1993 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
HONOURABLE DAN MILLER
MINISTER OF FORESTS
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 Section 29 of the Forest Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 140, is amended
(a) by repealing subsections (1) and (2) and substituting the following:
(1.1) Unless a tree farm licence provides that a replacement for the licence shall not be offered, the minister shall offer the holder of an existing licence a replacement for the licence and the offer shall be made during the 6 month period following
(a) the fourth anniversary of the tree farm licence if its term commences on or after July 1, 1993, or
(b) the ninth anniversary of the tree farm licence if its term commences before July 1, 1993.
(2) A tree farm licence offered under subsection (1.1) shall
(a) be for a 25 year term commencing on
(i) the fifth anniversary of the existing tree farm licence if its term commences on or after July 1, 1993, or
(ii) the 10th anniversary of the existing tree farm licence if its term commences before July 1, 1993,
(b) subject to sections 31, 32, 33.1, 50 (6) and 53, describe as a tree farm licence area the area subject to the existing tree farm licence, and
(c) include other terms and conditions, consistent with this Act and the regulations, set out in the offer. ,
(b) by repealing subsection (5) (b) and substituting the following:
(b) the existing tree farm licence expires on the commencement of the replacement licence. , and
(c) in subsections (3) to (6) by striking out "subsection (1)" and substituting "subsection (1.1)".
2 Section 41 (4) is amended
(a) by repealing paragraph (b), and
(b) in paragraph (d) by adding ", other than a society," after "a corporation".
3 Section 42 (b) is amended
(a) by striking out "subject to section 43,", and
(b) by repealing subparagraph (ii) and substituting the following:
(ii) Crown land, the timber on which is not otherwise encumbered, of not more than
(A) 400 ha if the Crown land is located in the Vancouver Forest Region or the North Coast Timber Supply Area, or
(B) 600 ha if the Crown land is not located in the Vancouver Forest Region or the North Coast Timber Supply Area; .
4 Section 43 is amended
(a) by repealing subsection (2) (c) and substituting the following:
(c) describe as a woodlot licence area the area subject to the existing woodlot licence and any change in the boundary or area made by the district manager or regional manager under subsection (2.1); and , and
(b) by adding the following subsection:
(2.1) Subject to section 42 (b) (ii) the district manager or regional manager may, in accordance with the regulations and with the consent of the person to whom a woodlot licence is offered under subsection (1), change the boundary or area in the offered licence from the boundary or area of the existing licence.
5 Section 66 (1) is amended by adding "private" before "land" in both places.
6 Section 66.1 (3) is amended by striking out "subsection (1)" and substituting "subsection (1) or (2)".
7 Section 72 is amended by repealing the definition of "scale" and substituting the following:
"scale" means
(a) to determine the volume or quantity of timber, and
(b) to classify the quality of that timber.
8 The following section is added:
73.1 (1) Each of
(a) the owner of a scale site, and
(b) the operator of a scale site
shall ensure that no timber is scaled at the site unless a scale site authorization has been issued under subsection (2) for the site.
(2) On application a regional manager, district manager or forest officer shall issue to the applicant a scale site authorization on being satisfied that a complete and accurate scale can be performed at the site.
(3) Despite subsection (2) an applicant may be refused if
(a) the applicant previously held a scale site authorization which was cancelled, or
(b) the regional manager, district manager or forest officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant will fail to comply with
(i) Part 5 or 6,
(ii) a regulation made under section 158 (2) (f.1) or (z), or
(iii) the conditions attached to a scale site authorization.
(4) The regional manager, district manager or forest officer may attach conditions to the scale site authorization to ensure a complete and accurate scale and may attach, remove or alter a condition at any time.
(5) A condition under subsection (4) may be applied to a specific scale site authorization, a class of scale site authorizations or all scale site authorizations.
(6) A regional manager may, after giving the holder of a scale site authorization an opportunity to be heard, suspend or cancel a scale site authorization upon being satisfied that there has been failure to comply with
(a) Part 5 or 6,
(b) a regulation made under section 158 (2) (f.1) or (z), or
(c) a condition attached to a scale site authorization.
(7) Each of
(a) a person to whom a scale site authorization has been issued,
(b) the owner of the scale site, and
(c) the operator of the scale site
shall ensure that the conditions attached to the scale site authorization are complied with.
9 Section 75 (1) (e) and (f) is repealed and the following substituted:
(e) the scale details are recorded in a form approved by the minister and retained in that form at the scale site, and
(f) a scale return in the form approved by the minister is completed and delivered within the prescribed time to the person whose timber is scaled and to the regional manager or district manager.
