Bill 34 – 2018: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Amendment Act, 2018

HONOURABLE GEORGE HEYMAN
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT
AND CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY

BILL 34 – 2018

GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGETS
AMENDMENT ACT, 2018

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

SECTION 1: [Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, title] changes the title of the Act to reflect the amendments made by this Bill.

1 The title of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, S.B.C. 2007, c. 42, is repealed and the following substituted:

CLIMATE CHANGE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT .

SECTION 2: [Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, section 2] repeals one emissions target, sets 2 others, and authorizes the minister to set others.

2 Section 2 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by repealing paragraph (a) and by adding the following paragraphs:

(a.1) by 2030 and for each subsequent calendar year, BC greenhouse gas emissions will be at least 40% less than the level of those emissions in 2007;

(a.2) by 2040 and for each subsequent calendar year, BC greenhouse gas emissions will be at least 60% less than the level of those emissions in 2007; , and

(b) by adding the following subsection:

(4) The minister may, by order, establish greenhouse gas emissions targets for individual sectors.

SECTION 3: [Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, Part 1.1] adds a new Part for provisions not related to emissions.

3 The following Part is added:

Part 1.1 – Preparing for Climate Change

Reports on climate change risks and progress

4.1 Beginning with a report for the 2020 calendar year, and continuing with a report for every subsequent even-numbered calendar year, the minister must prepare and make public, as soon as reasonably practicable for each year, a report respecting

(a) a determination of the risks to BC that could reasonably be expected to result from a changing climate,

(b) the progress that has been made toward reducing those risks,

(d) the plans to continue that progress.

SECTION 4: [Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, section 12] adds regulation-making authority and expands existing regulation-making authority.

4 Section 12 (2) is amended

(a) by adding the following paragraph:

(b.1) prescribing categories of information that public sector organizations must provide to the minister for use in preparing the minister's public report under section 4.1, the timeframes in which that information must be provided and circumstances in which public sector organizations are exempt from providing that information; , and

(b) by repealing paragraphs (h) and (j) and substituting the following:

(h) providing exemptions from the obligations under section 6 [requirements for achieving carbon neutral status]; , and

(j) providing exemptions from the reporting obligations under section 8 [carbon neutral action reports] in relation to a calendar year.

Consequential Amendments

SECTION 5: [Various statutes] makes amendments consequential to the retitling of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act by this Bill.

5 The Acts listed in Column 1 of the Schedule are amended in the provisions opposite them in Column 2 of the Schedule by striking out "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act" wherever it appears and substituting "Climate Change Accountability Act".

Commencement

6 The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

Item	Column 1 Provisions of Act	Column 2 Commencement
1	Anything not elsewhere covered by this table	The date of Royal Assent
2	Section 1	By regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council
3	Sections 3 to 5	By regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council

Schedule

(Section 5)

"Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act" to
"Climate Change Accountability Act"

Item	Column 1 Act being amended	Column 2 Provision
1	Carbon Tax Act, S.B.C. 2008, c. 40	82
2	Clean Energy Act, S.B.C. 2010, c. 22	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas" 2 (g) (v)
3	Community Charter, S.B.C. 2003, c. 26	53 (1)
4	Environmental Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 53	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"
5	Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act, S.B.C. 2014, c. 29	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas" 13 (4) (a) 20 (5) (b) 54 (1), (4) and (5)
6	Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Renewable and Low Carbon Fuel Requirements) Act, S.B.C. 2008, c. 16	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"
7	Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Vehicle Emissions Standards) Act, S.B.C. 2008, c. 21	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"
8	Hydro and Power Authority Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 212	32 (7) (c.1)
9	Liquefied Natural Gas Project Agreements Act, S.B.C. 2015, c. 29	1, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"
10	Local Government Act, R.S.B.C. 2015, c. 1	1 of the Schedule, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"
11	Vancouver Charter, S.B.C. 1953, c. 55	304, in the definition of "greenhouse gas" 559, in the definition of "greenhouse gas"

Explanatory Notes