Definitions and Schedules

1   In this regulation

"access structure" means a road, trail, landing, pit, quarry, helipad or other area on which trees have been cut to facilitate access to timber;

"Act" means the Forest Act;

"agreement" means a tree farm licence identified in Schedule A;

"allowable annual cut", in respect of a trial management unit, means the rate of harvesting, as increased or reduced under the Act as varied by this regulation, determined for the unit under section 8 of the Act as varied under section 4 of this regulation, based on either

(a) the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested annually, which may be a different amount for different parts of the trial management unit, for different silvicultural systems, or for different types of timber or terrain, or

(b) a combination of

(i) the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested annually, which may be a different amount for different parts of the trial management unit, for different silvicultural systems, or for different types of timber or terrain, and

(ii) the volume of timber that is to be harvested annually, which may be a different volume for different parts of the management unit, or for different types of timber or terrain;

"applicable period", in respect of an agreement, means the period specified in section 3 of Schedule A for that agreement;

"cutblock" means an area of land identified in a cutting permit or road permit as an area from which the holder of an agreement is entitled to cut trees either

(a) as part of a regeneration cut, or

(b) to make an access structure;

"ministry" means the Ministry of Forests and Range;

"regeneration cut" means timber harvesting that creates an obligation under the Forest and Range Practices Act to plant trees or facilitate the natural regeneration of trees on the harvested area;

"trial management unit" means a tree farm licence area or part of one designated under section 2 (1);

"trial program" means the trial program established under this regulation to determine allowable annual cuts for tree farm licence areas.

[am. B.C. Reg. 336/2007, s. (a).]

Trial management units

2   (1) During the applicable period specified in Schedule A,

(a) a tree farm licence area or part of one identified in that Schedule is designated as a trial management unit to which the trial program applies, and

(b) the terms and conditions of the licence are varied to the extent set out in that Schedule.

(2) During the applicable period specified in Schedule A, the allowable annual cut for a trial management unit may be determined in accordance with section 8 of the Act as varied by section 4 of this regulation.

(3) A tree farm licence does not contravene section 35 of the Act by reason only of the variation of a term or condition of the tree farm licence under subsection (1).

Applying the Act to trial management units

3   (1) A section of the Act that refers to

(a) the allowable annual cut determined for a tree farm licence area, or

(b) a volume of timber that is related to the allowable annual cut determined for a tree farm licence area

applies to a trial management unit as if that section referred to

(c) an allowable annual cut based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, or

(d) an amount of land that is related to the allowable annual cut,

as applicable, to the extent the allowable annual cut determined for the trial management unit is based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, and the section of the Act is varied to the extent necessary for this purpose.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the definition of "allowable annual cut" in the Act is replaced by the definition of "allowable annual cut" in section 1 wherever that term is used in a section of the Act that applies to the allowable annual cut determined for a trial management unit.

(3) Without limiting subsection (1), if a trial management unit is only part of a tree farm licence area,

(a) the trial management unit is to be treated as if it were a separate tree farm licence area when applying a section of the Act that refers to the allowable annual cut for a tree farm licence area, and

(b) the remainder of the tree farm licence area is to be treated as if the trial management unit were no longer part of that area when applying a section of the Act that refers to the allowable annual cut for a tree farm licence area.

(4) Without limiting subsection (1), if a trial management unit is only part of a tree farm licence area, for the purposes of determining the portion of the allowable annual cut that is available to the holder of an agreement

(a) the trial management unit is to be treated as if it were a separate tree farm licence area, and

(b) the remainder of the tree farm licence area is to be treated as if the trial management unit were no longer part of that area.

(5) Without limiting subsection (1), if a section of the Act provides for or refers to an increase or reduction in the allowable annual cut that is available to the holder of an agreement, then, to the extent the allowable annual cut is based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested,

(a) that section of the Act must be considered to refer to an increase or reduction in the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, and

(b) any reference to volume of timber harvested in that section of the Act must be considered to be a reference to an amount of land from which timber is harvested.