10 Section 81 (a) is amended by adding "or quantity" after "volume".
11 Section 87 is repealed and the following substituted:
87 Where Crown timber on which royalty or stumpage is payable is
(a) processed,
(b) sold, or
(c) removed from British Columbia
without first being scaled correctly under Part 6, the amount of royalty or stumpage payable shall be calculated by multiplying the regional manager's estimate of the volume or quantity of the timber by the rate of royalty or stumpage, as the case may be, that the regional manager considers would have applied if the timber had been scaled correctly under Part 6.
12 Section 105 (1) (b) is amended by adding "on Crown land" before "in a Provincial forest,".
13 Section 141 (1) is amended
(a) by adding ", a regulation made under this or the former Act" before "or under an agreement", and
(b) by repealing paragraph (b) and substituting the following:
(b) bears interest as prescribed, and in the case of an amount due under section 87, the interest runs from the date determined by the regional manager to be the date stumpage or royalty would have been due if the timber referred to in section 87 had been scaled correctly under Part 6; .
14 Section 142 is amended by striking out "timber from any person or deals in Crown timber" and substituting "or deals in timber".
15 The following section is added:
142.1 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, require a person or class of persons who acquires or deals in timber on which stumpage or royalty has not been paid to
(a) open and maintain an account with the Crown, and
(b) provide security
for the payment of money payable to the Crown in respect of the timber.
16 Section 143 (6) is amended by striking out "timber is delivered" and substituting "timber or product is delivered".
17 The following section is added:
143.1 (1) The regional manager or district manager may order a person who has failed to pay money owing to the Crown by the date specified in a statement under section 141 (1)
(a) to pay up to 10% of the fair market value, as estimated by the regional manager or district manager, of
(a) timber, or
(b) products manufactured from timber
that are from time to time located at the person's place of business.
(2) A person who is subject to an order under subsection (1) shall not remove or dispose of timber, or any products manufactured from timber, that are from time to time located at the person's place of business unless
(a) the person complies with the order and receives a permit under subsection (3) for the timber, or the products manufactured from timber, that are removed or disposed of,
(b) the person is no longer in default, or
(c) the regional manager rescinds the order.
(3) On application the regional manager shall issue a permit in respect of specific timber or specific products manufactured from timber to a person if satisfied that the person has paid the amount required under the order in respect of the specific timber or products.
(4) Amounts paid to the Crown under this section shall be applied to the default.
18 Section 149 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:
(1) A person who harvests timber, who buys or sells timber or products manufactured from timber or who operates a timber processing facility shall keep accurate records and, if required by the minister, shall submit to the regional manager, in the manner and at the times required by the minister, reports of
(a) the volume of timber harvested,
(b) the volumes and prices of timber, or products manufactured from timber, that are bought or sold,
(c) the quantities of products manufactured in the facility and the prices obtained for them,
(d) the cost of harvesting timber and manufacturing timber products in the facility and the cost of selling products that are manufactured from timber,
(e) the nature and extent of basic silviculture carried out and the expenditures incurred in doing that, and
(f) sales information of a kind that is usually contained in an invoice related to timber.
19 Section 154 (2) (c) is repealed and the following substituted:
(c) the chief forester under paragraph (b), section 53 (2), 55.4, 61 (1) (a) or 90 (1), or respecting the determination of an allowable annual cut for a tree farm licence under section 7, to an appeal board; and .
20 Section 158 is amended
(a) in subsection (2) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (u) and by adding the following paragraphs:
(y) a change in the boundary or area of a woodlot licence that may be made by the regional manager or district manager under section 43 (2.1);
(z) scaling including, without limitation,
(i) regulations authorized under Part 6,
(ii) the timing of a scale,
(iii) the estimate of royalty or stumpage,
(iv) the payment of estimated royalty or stumpage, and
(v) scale site authorizations; and
(aa) the matters referred to in section 142.1. , and
(b) by adding the following subsection:
(6) A regulation made under subsection (2) (z) may
(a) provide differently for different areas or types of timber,
(b) delegate a matter to a person, and
(c) confer a discretionary power on a person.
21 Section 159 (a) is amended
(a) by adding "73.1 (1) and (7)," before "74 (1),",
(b) by adding "105 (2) and (4), 106.1, 106.2," after "99,", and
(c) by striking out "142.1," and substituting "143.1 (2),".
22 (1) Nothing in section 29 (1.1) or (2) of the Forest Act, as enacted by section 1 of this Act, affects the operation of sections 10 and 11 of the Forest Amendment Act, 1989 with respect to a tree farm licence replacement that was deferred under section 10 or 11 before the coming into force of section 1 of this Act.
