Forest Practices Code of BC Act

PART 10 - REGULATIONS

NOTE: This is not the current version of the Forest Practices Code. This document is available only as a reference for those sections repealed when the Forest and Range Practices Act came into force January 31, 2004.

For the current version click here

• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• PART 1 - DEFINITIONS
• PART 2 - STRATEGIC PLANNING, OBJECTIVES AND STANDARDS
• PART 3 - OPERATIONAL PLANNING REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT AND FOR FOREST AND RANGE TENURE AGREEMENTS
• PART 4 - FOREST PRACTICES SPECIFIC TO FOREST AND RANGE TENURE AGREEMENTS AND THE GOVERNMENT
• PART 5 - PROTECTION OF FOREST RESOURCES: GENERAL
• PART 6 - COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
• PART 7 - GENERAL
• PART 8 - FOREST PRACTICES BOARD
• PART 9 - FOREST APPEALS COMMISSION
• PART 10 - REGULATIONS
• PART 10.1 - PILOT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR FOREST PRACTICES
• PART 11 - TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

198. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting matters that are

(a) referred to in a provision of this Act as having to be in accordance with the regulations, or

(b) indicated by a provision of this Act as being a matter for a regulation.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make a regulation defining a word or expression used in the Act.

(4) In making a regulation under this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may do one or more of the following:

(a) delegate a matter to a person;

(b) confer a discretion on a person;

(c) make different regulations for different persons, places, things or transactions.

199. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe forms for this Act.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the furnishing of information, to the minister or to an employee in the Ministry of Forests, including but not limited to regulations concerning matters related to

(a) agreements under the Forest Act,

(b) agreements under the Range Act, and

(c) obligations under this Act, the regulations and the standards.

(3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2) the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the furnishing of information

(a) on request or at specified times, and

(b) in a specified format, including electronically.

200. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting fees for the provision, under this Act or the regulations or standards, of a service by the government, the board, the commission or the council, if any, to any person.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the preparation of a logging plan, a range use plan or an amendment to either of them by the district manager is a service by the government.

201. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations requiring security of any kind, including money, to be provided by the holder of an agreement under the Forest Act or an agreement under the Range Act to ensure the performance of an obligation arising under this Act or the regulations, the Forest Act or the regulations under that Act, the Range Act or the regulations under that Act or an agreement entered into under any of those Acts or regulations.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1) the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the type of security that is acceptable or not acceptable;

(b) the form and content of the security;

(c) the circumstances under which the security may be realized.

202. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the recovery of money that is required to be paid to the government under this Act or the regulations.

203. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the exemption of a person, place, thing or transaction from a provision of this Act, the regulations or the standards.

(2) In making a regulation under subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make the exemption subject to conditions.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations restricting the district manager's authority to exempt a person from a provision under this Act, the regulations or the standards.

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may not make a regulation under this section unless satisfied that the forest resources will be properly managed and conserved.

204. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the criteria that a person must use in exercising a discretionary power conferred on the person under this Act.

(2) Criteria prescribed under subsection (1) are in addition to any criteria required by this Act.

205. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the use of a wilderness area or other Crown land in a Provincial forest or a portion of a Provincial forest.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the issuance of permits to control or prohibit the use of a wilderness area or other Crown land in a Provincial forest or a portion of a Provincial forest.

206. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting interpretive forest sites, recreation sites and recreation trails, including regulations that restrict, prohibit or attach a condition to the use of an interpretive forest site, recreation site or recreation trail.

207. (1) For the purposes of section 8, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations authorizing the chief forester to establish standards for operational planning and forest practices respecting all of the following:

(a) biological diversity;

(b) forest practices in resource management zones, landscape units and sensitive areas;

(c) timber quality standards for wood produced on areas that have been previously harvested;

(d) soil conservation;

(e) silvicultural systems;

(f) roads to which this Act applies, including the location, survey, design, construction, maintenance and deactivation standards for various types of roads;

(g) timber harvesting, including

(i) felling and bucking,

(ii) yarding and skidding,

(iii) area marking,

(iv) density, location, design, construction and rehabilitation of logging trails, landings and fireguards,

(v) debris disposal, and

(vi) utilization standards;

(h) silviculture, including vegetation management, seed, seedlings and propagule transfer and silviculture surveys;

(i) forest health;

(j) botanical forest products;

(k) range management, including range use, range development and weed control;

(l) recreation, visual landscape and wilderness management, including recreation use and resource enhancement and protection;

(m) fire use, prevention, control and suppression;

(n) the performance of surveys and assessments.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations limiting the circumstances in which a standard may be set under subsection (1), and regulating the practice and procedure for setting the standards.

208. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting operational plans.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), for operational plans the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) form and content;

(b) the manner of, and time for, submitting an operational plan for approval;

(c) the making and timing of assessments;

(d) the carrying out of surveys;

(e) the making and submitting of reports;

(f) [Not in force]

(g) the retention of an operational plan, road layout and design, road deactivation prescription, assessment, survey, report or any record required to be prepared under the Act or the regulations.

209. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations to provide for review and comment on a matter dealt with in this Act or the regulations.

209.1 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting silviculture stocking standards and soil conservation standards.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

(a) stocking requirements,

(b) regeneration date,

(c) free growing date,

(d) minimum survey and reporting requirements for areas where a free growing stand is required to be established,

(e) the maximum proportion of the area within a cutblock that may be occupied by soil disturbance, and

(f) the maximum proportion of the area within a cutblock that may be occupied by permanent access structures.

(3) The district manager may exempt a person who consents to the exemption from all or part of a regulation made under subsection (1) or (2), subject to conditions or alternative requirements the district manager may specify.

210. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting silvicultural systems and silviculture treatments.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

(a) clearcutting, including limiting or prohibiting clearcutting,

(b) silviculture treatments, including limiting or prohibiting various types of silviculture treatments,

(c) collection, drying, processing, registration, transportation, purchase, sale, disposition and standards of quality of tree cones, tree seeds, vegetative propagules and vegetative material, and

(d) rehabilitation of harvested areas.

211. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting timber harvesting practices and methods, including limiting or prohibiting a timber harvesting practice or method.

211.1 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the protection of forest resources.

212. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting cutblocks.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the size, including the maximum allowable size of a cutblock;

(b) the shape of a cutblock;

(c) the spatial distribution of cutblocks, including green-up.

212.1 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the phased approval of cutblocks or roads for the purpose of approving or giving effect to an operational plan or amendment under section 40 or 41.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

(a) the requirements of this Act and the regulations that a cutblock or road must meet to be identified as reaching a phase for the purpose of giving effect to an operational plan or amendment under section 40 or approving an operational plan or amendment under section 41,

(b) the extent to which a requirement of this Act and the regulations, having been met in order for a cutblock or road to reach a phase

(i) must be, may be or must not be, reconsidered under section 40 or 41, and

(ii) need not be met for that cutblock or road in a subsequent plan, and

(c) the extent to which a higher level plan, or a change to this Act or the regulations, affects an operational plan or amendment with respect to that portion of the plan or amendment that is composed of a cutblock or road that has reached a prescribed phase.

(3) A regulation made under this section may provide that it applies despite a provision of this Act or the regulations.

213. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the use of roads and rights of way;

(b) the regulation or prohibition of the use and operation of vehicles or classes of vehicles on roads or rights of way;

(c) the regulation or prohibition of road construction, maintenance or deactivation.

(2) A district manager may exempt a person from all or part of a regulation made under subsection (1) (a) or (b) in respect of a road that is a forest service road, subject to conditions or alternative requirements the district manager may specify.

214. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the use of Crown range and range developments.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the use of Crown range for grazing, hay cutting and other purposes;

(b) the identification of livestock pastured on Crown range;

(c) range developments and the payment of costs for range developments.

215. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting fire use, prevention, control and suppression related to a forest as defined in section 75, including

(a) fire precautions to be taken in relation to plants, machinery and equipment in or near forests and in relation to railways and utilities,

(a.1) regulating or prohibiting burning, and

(b) site rehabilitation.

(2) A designated forest official may exempt a person from all or part of a regulation made under subsection (1), subject to conditions or alternative requirements the designated forest official may specify.

216. (1) In this section, "licence" means a botanical forest product buyer's licence referred to in section 104.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) establishing a licencing scheme for the purposes of section 104;

(b) issuing, amending, renewing, suspending or cancelling licences;

(c) applications for licences;

(d) fees for licences and applications;

(e) inspectors and inspections for the purposes of enforcing licencing;

(f) appeals.

