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act;".

 
Motor Vehicle (All Terrain) Act

10 Section 1 of the Motor Vehicle (All Terrain) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 319, is amended by adding the following definition:

"conservation officer" means a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act; .

 
Pesticide Control Act

11 Section 1 of the Pesticide Control Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 360, is amended by adding the following definition:

"inspector" means

(a) a person employed by the government and designated in writing by the minister or administrator as an inspector for the purposes of this Act, or

(b) a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act; .

12 Section 9 is amended by striking out "A person authorized in writing by the minister or the administrator," and substituting "An inspector,".

13 Section 10 is amended by striking out "If a person authorized under section 9" and substituting "If an inspector" and by striking out "the person may" and substituting "the inspector may".

 
Trespass Act

14 Section 10 (1) of the Trespass Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 462, is amended by striking out "under the Wildlife Act." and substituting "defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act.".

 
Waste Management Act

15 Section 1 (1) of the Waste Management Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 482, is amended by repealing paragraph (b) of the definition of "officer" and substituting the following:

(b) a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act; .

 
Water Act

16 Section 1 of the Water Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 483, is amended by repealing paragraph (b) of the definition of "officer" and substituting the following:

(b) a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act; .

 
Wildlife Act

17 The definition of "conservation officer" in section 1 (1) of the Wildlife Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 488, is repealed and the following substituted:

"conservation officer" means a conservation officer defined in section 1 (1) of the Environment Management Act; .

18 Section 99 is repealed.