Part 5 – Public Accountability
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Division 1 – Public Advisory Group
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Establishment
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46 |
(1) |
The participants must establish and maintain a public advisory group.
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(2)
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The participants must
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(a) |
confirm membership to the public advisory group and may confirm advisors to the public advisory group, and
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(b) |
publish annually a notice specifying the membership of the public advisory group.
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Mandate
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47 |
(1) |
The mandate of the public advisory group is to ensure that the participants' forest management decisions, as contained in the sustainable forest management plan, are made as a result of informed, inclusive and fair consultation with local people who are directly affected by or have an interest in sustainable forest management.
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(2)
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Without limiting subsection (1), the public advisory group must review
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(a) |
in accordance with section 37, proposed sustainable forest management plans and amendments to sustainable forest management plans,
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(b) |
audits carried out under section 50, and
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(c) |
annual reports prepared under section 51.
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Operation
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48 |
(1) |
The public advisory group must submit to the participants proposed policies and procedures concerning the operation of the public advisory group, including but not limited to the following:
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(a) |
frequency of meetings;
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(b) |
rules respecting conduct of meetings;
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(c) |
decision making;
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(d) |
communications;
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(e) |
replacement of representatives.
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(2)
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The participants must consider any submission received under subsection (1) and may
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(a) |
confirm the policies and procedures as submitted, or
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(b) |
amend the proposed policies and procedures and confirm them as amended.
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(3)
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The public advisory group must follow any policies and procedures confirmed by the participants under subsection (2).
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(4)
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All meetings of the public advisory group are open to the public.
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(5)
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Membership of the public advisory group is on a voluntary basis with no remuneration payable to the representatives by the participants.
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(6)
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Expenses of the public advisory group are recoverable under and in accordance with policies and procedures referred to in subsection (2).
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Division 2 – Pilot Project Monitoring and Evaluation
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Maintenance and production of records
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49 |
(1) |
A participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence must maintain
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(a) |
records of its survey and inspection activities concerning the requirements under this regulation, and
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(b) |
each site level plan
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until a declaration referred to in section 59 for the area to which the record or site level plan relates has been accepted by the district manager.
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(2)
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A participant, at the request of the district manager or of an official, must produce the records and plans referred to in subsection (1).
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Periodic independent audit of participants
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50 |
(1) |
A participant must submit to and pay for periodic independent audits by a qualified auditor of the participant's compliance with this regulation and any matters specified in the sustainable forest management plan as being subject to audit, as follows:
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(a) |
once, on or before December 1, 2003;
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(b) |
at least once in every 2 year period after that date, subject to paragraph (c);
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(c) |
if a shorter period than 2 years, for the second and subsequent audits under this section, is specified in the sustainable forest management plan, at least once in each of those shorter periods.
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(2)
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A qualified auditor must
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(a) |
conduct the audit in accordance with audit principles that are generally accepted for use in the forest industry,
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(b) |
provide the participant with opportunity to comment on the findings of the audit before they are finalized, and
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(c) |
submit a copy of the audit report to the participant and the regional manager.
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(3)
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The participant may submit to the regional manager a response to the audit report and the regional manager must append the participant's response to the audit report.
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Annual report
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51 |
(1) |
On or before October 31, 2003, a participant must submit to the ministers a report, in compliance with subsection (3), concerning the operations carried out by the participant during the period beginning on the effective date of this regulation and ending on March 31, 2003.
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(2)
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On or before October 31 of each year after 2003, a participant must submit to the ministers a report, in compliance with subsection (3), concerning the operations carried out by the participant during the preceding fiscal year of the government.
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(3)
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A report under this section must contain the following:
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(a) |
a summary of the access management and timber harvesting carried out by the participant;
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(b) |
a summary of the reforestation activities carried out by the participant, including the regeneration method, year of establishment, estimated species composition at establishment, and estimated density at establishment;
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(c) |
a summary of the stand tending activities carried out by the participant;
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(d) |
a statement of the degree to which the landscape level strategies contained in the sustainable forest management plan were followed by the participant;
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(e) |
a summary of any variances given to the participant;
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(f) |
a summary of any contraventions reported to the senior official by the participant;
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(g) |
a summary of any compliance and enforcement measures imposed on the participant by the government under Part 6 of the Act.
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(4)
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A participant must provide to the district manager and the public advisory group a copy of the report submitted under this section.
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(5)
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The ministers must make a copy of a report submitted under this section available to the public on request.
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Monitoring of participants by government
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52 |
(1) |
The regional manager must annually monitor the level of performance of each of the participants under this regulation by considering the following:
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(a) |
the audit reports submitted under section 50;
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(b) |
the annual reports submitted under section 51;
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(c) |
information provided by the Forest Practices Board;
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(d) |
other information the regional manager considers relevant.
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(2)
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The regional manager must make the result of the monitoring under subsection (1) available to the participant who is monitored.
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Evaluation of pilot project by government
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53 |
(1) |
From time to time the minister may assess the relative success of the pilot project at improving the regulatory framework of forest practices by evaluating, in the pilot project area, whether this regulation
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(a) |
provides equivalent protection to forest resources and resource features as are provided under the Act and the regulations,
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(b) |
is consistent with the preamble to the Act,
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(c) |
provides for adequate management and conservation of forest resources,
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(d) |
adequately provides for public review and comment respecting forest practices,
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(e) |
adequately provides for monitoring of the pilot project,
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(f) |
provides adequate public access to
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(i) |
planning documents and assessments used in the pilot project, and
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(ii) |
records that this regulation requires to be prepared, and
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(g) |
is cost effective for one or more of the following:
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(i) |
holders of agreements under the Forest Act;
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(ii) |
the government for the small business forest enterprise program;
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(iii) |
the government for administering forest practices.
