Bill 39 – 2023: Zero-Emission Vehicles Amendment Act, 2023

HONOURABLE JOSIE OSBORNE
MINISTER OF ENERGY, MINES
AND LOW CARBON INNOVATION

BILL 39 – 2023

ZERO-EMISSION VEHICLES AMENDMENT ACT, 2023

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

CLAUSE 1: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 1] adds and amends definitions related to the amendments made by this Bill to the Act.

(a) by repealing the definition of "consumer sale" and substituting the following:

"consumer sale", in relation to a motor vehicle, means a retail sale or retail lease of the motor vehicle; ,

"new", in relation to a motor vehicle, means the motor vehicle has not been the subject of a consumer sale in British Columbia or another jurisdiction in or outside Canada; ,

(a) subject to paragraph (b), the person who supplies motor vehicles of the vehicle make;

"supply", in relation to a motor vehicle, has the meaning given to it in section 2.1; .

CLAUSE 2: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 2] repeals the section consequential to amendments made by this Bill to the Act.

CLAUSE 3: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 2.1] adds a definition related to the amendments made by this Bill to the Act.

Definition of "supply"

2.1 For the purposes of this Act, a person supplies a motor vehicle if the person supplies the motor vehicle for consumer sale in British Columbia by the person or by another person.

CLAUSE 4: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 4] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

4 Section 4 (a) is amended by striking out "a consumer sale of a zero-emission vehicle" and substituting "the supply of a zero-emission vehicle".

CLAUSE 5: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 6] repeals a definition and adds definitions of "gross vehicle weight rating" and "specified motor vehicle".

Definitions

"gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the vehicle manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle;

"specified motor vehicle" means a new motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4 536 kg or less.

CLAUSE 6: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 7] modifies targets for the sale of zero-emission vehicles in British Columbia.

(a) by striking out "new light-duty motor vehicles" wherever it appears and substituting "specified motor vehicles",

(b) in paragraph (a) by striking out "2025" and substituting "2026" and by striking out "10%" and substituting "26%",

CLAUSE 7: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 8]

changes the date by which the director must publish a report respecting zero-emission vehicle targets;
replaces references to light-duty motor vehicles with references to specified motor vehicles.

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "March 31" and substituting "April 30", and

(b) in subsection (2) (b) (i) and (ii) by striking out "light-duty motor vehicles" and substituting "specified motor vehicles".

CLAUSE 8: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 8] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to definitions in section 1 of the Act.

8 Section 8 (2) (b) (i) and (ii) is amended by adding "in British Columbia" after "the number of consumer sales".

CLAUSE 9: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 9] makes the prohibition in section 9 of the Act applicable to specified motor vehicles beginning in 2035.

(b) by striking out "light-duty motor vehicle" and substituting "specified motor vehicle".

CLAUSE 10: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 9] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to definitions in section 1 of the Act.

10 Section 9 is amended by adding "in British Columbia" after "must not make a consumer sale".

CLAUSE 11: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 11] amends a formula to make the supply of new motor vehicles for consumer sale, rather than the consumer sale of those vehicles, the trigger for issuing debits to a supplier.

11 Section 11 (1) and (2) is amended in the description of "NV" by striking out "the number of consumer sales, before the compliance date, of motor vehicles of the vehicle make, model year and vehicle class" and substituting "the number of new motor vehicles of the vehicle make, model year and vehicle class supplied on or before the compliance date".

CLAUSE 12: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 13]

makes the supply of new zero-emission vehicles for consumer sale, rather than the consumer sale of those vehicles, the trigger for issuing credits to a supplier;
provides that the director may not issue credits for the supply of a zero-emission vehicle unless the vehicle has been registered in British Columbia and any other prescribed requirements have been met.