217. (1) With respect to private land referred to in subsection (2), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) establishing conditions that must be complied with before, during and after timber harvesting by the owner of private land or by the person having the right to harvest timber from private land, including, without restriction, public notice requirements;

(b) requiring plans in the nature of operational plans to be prepared by the owner of the land and approved by the district manager before timber harvesting is carried out on private land;

(c) authorizing the district manager or designated forest official to

(i) control the manner in which the timber harvesting is done on a particular parcel of private land,

(ii) set conditions that must be complied with by the owner or the person harvesting timber on a parcel of private land, and

(iii) vary the requirements established by regulation made under this section for all or part of a parcel of private land;

(d) authorizing the district manager or designated forest official to prohibit timber harvesting on all or part of a parcel of private land if the district manager or designated forest official considers that the harvesting would result in an unacceptable level of environmental damage either on the parcel or on land located elsewhere;

(e) requiring that authority to harvest timber from private land be obtained before harvesting commences;

(f) requiring that the owner of the land establish a free growing stand on the area from which the timber was harvested;

(g) establishing fees for the authority referred to in paragraph (e) and for harvesting timber including setting fees according to the size of the parcel, the volume, species and location of the timber to be harvested;

(h) applying all or part of this Act, including section 143, to the private land.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may be made applicable to

(a) forest reserve land under the Forest Land Reserve Act, other than land included in a tree farm licence area or a woodlot licence area, and

(b) private land, other than forest reserve land under the Forest Land Reserve Act, that is classified as managed forest land under the Assessment Act and the regulations made under that Act.

(3) If a bylaw respecting the cutting of trees has been adopted by the council of a municipality, including the City of Vancouver, the board of a regional district, the local trust committee of the Islands Trust or the executive committee of the Islands Trust acting as a local trust committee, that bylaw does not apply to land to which a regulation under subsection (1) applies to the extent that the bylaw conflicts with the regulation.

217.1 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

(a) woodlot licences, woodlot licence areas and holders of woodlot licences, and

(b) community forest agreements, community forest agreement areas and holders of community forest agreements.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) establishing requirements and restrictions regarding the results that must be achieved through the carrying out of planning and forest practices, including the establishment of a free growing stand on a community forest agreement area or woodlot licence area;

(b) establishing conditions that must be complied with by the holder of a community forest agreement or woodlot licence before, during and after forest practices;

(c) requiring site plans to be prepared by the holder of a community forest agreement or woodlot licence and approved by the district manager before forest practices are carried out on the community forest agreement area or woodlot licence area;

(d) requiring that authority to carry out a forest practice on a community forest agreement area or woodlot licence area be obtained before the forest practice begins.

(3) The expression "regeneration date", defined in section 70 of this Act in relation to silviculture prescriptions, may be defined differently by a regulation under this section in relation to community forest agreements or in relation to woodlot licences.

218. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting administrative remedies.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting fees, charges and penalties in cases where there is a failure to comply with the requirements of

(a) this Act, the regulations or the standards,

(b) an operational plan under this Act or the regulations, or

(c) a permit or licence issued under this Act or the regulations.

219. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the Forest Practices Board.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) audits referred to in section 176, including, without limitation, auditors, specialists and consultants, the manner of conducting an audit and the dissemination of audit results;

(b) complaints to the board, including

(i) the manner of making a complaint,

(ii) specifying which complaints may be heard,

(iii) the manner of dealing with complaints, and

(iv) the nature and extent of investigations which may be taken in relation to a complaint;

(c) procedures for notifying the board of determinations or reviews;

(d) reports made by the board;

(e) the qualifications of board members;

(f) fees with respect to complaint investigations.

220. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting reviews, appeals and the commission.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the circumstances in which a review or appeal may be made;

(b) the practice, procedure and forms for reviews and appeals and for referrals to the commission of questions of law;

(c) the content of a request for review or a notice of appeal;

(c.1) the circumstances under which a review or appeal may be dismissed on the basis that the request for review or notice of appeal does not meet the content requirements of the regulations, or that there was a failure to disclose facts and law as required by the regulations;

(d) the costs of reviews and appeals and the apportionment of those costs between parties;

(e) fees and deposits respecting applications for reviews and appeals;

(f) the number of members that constitutes a quorum of the commission or a panel;

(f.1) the period in which the commission must hold a hearing after receiving a notice of appeal;

(f.2) the period in which the commission must deliver a decision after holding a hearing;

(g) annual reports made by the commission.

221. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, establish a Forest Practices Advisory Council to undertake periodic reviews of the requirements that apply to operational planning and forest practices under this Act, the regulations and the standards and make recommendations to the ministers on any specific matter relevant to this Act that is referred to the council by the ministers.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the following:

(a) the membership of the council, including

(i) the maximum number of persons that may be appointed to the council,

(ii) the qualifications of council members,

(iii) the terms of appointed members, and

(iv) the removal and replacement of members;

(b) the annual report that must be prepared by the council;

(c) the application of sections 191 and 193 to the council.

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