[38] Bill 179 Original (PDF)
Bill 179 2006
An Act to provide for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1. In this Act,
"Environmental Commissioner" means the Environmental Commissioner appointed under section 49 of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993; ("commissaire à l'environnement")
"greenhouse gas" means carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride; ("gaz à effet de serre")
"Kyoto Protocol" means the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in Kyoto on December 11, 1997 and includes related instruments respecting the enforcement of and compliance with the Protocol agreed to by its signatories; ("Protocole de Kyoto")
"Minister" means the Minister of the Environment or, if the administration of this Act is assigned to another Minister under the Executive Council Act, that Minister; ("ministre")
"national inventory report" means the national inventory report Canada is required to submit from time to time under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and that is published on the website of the Ministry of the Environment (Canada) at www.ec.gc.ca. ("rapport d'inventaire national")
Purposes
2. The purposes of this Act are to ensure that,
(a) Ontario contributes fully to the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system; and
(b) the level of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario is reduced in proportion to Canada's emissions reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, including further reductions that would be imposed on Canada if Canada failed to meet its emissions reduction obligations.
Greenhouse gas reduction
3. (1) The Executive Council shall ensure that greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario are reduced to,
(a) no less than 6 per cent below their 1990 level by 2012;
(b) no less than 25 per cent below their 1990 level by 2020.
1990 level
(2) For the purposes of this section, the 1990 level of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario is the level indicated in Annex 11.6 of the version of the national inventory report published in April 2006, excluding emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry.
Further reductions
(3) If greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario are not reduced to the level required under clause (1) (a) by 2012, the Executive Council shall ensure that the emissions are reduced to that level by 2016 and, in addition, are further reduced by that year in an amount that is proportionately equal to further reduction obligations that would be imposed on Canada as a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol if Canada failed to meet its 2012 emissions reduction obligations under the Protocol.
Greenhouse gas reduction plan
4. (1) The Minister shall prepare an Ontario greenhouse gas reduction plan.
Contents of plan
(2) The reduction plan must include the following:
1. A strategy for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario for each of the following periods:
i. 2008-2012.
ii. 2013-2016.
iii. 2017-2020.
2. A statement of the gross amount by which greenhouse gas emissions would have to be reduced in Ontario so that Ontario's share of total greenhouse gas emissions in Canada are reduced in proportion to Canada's emissions reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
3. A greenhouse gas emissions target for every year in each time period set out in paragraph 1.
4. A description of the scientific, economic and technological evidence and analysis used in preparation of the plan.
Tabling
(3) The Minister shall submit the report to the Lieutenant Governor in Council within six months of the day this Act receives Royal Assent and shall lay the report before the Assembly if it is in session or, if not, at the commencement of the next session.
Report by Minister
5. (1) The Minister shall prepare a yearly report that sets out,
(a) measures taken in that year by the Executive Council to ensure that its obligations under section 3 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be met, including,
(i) regulating emissions limits and performance standards,
(ii) using market-based mechanisms, such as emissions trading or offsets,
(iii) spending or fiscal measures or incentives, including a just transition fund for industries affected by greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements,
(iv) co-operation or agreements with other governments;
(b) proposed measures to be undertaken in the following year;
(c) projected greenhouse gas emissions reductions in Ontario, taking into account the measures described in clauses (a) and (b), for each of the 10 years that follow the year to which the report relates.
Publication and tabling
(2) The Minister shall publish the report on the website of the Ministry and in any other manner that he or she considers advisable by May 31 immediately following the year to which the report relates and shall lay the report before the Assembly if it is in session or, if not, at the commencement of the next session.
First report
(3) The first year in respect of which a report is required under this section is the year in which this Act receives Royal Assent.
Response of Commissioner
6. (1) The Environmental Commissioner shall review every report published by the Minister under section 5 and shall prepare a response that sets out,
(a) the Commissioner's opinion as to the reasonable likelihood that,
(i) the measures described in the Minister's report are sufficient to ensure that the Executive Council meets its obligations under section 3 to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, and
(ii) the projected greenhouse gas emissions reductions set out in the report will be achieved;
(b) any additional measures that, in the Commissioner's opinion, would be advisable with regard to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario;
(c) any matter that the Commissioner considers relevant.