(6) Without limiting subsection (1), if a section of the Act provides for the disposition of a volume of timber as a result of a reduction in or failure to harvest the allowable annual cut that is available to the holder of an agreement, then, to the extent the allowable annual cut is based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested,

(a) that section of the Act must be considered to provide for the disposition of harvesting rights based on an amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, and

(b) if the allowable annual cut or part of the allowable annual cut, as applicable, is specified as a different amount for different parts of a management unit, for different silvicultural systems, or for different types of timber or terrain, then the areas in respect of which harvesting rights are disposed of under a section of the Act referred to in paragraph (a) must be selected in a manner that takes into consideration the specified components of the allowable annual cut.

Section 8 of the Act is varied

4   (1) When determining the allowable annual cut for a trial management unit, the chief forester, in addition to the matters set out in section 8 (8) (b) to (e) of the Act, must consider the rate of harvesting, based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested annually, that may be sustained within the trial management unit, taking into account the following factors, which replace the factors set out in section 8 (8) (a) (i) to (vi) of the Act:

(a) the composition of the forest within the trial management unit and its expected rate of growth;

(b) the expected time that it will take the forest within the trial management unit, excluding areas that no longer contribute to the productive forest land base, such as areas on which permanent access structures have been constructed, to become re-established after timber is cut, damaged or destroyed;

(c) the silvicultural systems and silviculture treatments to be applied within the trial management unit;

(d) the constraints on the amount of land available for timber harvesting that reasonably can be expected from use of the trial management unit for purposes other than timber production;

(e) any other information that, in the chief forester's opinion, relates to

(i) the capability of the trial management unit to produce timber, or

(ii) the suitability of areas within the trial management unit for timber harvesting.

(2) Despite subsection (1), if the rate of harvesting referred to in that subsection is based in part on the volume of timber that is to be harvested annually, the chief forester must take into account the factors set out in section 8 (8) (a) (i) to (vi) of the Act, to the extent the chief forester determines they affect the volume of timber that may be harvested annually from the trial management unit.

(3) In determining an allowable annual cut under subsection (1) the chief forester,

(a) in the case of an allowable annual cut, or part of an allowable annual cut, that is based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, may specify a different amount of land for different parts of the trial management unit, for different silvicultural systems, or for different types of timber or terrain, and

(b) in the case of an allowable annual cut, or part of an allowable annual cut, that is based on the volume of timber that is to be harvested, may specify a different volume for different parts of the trial management unit, or for different types of timber or terrain,

and section 8 (5) of the Act is varied accordingly.

Cut control

5   (1) If a section of the Act

(a) refers to the volume of timber harvested during a cut control period, and

(b) relates this volume to the allowable annual cut or the sum of the allowable annual cuts that were available to the holder of an agreement during the period,

then, when that section of the Act is applied to an agreement,

(c) that section of the Act must be considered to refer to the amount of land from which timber was harvested under the agreement, to the extent the allowable annual cut is based on the amount of land from which timber is to be harvested, and

(d) the amount of land from which timber was harvested is to be determined in accordance with this section.

(2) The amount of land from which timber was harvested under an agreement, during a cut control period, is the total amount of land, excluding any duplication, that is included within areas identified in a report prepared under subsection (3) as meeting the following criteria during a calendar year that is part of the cut control period:

(a) subject to subsection (8), areas within a cutblock from which trees are harvested, under a cutting permit or road permit issued under or in respect of the agreement, either as part of a regeneration cut or to make an access structure;

(b) areas within a cutblock identified in a cutting permit issued under the agreement that, under subsection (7), are considered to have met the criteria referred to in paragraph (a);

(c) areas, if any, within the applicable trial management unit on which the holder of the agreement is found to have cut, damaged or destroyed Crown timber without authority, contrary to section 52 of the Forest and Range Practices Act;

(d) areas that are carried forward under subsection (9).

