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Overview of the Transition
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In its New Era document, Government promised
to streamline the Forest Practices Code (FPC) to establish a
new forest and range planning and practices framework, with
tough penalties for non-compliance.
Under the revised framework, government and
industry resource professionals will focus on results and resource
protection rather than process and paperwork. Government will
set objectives and desired outcomes, and forest companies will
propose results or strategies to achieve government objectives.
The forest companies are then accountable for the results through
a rigorous government compliance and enforcement regime.
Two stages of transition
Forest and range management in BC is changing
from a prescriptive regime under the Forest Practices Code to
a results-based regime under the Forest and Range Practices
Act (FRPA). This is happening in two stages:
- The Forests
Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2) 2002 (FSAA) was given Royal
Assent on November 26, 2002 and makes amendments to the existing
Forest Practices Code. These amendments will come into force
in December 17, 2002 and provide some immediate efficiencies
and streamlining in planning and practices.
- The Forest
and Range Practices Act (FRPA)—expected to come into
force in April 2003—replaces the Forest Practices
Code of British Columbia Act and enacts a new forest and
range management planning and practices framework. Associated
regulations will be developed to support this legislation,
and will come into force at the same time.
Why
are changes being made?
When the FPC was introduced in 1995, it was
primarily a planning-based regime. The planning regime was intended
to consider impacts to forest and environmental values, and
to design ways to mitigate these impacts prior to forest development
and management activities. The FPC achieved its original objectives
of creating a level playing field for all forest licencees,
increasing environmental protection and applying consistent
enforcement measures.
However,
the FPC had unintended consequences, notably increased costs
for industry and government. Accountability for the outcomes
of forestry activities was unclear. Further, certain key components
of the FPC were not fully implemented, leading to uncertainty
for forest resource management, environmental conservation,
and industrial development.
The
FPC has been revised over time to reduce costs by placing less
emphasis on plan approvals and more on results. For example,
in 1998, amendments were brought into force that reduced the
number of operational plans from six to three.
However,
costs remain a problem for both licencees and government. The
prescriptive nature of the FPC has stifled innovation by requiring
adherence to practices that were not always the most effective
or efficient in delivering outcomes needed to meet the broad
public interest.
To address these shortcomings, industry,
Ministry of Forests (MOF), Ministry of Sustainable Resource
Management (MSRM) and the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
(WLAP), have worked together to develop forest practices legislation
that has the following objectives:
- maintain
the FPC's high environmental standards;
- continue
to balance social, environmental and economic interests;
- reduce
the transactional and operational costs to both industry and
government;
- reduce
the FPC's complexity;
- rely
on the knowledge and skills of registered professionals;
- provide
the forest industry "freedom to manage" in delivery
of defined results;
- maintain
and enhance the level of public acceptance of forest management;
- ensure
the resource requirements are consistent with the capacity
of government; and
- ensure
a strong compliance and enforcement regime.
What was the process of determining
the changes?
In 1999, an internal government Code Review
Committee was struck to look at the existing FPC's strengths
and weaknesses and review what changes should be made to improve
forest management and practices.
In August 2000, a review of the forest management
legislation development processes and roles of stakeholders
in other provinces found the process in BC to be complex and
inconsistently applied. This review, combined with the Code
Review Committee's findings provided an initial framework for
changes necessary to the Forest Practices Code.
In May 2002, the government released a discussion
paper for public review and comment. A public consultation process,
facilitated in two parts, one led by MLA Rod Visser and the
other by Dr. George Hoberg (Head of the Department of Forest
Resources Management, University of British Columbia), ran from
May 1, 2002 until June 30, 2002.
The public consultation process included:
- MLA public
hearings;
- Stakeholder
presentations; and
- Website
forum.
Following the conclusion of the public consultation
process, Dr. Hoberg released a report containing 24 recommendations
to government.
