On April 6, 2010, the federal Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, and B.C.’s Minister of State for Climate Change, John Yap, signed an Agreement in Principle on efforts to address climate change. This is the first step towards establishing a formal Equivalency Agreement under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).
Section 10 of CEPA 1999 provides for Equivalency Agreements where provincial or territorial environmental legislation has provisions that are equivalent to provisions in CEPA 1999. The purpose of an Equivalency Agreement is to eliminate the duplication of environmental regulations. Equivalency is based on the following criteria: (i) equivalent regulatory standards; and (ii) similar provisions for citizens to request investigations. This will mean that B.C.-based businesses will not have to deal with competing regulatory requirements, such as for greenhouse gas emissions reporting, when it comes to climate change regulation.
Throughout 2009, the federal government consulted with the provinces and territories on Canada’s climate change strategy. According to Minister Yap: “We are building a strong template for acting on climate change here in B.C. and it is great to have the ongoing support of the federal government as we move forward. Climate change is the challenge of our generation and we need strong partnerships like this one to devise solutions that help us meet our legislative commitments while creating new economic opportunities for British Columbians.”
For more information, please refer to Environment Canada’s news release: Link