Proposed Emission Offsets Regulations
The Ministry of Environment intends to establish emission offsets regulations under the provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act (GGRTA), which came into force on January 1, 2008.
The emission offsets regulations will set 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. They will also set out details for the ministry's role in upholding the requirements of the GGRTA. A key element of the proposed regulations is the eligibility criteria for offset projects or actions to be considered as offsets under the GGRTA. They include the following:
- Within Scope
- Real
- Measurable
- Additional
- Verifiable
- Counted Once
- Clear Ownership
The regulations also establish project information requirements and guidance for its preparation to ensure consistency, transparency, credibility and streamlining of the process. The regulations build on internationally recognized criteria and requirements common to existing offset systems.
The intended content of the proposed regulations is outlined in the policy intentions paper below:
Interested parties are encouraged to read the intentions paper and provide any comments to the ministry on the response form below, or by fax, e-mail or letter to the consultation contact indicated below.
The ministry held an online public information session on August 13, 2008 about the Proposed Emission Offsets Regulations. The session consisted of PowerPoint slides presented visually by online webinar and delivered verbally by teleconference. A copy of the webinar slides are available electronically by request through the Ministry of Environment.
The deadline for submissions has now passed (August 29, 2008).
The ministry will be reviewing all comments received and will be posting a summary of the comments in the near future. Comments received after the August 29, 2008 submission deadline will be reviewed by the ministry but may not be included in the consultation summary report.
Response Form
Consultation Contact
The ministry has contracted Cindy Bertram of C. Rankin & Associates to manage the consultation process. Please review the posted intentions paper and submit comments in the applicable response form, or by fax, e-mail or letter by August 29th, 2008. Cindy Bertram's contact information is:
E-mail: cindybertram@shaw.ca
Fax: (250) 598-9948
Address: PO Box 5293
Victoria BC V8R 6NR
Please contact Cindy Bertram if you are unable to download a copy of the intentions paper from this website, or if you have any questions about the paper or the response form.
Consultation Summary Reports
A consultation summary report of comments received during the consultation period will be posted on this website following compilation and review of the submissions.
Comments received after the submission deadline date will be reviewed by the ministry but may not be included in the report.
For information on the consultation process, see Consultation Information for Regulations. For general information on the development of current regulations, see Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act (GGRTA) Regulatory Development.
september 2008
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