This consultation process led to changes
to the new regulatory model that was proposed in the discussion
paper. One such change to the model was the replacement of the
proposed Resource Development Permit with a Forest Stewardship
Plan (FSP) that must include measurable and enforceable results.
This change along with many other recommendations has been included
into the Forests Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2) 2002
and/or the Forest and Range Practices Act. These two
pieces of legislation will enable the changes. Other recommendations
from the public consultation process will be addressed as regulations
are developed.
How
will the change happen?
The transition to a workable forest and range
planning and practices framework involves substantial change.
Therefore, it is being implemented in two phases covering December
2002 through April 1, 2005 in a manner that achieves the greatest
efficiencies as quickly as possible, while ensuring forest values
are appropriately managed and conserved over time. The two phases
are:
- Amendments
to the FPC; and
- New Forest
and Range Practices Act (FRPA).
Amendments
to the FPC
Amendments to the FPC, introduced through
the Forests Statues Amendment Act (No. 2) 2002 are now
in force and will remain so until April 2005. These amendments
implement changes as part of the transition to a results-based
approach that will be in place under the FRPA.
Key changes include immediate efficiencies
to industry and government. Government will no longer review
and approve site-level plans such as silviculture prescriptions
and most road layout and designs. Government will no longer
review and approve minor changes to approved forest development
plans. Industry will begin the change (e.g., planning) that
will continue through the new FRPA. They will have until April
2005 to complete the transition to the FRPA.
New
Forest and Range Practices Act
The new Forest and Range Practices Act
and regulations will complete the transition. This legislation
will build on the transitional provisions introduced in December
2002 via the Forests Statutes Amendment Act (No 2) 2002.
The FRPA will come into force in April 2003.
It will include a two year period over which industry and government
personnel will change from the FPC to the FRPA—for example,
changing from forest development plans (FDP) to forest stewardship
plans (FSP).
After April 1, 2005, the transition period
is over and the new FRPA comes into full effect.
Whose
work will be affected by the change?
The amendments to the FPC will mainly impact
licencee and government personnel at the district level:
- Industry—
role in preparing plans and carrying out practices will continue.
Only some operational plans and amendments will be submitted
to the government for approval;
- Ministry
of Forests (MOF)— role in reviewing and approving
plans will decrease while monitoring and enforcement activities
increase;
- Ministry
of Water, Land and Air Protection (WLAP)— role in
joint decision-making will be reduced. This is consistent
with the direction to assign clear ministry responsibilities.
WLAP will be the statutory authority for identified wildlife,
ungulate winter range and wildlife habitat features within
the government's policy limits (including the 6% limit on
impacts to timber supply). The responsibility to make resource
information 'known' for planning purposes is transferred to
the MOF;
- Ministry
of Sustainable Resource Management (MSRM)— role continues
in the areas of establishing legal objectives, community watersheds,
etc. MSRM's role under FRPA will be to ensure higher level
plans or strategic land use planning objectives are in place.
Increased
reliance on professionals
The new forest and range planning and practices
framework places increased reliance on professionals.
If the FPC does not specify the use of a
certain professional, resource practitioners must look to the
right to practice acts to determine:
- if the
practice is covered by one of the rights to practice acts;
and
- if the
act requires a particular type of professional to perform
that practice. If so, the properly qualified—experienced,
educated and appropriately registered—professional must
perform that practice.
Downloads
Recorded
Presentations
Audio and slide presentations were made to
provide information to session participants from subject matter
experts. For
more information about the format and use of these files, click
here. (A new browser window will be opened: close that window
to return to this page).
We have provided the Powerpoint overheads,
a transcription of the session, a PDF file of the overhead handouts
(3 slides per page), and the full presentation with audio.
- Introduction
with Larry Pedersen
- Introduction
with Rod Davis (WLAP Perspective)
- Introduction
with Ken Higginbotham (Canadian Forest Products)
- Introduction
with Alex Ferguson (Slocan Forest Products)
Written
Materials
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