(2) Despite section 29 (1.1) and (2) (a) of the Forest Act, if a tree farm licence was partitioned or subdivided under section 33.1 (b) of the Forest Act before July 1, 1993,
(a) the minister shall offer a replacement for an existing tree farm licence entered into under section 33.1 (f) of the Forest Act as a result of the partition or subdivision,
(b) the replacement offer under paragraph (a) shall be made on or before the date the minister is required to offer a replacement for the tree farm licence amended under section 33.1 (e) of the Forest Act as a result of the partition or subdivision, and
(c) a tree farm licence offered under paragraph (a) shall be for a 25 year term commencing 6 months after the date on which the minister makes the offer.
(3) Section 41 (4) (b) of the Forest Act, as it was immediately before the coming into force of section 2 of this Act, applies to an application for a woodlot licence by a society if the application was received by a regional manager or district manager before the coming into force of section 2 of this Act.
23 Section 6 of the Forest Amendment Act, 1989, S.B.C. 1989, c. 67, is repealed.
24 This Act, except sections 1 and 22 (1) and (2), comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
SECTION 1: changes the timing for making an offer to replace a tree farm licence so that the offer to replace the licence is made during the 6 months following the fourth anniversary of a licence instead of the ninth, and provides that if the offer is accepted the new licence is effective on the fifth anniversary of the licence being replaced instead of the 10th. The changes do not affect tree farm licences that commenced before July 1, 1993.
SECTION 2: provides that new woodlot licences cannot be issued to a society, but allows a licence currently held by a society to be replaced.
SECTION 3:
(a) is consequential to the amendment to section 43 of the Forest Act, and
(b) increases the maximum permissible area of Crown land in a woodlot licence located outside the Vancouver Forest Region and outside the North Coast Timber Supply Area from 400 ha to 600 ha.
SECTION 4: allows a district manager or regional manager to change the boundary or area of a woodlot licence with the consent of the licence holder at the time the licence is replaced.
SECTION 5: provides that section 66 applies only to timber marks that pertain to private land.
SECTION 6: provides that scaled timber may be exempted from the requirement that scaled timber be marked with a brand before removal from the scale site.
SECTION 7: amends the definition of "scale" to provide that scale includes determining the quantity of timber.
SECTION 8: provides that timber must be scaled at a site for which a scale site authorization has been issued; also provides for the issuance of a scale site authorization, for its suspension or cancellation and for attaching conditions to an authorization.
SECTION 9: provides that forms used in scaling do not have to be prescribed, but must be approved by the minister.
SECTION 10: is consequential to the proposed new definition of "scale" in section 72 of the Forest Act.
SECTION 11: clarifies that the ability of the regional manager to estimate royalty or stumpage applies to incorrectly scaled timber as well as timber that was not scaled.
SECTION 12: restricts the ability of the regional manager and district manger to regulate the recreational use of a Provincial forest to that part of the forest that is Crown land.
SECTION 13: extends the debt collection procedures in section 141 to apply to amounts owing under the regulations and provides that interest on unpaid stumpage or royalty due under section 87 runs from the date the stumpage or royalty was due.
SECTION 14: clarifies that section 142 of the Forest Act applies to a person who acquires or deals in timber on which stumpage or royalty has not been paid.
SECTION 15: authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to require, by regulation, that those who acquire or deal in timber on which stumpage or royalty has not been paid open an account and provide security for the payment of money payable to the Crown in respect of the timber.
SECTION 16: provides for the release of a seized vehicle carrying manufactured wood products.
SECTION 17: provides a method of collecting overdue amounts by prohibiting the removal or disposition of timber or manufactured forest products until the person has paid a percentage of their value and received a disposal permit as evidence of the payment.
SECTION 18: broadens the scope of section 149 of the Forest Act to include those who buy or sell products manufactured from timber and requires the persons referred to in section 149 to keep and make available for inspection 2 new kinds of information: information as to the cost of selling products that are manufactured from timber and sales information related to timber.
SECTION 19: clarifies the right of tree farm licence holders to appeal the chief forester's allowable annual cut determination.
SECTION 20: authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations as follows:
SECTION 21:
(a) makes it an offence to contravene the proposed section 73.1 of the Forest Act,
(b) makes it an offence to contravene various sections of the Forest Act that deal with the recreational use of forest land, and
(c) deletes a reference to a section that is not in force and makes it an offence to contravene the proposed section 143.1 of the Forest Act.
SECTION 22: provides transitional measures related to the proposed amendments to sections 29 and 41 (4) of the Forest Act.
SECTION 23: repeals sections 142 and 142.1 of the Forest Act which are not in force.
[ Return to: Legislative Assembly Home Page ]
Copyright © 2002: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada