Emission Offsets Regulation
Under the provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act (GGRTA), which came into force on January 1, 2008, the Ministry of Environment has established an emission offsets regulation. The regulation is the first addressing the quality of GHG offsets in B.C. The Emission Offsets Regulation received royal assent on December 3, 2008.
The emission offsets regulation sets out requirements for greenhouse gas reductions and removals from projects or actions to be recognized as emission offsets for the purposes of fulfilling the provincial government's commitment to a carbon-neutral public sector by 2010.
It follows a criteria approach in which the project proponent makes assertions in project documents which are evaluated by third party validation and verification bodies.
Key requirements to be recognized as offsets under the Act include: GHG reductions must be supported by a verified project report; ownership must have passed to the Pacific Carbon Trust; and the reductions must not have been previously recognized by another GHG reduction program.
Key elements of the regulation which differ from the intentions paper include:
- Projects will not be excluded strictly on the basis of being "common practice" (i.e. not widely observed nor commonly carried out in the relevant sector and region), but the proponent must demonstrate financial, technological, or other obstacles to carrying out the project.
- Where projects involve carbon capture and storage or biosequestration, a proponent must establish a risk mitigation and contingency plan for reversals.
- A time-limited transition provision allows for ex-ante reductions (recognition of reductions before they have actually occurred).
Status
The Pacific Carbon Trust has published a draft guidance document for Project Developers. The document is designed to provide an overview of the British Columbia Emission Offsets Regulation and the process required to successfully submit offset project proposals to Pacific Carbon Trust. The document will be revised based on stakeholder input.
Consultation
The intentions paper for the regulation was posted in July 2008. Comments were solicited for a period of 45 days. The intentions paper and a summary of the comments received are available here:
The ministry also held an online public information session on August 13, 2008 about the proposed emission offsets regulation. The session consisted of PowerPoint slides presented visually by online webinar and delivered verbally by teleconference. A copy of the webinar slides is available electronically by request through the Ministry of Environment.
Contacts
october 2009
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