The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
Certified correct as passed Third Reading on the 27th day of April, 2016
Craig James, Clerk of the House
HONOURABLE RICH COLEMAN
MINISTER OF NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT
AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR HOUSING
AND DEPUTY PREMIER
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 of the Safety Standards Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 39, is amended by adding the following definition:
"power plant" has the meaning prescribed under section 88 (2) (w.1); .
2 Section 3 is repealed and the following substituted:
3 (1) In this section:
"facility" means a facility, as defined in section 1 (2) of the Oil and Gas Activities Act, the construction or operation of which is an oil and gas activity as defined in that section;
"mine" has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Mines Act;
"pipeline" has the same meaning as in section 1 (2) of the Oil and Gas Activities Act;
"specified regulated product" means any of the following regulated products:
(a) gas systems and equipment referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (vi);
(b) pressure piping referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (viii), other than pressure piping that forms part of a power plant;
(c) refrigeration systems and equipment referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (ix).
(2) This Act does not apply to
(a) a regulated product being used in the operation of or in association with a mine, or
(b) a person who does regulated work in respect of a regulated product described in paragraph (a).
(3) Subject to subsection (4), this Act does not apply to
(a) a specified regulated product attached to or being used in the operation of a pipeline or facility, or
(b) a person who does regulated work in respect of a specified regulated product described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(4) This Act applies to
(a) a regulated product that
(i) is part of a specified regulated product described in subsection (3) (a), and
(ii) is not itself a specified regulated product described in subsection (3) (a), and
(b) a person who does regulated work in respect of a regulated product to which this Act applies under paragraph (a) of this subsection.
3 Section 88 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:
(w.1) prescribing the meaning of "power plant" for the purposes of the definition of "power plant" in section 1; .
4 In this section and sections 5 to 11:
"authority" means a person to which administration of provisions of the Safety Standards Act and regulations under that Act is delegated under Part 12 of the Safety Standards Act;
"commission" has the same meaning as in section 1 (2) of the Oil and Gas Activities Act;
"installation permit" means a permit issued under section 17 of the Safety Standards General Regulation, B.C. Reg. 105/2004;
"minister" means the minister responsible for the administration of the Safety Standards Act;
"ministry" means the ministry of the minister;
"operating permit" means a permit issued under section 28 of the Safety Standards Act;
"personal information" has the same meaning as in Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
"previously regulated product" means any of the following regulated products to which the Safety Standards Act ceased to apply as a result of the repeal and replacement, by this Act, of section 3 of the Safety Standards Act:
(a) pressure piping referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (viii) of the Safety Standards Act;
(b) refrigeration systems and equipment referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (ix) of the Safety Standards Act,
but does not include any part of such a regulated product to which the Safety Standards Act applies under section 3 (4) of that Act, as enacted by this Act;
"previously unregulated product" means any of the following regulated products to which the Safety Standards Act began to apply as a result of the repeal and replacement, by this Act, of section 3 of the Safety Standards Act:
(a) amusement rides referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (i) of the Safety Standards Act;
(b) passenger ropeways referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (ii) of the Safety Standards Act;
(c) elevating devices and passenger conveyors referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (v) of the Safety Standards Act;
(d) regulated products referred to in section 2 (1) (b) (x) of the Safety Standards Act;
"regulated product" has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Safety Standards Act;
"regulated work" has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Safety Standards Act.
5 (1) Subject to subsection (2), on the date this section comes into force, the following are cancelled:
(a) each installation permit and each operating permit issued in respect of a previously regulated product;
(b) each application, for an installation permit or an operating permit and in respect of a previously regulated product, for which a final determination has not been made.
(2) If part of a permit or application described in subsection (1) is in respect of a regulated product to which the Safety Standards Act applies under section 3 (4) of that Act, as enacted by this Act, that part of the permit or application is not cancelled under subsection (1) of this section.
(3) The minister or an authority may refund all or part of a fee paid to the minister or the authority, as the case may be, in respect of a permit or application cancelled under subsection (1).