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(2)
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Within 6 months after becoming a participant, each participant, including the government, must provide to the regional manager a written estimate of the participant's current costs associated with carrying out forest practices under the Act and regulations, for comparison with the participant's current costs at the time of an evaluation under this section.
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(3)
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The minister may request relevant information from participants when carrying out an evaluation under subsection (1) and the participants must comply with that request in a timely manner.
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Role of the Forest Practices Board
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54 |
(1) |
The mandate of the Forest Practices Board extends to this regulation.
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(2)
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The Forest Practices Board may request a review of the approval of a sustainable forest management plan if the board believes that, in relation to the preparation of the plan or amendment, there has been a contravention of this regulation.
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(3)
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The Act and regulations apply to a review under subsection (2) as if the review were a review of a forest development plan approval.
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(4)
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If the Forest Practices Board requests a review of the approval of a forest development plan under section 128 of the Act, the Board must specify which portions of the forest development plan are subject to the request for review.
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(5)
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For the purposes of subsection (4), the Forest Practices Board must only specify those portions of the plan that are directly affected by the grounds for requesting the review.
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(6)
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Those portions of a forest development plan that are not subject to a request for review by the Forest Practices Board under section 128 of the Act remain in effect.
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Division 3 – Enforcement
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Administrative remedies
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55 |
(1) |
A penalty set out in column 3 of Schedule G is the maximum penalty, in dollars, which may be levied under section 117 (1) of the Act on a participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence for the contravention of the enactment described in columns 1 and 2 opposite the penalty.
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(2)
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For the purposes of section 117 (4) (b) (vii) of the Act, before a senior official levies a penalty under section 117 (1) of the Act or section 119 of the Act against a participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence, the senior official may consider the following:
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(a) |
whether or not the contravention was reported to the senior official by the participant or holder;
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(b) |
whether or not the participant or holder had carried out measures to mitigate the impact of the contravention, and the appropriateness, timeliness and success of those measures;
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(c) |
whether or not there is any residual damage to the forest resources on the area in which the contravention occurred after the participant or holder had carried out the measures referred to in paragraph (b);
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(d) |
whether or not it is in the public interest to make a determination under section 117 and 119 of the Act, having considered all of the factors specified in section 117 (4) (b) of the Act.
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(3)
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If the district manager determines that an area in a cutblock has sustained damage as a result of a forest practice, the district manager, by written notice, may direct that the participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence responsible for the damage take measures necessary to rehabilitate the area.
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(4)
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If, after the conclusion of timber harvesting in a cutblock, the district manager determines that a participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence has contravened section 28 (1) (f) (i) by not sustaining soil productivity, the district manager by written notice may direct that the participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence responsible take measures necessary to rehabilitate the area.
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(5)
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A notice under subsection (3) or (4) must include the rationale for the district manager's determination under that subsection.
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(6)
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A participant who receives a notice under subsection (3) or (4) may request a review and appeal of the district manager's determination, and Division 4 of Part 6 of the Act applies to that review and appeal.
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Offences
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56 |
(1) |
A participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence who contravenes section 28 (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of $1 000 000, or to imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or to both.
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(2)
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A participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence who contravenes section 22 (1), (2) or (3), 28 (1), 30 (1) or (2), 31 (2) or 32 (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of $500 000, or to imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or to both.
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(3)
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A participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence who contravenes section 24 (2), 29, 33, 42, 44 (1) or (3) or 60 (5) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of $100 000, or to imprisonment for not more than one year, or to both.
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(4)
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A participant or holder of a minor timber sale licence who contravenes section 31 (1), 49 (1) or (2), 50 (1), 51 (1) or 53 (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of $5000, or to imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or to both.
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(5)
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The maximum fine to which a person is liable on a second or subsequent conviction for the same offence under subsections (1) to (4) is double the amount set out in those subsections.
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Division 4 – Public Access to Information
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Ongoing public access to information
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(1) |
A participant must make copies of all relevant planning documents and associated assessments available at any reasonable time to
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(a) |
the district manager,
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(b) |
the public advisory group,
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(c) |
the Forest Practices Board, and
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(d) |
persons carrying out audits under this regulation.
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(2)
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The participants must ensure that a copy of any proposed sustainable forest management plan that has been submitted for approval is available for review by the public for the period required under section 38 during business hours at one or more of the business premises of the participants in the pilot project area.
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(3)
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A participant must ensure that the following information is reasonably available for review by the public during business hours at one or more of the business premises of the participant in the pilot project area:
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(a) |
a copy of any approved sustainable forest management plan;
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(b) |
a copy of any active operational plans and related assessments of the participant that are in the pilot project area;
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(c) |
a copy of the most recent forest operations schedule, if any;
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(d) |
a copy of any audit report submitted under section 50 during the previous 5 years;
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(e) |
a copy of any annual report submitted under section 51 during the previous 5 years;
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(f) |
a copy of any compliance and enforcement determinations referred to in Division 3 of this Part in respect of the participant's performance in the pilot project area during the previous 5 years;
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(g) |
a copy of the maps referred to in section 5 and set out in Part A2 of Schedule A under the heading "Fort St. John Pilot Project Management Zone Maps".
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indicate most recent changes to this page