Publication
(2) The Environmental Commissioner shall publish his or her response in any manner that he or she considers advisable by September 30 immediately following the May 31 on which the Minister's report is published under section 5.
Tabling
(3) The Environmental Commissioner shall submit a copy of his or her response to the Speaker of the Assembly and the Speaker shall lay the report before the Assembly if it is in session or, if not, at the commencement of the next session.
Regulations
7. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) limiting the amount of greenhouse gases that may be released into the environment;
(b) establishing performance standards designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions;
(c) respecting the use or production of any equipment, technology, fuel, vehicle or process in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions;
(d) respecting permits or approvals for the release of any greenhouse gas;
(e) respecting trading in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, removals, permits, credits or other units;
(f) respecting monitoring, inspections, investigations, reporting and enforcement to promote compliance with regulations made under this Act;
(g) respecting any matter the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the intent and purpose of this Act.
General or particular
(2) A regulation made under this section may,
(a) be general or particular in its application;
(b) apply to a class, which may be defined in terms of any attribute or combination of attributes or as consisting of, including or excluding a specified member.
Conflict
(3) In the event of a conflict between a regulation made under this Act and a provision of any Act or regulation, the provision that has the greater effect with regard to limiting greenhouse gas emissions prevails.
Scope of Act
8. (1) Nothing in this Act limits the Executive Council from implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in amounts greater than those required under section 3.
Same - jurisdiction
(2) Everything done under this Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the making of regulations under section 7, shall respect federal jurisdiction.
Offences, penalties
9. (1) Every individual who contravenes a regulation made under this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable,
(a) on a first conviction, to a fine of not more than $50,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues; and
(b) on each subsequent conviction,
(i) for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues, to a fine of not more than $100,000,
(ii) to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or
(iii) to both such fine and imprisonment.
Same - corporations
(2) Every corporation that contravenes a regulation made under this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable,
(a) on a first conviction, to a fine of not more than $250,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues; and
(b) on each subsequent conviction, to a fine of not more than $500,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues.
Duty of director or officer
(3) Every director or officer of a corporation has a duty to take all reasonable care to prevent the corporation from committing an offence under this section.
Offence
(4) Every director or officer of a corporation who has a duty under subsection (3) and who fails to carry out that duty is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues to occur.
Commencement
10. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
11. The short title of this Act is the Ontario Climate Change Act, 2006.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill enacts the Ontario Climate Change Act, 2006, the purposes of which are to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced in Ontario in proportion to Canada's emissions reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and that Ontario contributes to the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Section 3 of the Act requires the Executive Council to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to no less than 6 per cent below their 1990 level by 2012 and to no less than 25 per cent below their 1990 level by 2020. If emissions are not reduced to the required level by 2012, the Executive Council is required to ensure that emissions are further reduced by 2016 in an amount that is proportionately equal to further reduction requirements that would be imposed on Canada for failing to meet its 2012 emissions reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Minister of the Environment is required to prepare a plan for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario and the plan must, among other things, include a strategy for the reduction of such gas emissions for the periods 2008 to 2012, 2013 to 2016 and 2017 to 2020 and set a greenhouse gas emissions target for every year from 2008 to 2020.
The Minister is also required to prepare a yearly report that sets out measures taken in that year by the Executive Council to meet its obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario and proposed measures to be undertaken in the following year. The Environmental Commissioner must review the Minister's yearly report and prepare and publish a response in which the Commissioner gives his or her opinion as to whether the measures described in the report are sufficient to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to the levels required under section 3.
The Lieutenant Governor in Council is empowered to make regulations that relate broadly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including regulations that limit the amount of greenhouse gases that may be released into the environment and that require permits or approvals for the release of any greenhouse gas.
Contravention of a regulation made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council is an offence under the Act and a person, on conviction, is liable to the penalties set out in section 9.