(4) A refund by the minister under subsection (3) may be paid from the consolidated revenue fund.
6 If, on the date this section comes into force,
(a) an application has been made under section 84 of the Power Engineers, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and Refrigeration Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 104/2004, for registration of a design in respect of a previously regulated product, and
(b) a final determination has not been made in respect of the application,
the Safety Standards Act and the regulations under that Act, as they read immediately before the date this section comes into force, continue to apply in relation to the application until a final determination is made respecting the application.
7 The Safety Standards Act and the regulations under that Act, as they read immediately before the date this section comes into force, continue to apply in relation to monetary penalties, if any, that, before that date,
(a) were imposed under section 40 of the Safety Standards Act in respect of previously regulated products or regulated work done in respect of previously regulated products, and
(b) have not been paid in full.
8 (1) Subject to subsection (2), if, on the date this section comes into force, a final determination has not been made in respect of a proceeding under Part 9 of the Safety Standards Act that deals with a previously regulated product or regulated work done in respect of a previously regulated product, the proceeding is, on the date this section comes into force, discontinued, to the extent the proceeding deals with the previously regulated product or the regulated work.
(2) A proceeding is not discontinued under subsection (1) if the proceeding is in relation to an application described in section 6 or a monetary penalty described in section 7.
9 (1) The ministry or an authority may disclose to the commission, for use by the commission for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the Oil and Gas Activities Act, personal information that
(a) relates to previously regulated products or regulated work done in respect of previously regulated products, and
(b) was, before the date this subsection comes into force, obtained or compiled by the ministry or the authority in the course of administering or enforcing the Safety Standards Act.
(2) Until a final determination is made in respect of an application described in section 6, the ministry or an authority must, on request by the commission or the person who made the application, provide to the commission, for use by the commission for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the Oil and Gas Activities Act, a copy of the records, including personal information, if any, relating to the application, that are in the custody or under the control of the ministry or the authority, as the case may be.
(3) The commission may disclose to the ministry or to an authority, for use by the ministry or the authority, as the case may be, for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the Safety Standards Act, personal information that
(a) relates to previously unregulated products, and
(b) was, before the date subsection (1) comes into force, obtained or compiled by the commission in the course of administering or enforcing the Oil and Gas Activities Act.
10 For certainty, sections 1 to 9 do not limit the commission's authority under the Oil and Gas Activities Act in relation to matters respecting previously regulated products, whether those matters arise before or after the date this section comes into force.
11 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:
(a) respecting any matters the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable
(i) to more effectively bring into operation the amendments to the Safety Standards Act made by this Act, or
(ii) to remedy any transitional difficulties encountered as a result of the repeal and replacement, by this Act, of section 3 of the Safety Standards Act;
(b) without limiting paragraph (a), respecting information or records referred to in section 9 of this Act.
(2) For 3 years after the date this section comes into force, a regulation made under this section may be made retroactive to a date not earlier than the date this section comes into force and, if made retroactive, is deemed to come into force on the date specified in the regulation.
(3) This section is repealed 3 years after the date it comes into force and, on its repeal, any regulations made under it, unless earlier repealed, are also repealed.
12 Section 9 (3) of this Act is repealed and the following substituted:
(3) Despite section 38.1 of the Oil and Gas Activities Act, the commission may disclose to the ministry or to an authority, for use by the ministry or the authority, as the case may be, for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the Safety Standards Act, information and records, including personal information, that
(a) relate to previously unregulated products, and
(b) were, before the date subsection (1) of this section comes into force, obtained or compiled by the commission in the course of administering or enforcing the Oil and Gas Activities Act.
(4) If the ministry or an authority obtains from the commission a copy of a record, report or plan that the commission is required to keep confidential under section 38.1 of the Oil and Gas Activities Act,
(a) the ministry or the authority, as the case may be, must, in accordance with that section, keep confidential the record, report or plan, and
(b) that section and the regulations under that section apply, in relation to the requirement to keep the record, report or plan confidential, to the ministry or the authority, as the case may be, as if the ministry or the authority were the commission.
13 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.