2000 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 36th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


HONOURABLE JOAN SAWICKI
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT,
LANDS AND PARKS

BILL 17 — 2000

PROTECTED AREAS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ACT

Contents
Section
1  Ecological reserves
2  Parks
3  Boundaries described by official plans
4-19  Consequential Amendments
  Schedule A
  Schedule B
  Schedule C
  Schedule D

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

Ecological reserves

1 (1) The ecological reserves named and described in Schedule A are continued or established for the purposes of the Ecological Reserve Act.

(2) The ecological reserves established and described in Orders in Council referred to in Schedule B are continued for the purposes of the Ecological Reserve Act.

Parks

2 The parks named and described in Schedules C and D are continued or established as Class A parks for the purposes of the Park Act.

Boundaries described by official plans

3 (1) For the purposes of this section, "official plan" means a plan that is

(a) certified by the Surveyor General, by signature on the plan, to be an official plan, and

(b) kept on deposit in the Crown land registry referred to in section 7 of the Land Act.

(2) All or part of the boundary of

(a) an ecological reserve established under the Ecological Reserve Act or established or continued by this Act, or

(b) a park established or continued by this Act,

may be described by reference to

(c) one or more official plans,

(d) metes and bounds descriptions,

(e) lot or parcel descriptions, or

(f) any combination of the means referred to in paragraphs (c) to (e).

(3) To the extent of any variance between the marked representation of the boundary on an official plan and the metes and bounds or other written descriptions on the official plan, the metes and bounds or other written descriptions prevail.

(4) Copies of official plans must be available for public inspection in the Crown land registry during regular business hours, and a person may obtain a copy of an official plan on payment of a fee prescribed under section 6 (3) of the Land Act.

(5) A copy of an official plan, that is certified by the Surveyor General to be a true copy, is admissible as evidence in a court without proof of the signature or official character of the Surveyor General.

(6) If an official plan referred to in Schedule C or D contains a reference to "by or under the Park Act", that reference is deemed to be a reference to "by or under the Park Act or the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act".

 
Consequential Amendments

Ecological Reserve Act

4 Sections 3 and 4 of the Ecological Reserve Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 103, are repealed and the following substituted:

Establishing and modifying ecological reserves

3 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order,

(a) establish an area of Crown land as an ecological reserve, and

(b) declare the name by which the ecological reserve is to be known.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, add to, cancel in its entirety or delete any portion of an ecological reserve established under subsection (1).

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to an ecological reserve referenced in Schedule A or B of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act.

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, add to an ecological reserve referenced in Schedule A or B of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act.

(5) Except as permitted by subsection (4), the boundaries of an ecological reserve referenced in Schedule A or B of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act must not be affected except by an Act of the Legislature.

Publication in Gazette

4 An order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this Act establishing or modifying an ecological reserve must be published in the Gazette.

5 Section 5 (1) is repealed and the following substituted:

(1) Any area established or continued as an ecological reserve under this Act or by the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act must be immediately withdrawn and reserved from any further disposition that might otherwise be granted under any Act or law in force in British Columbia.

6 Section 6 is amended by striking out "under this Act." and substituting "under this Act or by the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act." .

7 Section 7 (2) (d) is repealed and the following substituted:

(d) creating an offence for the contravention of a regulation;

(e) generally for any other matter or thing necessary or incidental to the protection of an ecological reserve.

8 The following section is added:

Offences and penalties

7.1 (1) A person who commits an offence under the regulations is liable to a fine of up to $200 000.

(2) If an offence under subsection (1) is of a continuing nature, each day that the offence continues constitutes a separate offence.

(3) Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or the regulations.

9 Section 8 is amended by striking out "established as an ecological reserve under this Act" and substituting "established or continued as an ecological reserve under this Act or by the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act" .


Heritage Conservation Act

10 Section 23 (2) (d) of the Heritage Conservation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 187, is amended by striking out "established" .


Land Act

11 Section 6 (3) of the Land Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 245, is amended by striking out "and section 7.1 (4) of the Park Act." and substituting ", section 7.1 (4) of the Park Act and section 3 (4) of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act." .


Park Act

12 Section 1 of the Park Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 344, is amended by repealing the definition of "park" and substituting the following:

"park" means Crown land established or continued as a park by or under this Act or the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act; .

13 Section 5 is amended

(a) in subsection (3) by striking out "in Schedules A, B, C, and D" and substituting "in Schedules C and D of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act,

(b) by repealing subsection (4), and

(c) in subsections (5) and (6) by striking out "or (4)" .

14 Section 6 (1) (h) is repealed and the following substituted:

(h) Crown land is established or continued as an ecological reserve under the Ecological Reserve Act or by the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act, .

15 Section 7 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a park referred to in section 5 (3) .

16 Section 7.1 (2) is amended by striking out "under this Act" .

17 Section 30 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by repealing the definitions of "establishment date" and "new park" and adding the following:

"establishment date" means the date on which a Schedule D park was established

(a) as a park by or under this Act,

(b) as a park by the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act, or

(c) as a park or protected area under the Environment and Land Use Act,

whichever is earlier;

"Schedule D park" means a park referenced in Schedule D of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act. ,

(b) by repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following:

(3) The minister may issue park use permits authorizing persons who, on the establishment date for a Schedule D park, hold

(a) a permit or other authorization under an enactment, or

(b) a lien, charge or encumbrance

with respect to the Schedule D park to continue to do anything that the persons were authorized to do by the permit or other authorization or by the lien, charge or encumbrance, other than commercial logging, mining or hydro electric development. , and

(c) in subsections (5), (6) and (7) by striking out "new park" wherever it appears and substituting "Schedule D park".

18 Schedules A to F are repealed.

Wildlife Act

19 Section 68 of the Wildlife Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 488, is amended by striking out "because of the establishment of a park under the Park Act" and substituting "because of the establishment of a park under the Park Act, the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act" .


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