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out everything before paragraph (a) and substituting "Subject to subsection (3) and the regulations, the director may, in any of the following circumstances, issue credits to a supplier of a vehicle make in relation to the supply of new zero-emission vehicles of the vehicle make:",

(b) in subsection (2) by striking out "consumer sales made during a prescribed period of time" and substituting "the supply of zero-emission vehicles during a prescribed period of time", and

(3) The director may not issue credits under subsection (1) in relation to the supply of a zero-emission vehicle unless the director is satisfied that the following requirements are met:

(a) subject to the regulations, in the case of credits issued under subsection (1) (a) of this section, the zero-emission vehicle is registered under the Commercial Transport Act, Motor Vehicle Act or Off-Road Vehicle Act;

(b) subject to the regulations, in the case of credits issued under subsection (1) (b) or (c) of this section, the zero-emission vehicle was registered under an Act referred to in paragraph (a) by the end of the compliance date for the reported model year;

CLAUSE 13: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 16.1] provides that a supplier's balance will be divided by a prescribed number after the compliance date for the prescribed model year, unless the supplier is subject to an administrative penalty for that model year due to a credit shortfall.

Reduction of supplier balances

16.1 (1) On the day after the compliance date for the prescribed model year, the number of credits or debits held by each supplier is reduced by dividing the supplier's balance by the prescribed number.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a supplier who is subject to an administrative penalty under section 10 (3) (a) [supply of ZEVs – penalty for ZEV units shortfall] in relation to the supplier's balance at the end of the compliance date for the model year prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

CLAUSE 14: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 17 (4)] adds a requirement to include in a model year report the total number of motor vehicles sold, whether or not those motor vehicles are zero-emission vehicles.

(a.1) the number of consumer sales of motor vehicles that are zero-emission vehicles; .

CLAUSE 15: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 17 (4)] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

(a) by striking out "consumer sales of motor vehicles made" and substituting "new motor vehicles supplied",

(a.1) the number of new motor vehicles supplied that are zero-emission vehicles; , and

CLAUSE 16: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 17 (5)] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

16 Section 17 (5) (e) is amended by striking out "consumer sales" and substituting "the supply".

CLAUSE 17: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 18] is consequential to the addition by this Bill of section 18.1 to the Act.

17 Section 18 (1) (a) is amended by striking out "report under this Division" and substituting "model year report or supplementary report".

CLAUSE 18: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 18.1] requires a supplier to submit a forecast report containing prescribed information about the supplier's anticipated supply of motor vehicles of subsequent model years.

Forecast report

18.1 (1) A supplier must, with each model year report, submit to the director a forecast report setting out prescribed information respecting motor vehicles of subsequent model years that the supplier anticipates supplying by the compliance date for each model year.

CLAUSE 19: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 19] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

19 Section 19 (1) (d) is amended by striking out "consumer sales of zero-emission vehicles" and substituting "the supply of new zero-emission vehicles".

CLAUSE 20: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 22] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

(a) in subsection (1) by striking out "consumer sales" and substituting "the supply of new motor vehicles", and

(b) in subsection (2) by striking out "a report under Division 2 [Reporting]" and substituting "a model year report or supplementary report".

CLAUSE 21: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 23] is consequential to the addition by this Bill of section 18.1 to the Act.

(a) in paragraph (a) by striking out "a report under Division 2 [Reporting]" and substituting "a model year report or supplementary report", and

(b) in paragraph (b) by striking out "a report submitted under Division 2" and substituting "a model year report or supplementary report".

CLAUSE 22: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 27] allows the director to impose an administrative penalty on a person who provides incomplete or inaccurate information when seeking to enter into an initiative agreement or when providing information required by an initiative agreement.

(iii) in response to a request made under section 22 [information requests], or

(iv) for the purpose of entering into an initiative agreement or in a record the person is required under an initiative agreement to provide to the director.

CLAUSE 23: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 30] creates an offence of failing to comply with the requirement to submit a forecast report.

(b) in subsection (3) by striking out "subsection (1) (b), (c), (d)" and substituting "subsection (1) (b), (c), (c.1), (d)".

CLAUSE 24: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 31] creates an offence of providing false or misleading information when seeking to enter into an initiative agreement or when providing information required by an initiative agreement.

(1) A person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $1 000 000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 6 months, or both, if the person knowingly provides false or misleading information

(a) when required under this Act to provide information in a model year report, in a supplementary report or in response to a request made under section 22 [information requests], or

(b) for the purpose of entering into an initiative agreement or in a record the person is required under an initiative agreement to provide to the director.

(2) A person, other than a person described in subsection (1), commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $500 000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 6 months, or both, if the person provides false or misleading information

(a) when required under this Act to provide information in a model year report, in a supplementary report or in response to a request made under section 22, or

(b) for the purpose of entering into an initiative agreement or in a record the person is required under an initiative agreement to provide to the director. ,

CLAUSE 25: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 38] is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Parts 1 and 3 of the Act.

(i) the number or proportion of the motor vehicles that are zero-emission vehicles, whether by supplier, model year or vehicle class, and

CLAUSE 26: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 39] updates a definition, consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act.

CLAUSE 27: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 39.1] requires the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia to provide information to the director on request.

Information held by Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

39.1 (1) In this section, "corporation" means the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

(2) The director may, for the purposes of carrying out the director's powers and duties under this Act, request that the corporation provide to the director information contained in records kept by the corporation with respect to the registration, licensing or insurance of motor vehicles.

(3) On receiving a request made under subsection (2), the corporation must provide the information to the director.

CLAUSE 28: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 41] is consequential to an amendment made by this Bill to a definition in Part 1 of the Act.

28 Section 41 (2) (d) is amended by striking out "section 2 (b) [definition of "supplier"]" and substituting "the definition of "supplier" in section 1".

CLAUSE 29: [Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, section 43]

is consequential to amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Act;
adds regulation-making powers in relation to the issuance of credits.

(ii) specifying the number of credits to be issued in relation to the supply of each new zero-emission vehicle, or providing a method for determining that number, , and

(iii) respecting the requirement under section 13 (3) (a) or (b) for a zero-emission vehicle to be registered, including, without limitation, specifying circumstances in which an unregistered zero-emission vehicle is to be considered registered, or in which a registered zero-emission vehicle is to be considered unregistered, in accordance with section 13 (3) (a) or (b), and

(iv) prescribing requirements for the purposes of section 13 (3) (c), including, without limitation, requirements respecting the following:

(A) features or characteristics of zero-emission vehicles or parts of zero-emission vehicles;

(D) testing and certification, whether in or outside of British Columbia, of zero-emission vehicles or parts of zero-emission vehicles for compliance with standards, specifications or design requirements;

(E) warranties provided by the supplier with respect to zero-emission vehicles; .

Transitional Provision

CLAUSE 30: [Transition – supply of ZEVs]

sets out rules for determining whether amendments made by this Bill to Part 3 of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act apply to the issuance of credits for zero-emission vehicles that were supplied before those amendments come into force;
provides that certain amendments made by this Bill do not apply in relation to model year reports, or the assessment of those model year reports, for the 2023 and earlier model years.

Transition – supply of ZEVs

30 (1) Words and expressions used in this section have the same meaning as in the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act.

(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, section 13 of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, as amended by section 12 of this Act, and the regulations under that section of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act, apply for the purpose of issuing credits to a supplier of a vehicle make in relation to zero-emission vehicles of the vehicle make that were supplied before October 1, 2024.

(3) If a supplier applied for credits under section 13 (1) (a) of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act before October 1, 2024, section 13 of that Act and the regulations under that section, as they read immediately before October 1, 2024, apply for the purpose of issuing credits to the supplier.

(4) The Zero-Emission Vehicles Act and the regulations under that Act, as they read immediately before October 1, 2024, apply in relation to

(a) a supplier's model year report for the 2023 model year or an earlier model year, and

(b) the director's assessment under section 19 of that Act or reassessment under section 21 of that Act of the 2023 model year or an earlier model year.

Related Amendment

CLAUSE 31: [Motor Vehicle Act, section 303.3] adds a power to make regulations requiring automated vehicles that are authorized to be driven on highways to be zero-emission vehicles.

31 Section 303.3 (1) of the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 318, as enacted by section 35 of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2023, S.B.C. 2023, c. 17, is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) providing that Level 3 automated vehicles, Level 4 automated vehicles or Level 5 automated vehicles may only be driven on highways if they are zero-emission vehicles within the meaning of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act; .

Commencement

32 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:

Explanatory Notes