(3) Within the three month period following the end of a calendar year, or within another period following the end of a calendar year that is agreed to by the ministry and the holder of the applicable agreement, the ministry must

(a) prepare a report that

(i) lists the areas that are recorded in the ministry's information systems, in respect of an agreement, as having met the criteria referred in subsection (2) during that calendar year,

(ii) identifies the total amount of land, expressed in hectares rounded to the nearest hectare, that is included within these areas, and

(iii) if the allowable annual cut or part of the allowable annual cut that is available to the holder of an agreement during the year is specified as a different amount for different parts of a trial management unit, for different silvicultural systems, or for different types of timber or terrain, identifies the portion of the total amount of land referred to in subparagraph (ii) that is attributable to the specified components of the allowable annual cut, and

(b) send a copy of this report to the holder of the agreement.

(4) Within one month after receiving a report referred to in subsection (3), the holder of the agreement for which the report was prepared may request that the report be corrected if the holder believes there is an error or omission in the report.

(5) On receipt of a request under subsection (4), the ministry must correct the report if the error or omission reported by the holder of the agreement is confirmed.

(6) If the ministry corrects a report in response to a request made under subsection (4), then the corrected report is considered to be the report prepared under subsection (3).

(7) If a cutting permit expires and there is an area within a cutblock identified in the cutting permit that

(a) subject to subsection (8), is an area on which timber

(i) is suitable for harvest as part of a regeneration cut, but

(ii) was not harvested, and

(b) was not previously reported under subsection (3) as having met the criteria set out in subsection (2) before the expiry of the cutting permit,

then that area must be considered to have met the criteria set out in subsection (2) (a) in the calendar year in which the cutting permit expires.

(8) For the purposes of subsections (2) (a) and (7) (a),

(a) the area within a cutblock from which timber was harvested as part of a regeneration cut or to make an access structure, or

(b) in the case of an area referred to in subsection (7), the area within a cutblock on which timber is suitable for harvesting as part of a regeneration cut,

is the gross area that was subject to these harvesting activities and includes any areas on which timber was left uncut due to the type of silvicultural system, such as partial cutting, that was used on that portion of the cutblock, other than areas that are reserved from harvesting, such as riparian reserve zones or wildlife tree patches.

(9) If, during a cut control period, the amount of land from which timber was harvested under an agreement, as determined in accordance with this section, is more than the total of the amounts of land that were the basis for the allowable annual cuts that

(a) were available to the holder of the agreement during that period, and

(b) were based, in whole or in part, on the amount of land from which timber was to be harvested,

then the excess amount of land must be treated as being an amount of land from which timber was harvested during the subsequent cut control period for the purpose of determining the amount of land from which timber was harvested during the cut control period.

(10) To the extent that section 75.91 of the Act is to be read, for the purposes of the trial program, as applying to an amount of land rather than a volume of timber, the penalty payable under that section of the Act is the product of

(a) two times the rate determined by dividing the total stumpage paid in respect of the agreement during the preceding year by the total amount of land from which timber was harvested under the agreement during that year, and

(b) the excess amount of land from which timber was harvested under the agreement during the cut control period referred to in section 75.41 (1) or (2) of the Act,

and section 75.91 of the Act is varied accordingly.

(11) If an approval was granted under section 75.94 of the Act in respect of a volume of timber and the volume referred to in the approval applies to all or part of an area that is a trial management unit, then to the extent required for the purposes of the trial program

(a) the minister or a person authorized by the minister must specify an amount of land, which is to be substituted for all or part of the volume referred to in the approval, and

(b) if an amount of land is specified under paragraph (a), that amount must be subtracted from the amount of land referred to in subsection (2) (a) when preparing a report under subsection (3) for the period to which the approval applies.

Annual rent

6   (1) During the applicable period, the amount of annual rent to be paid in respect of

(a) Crown land referred to in section 35 (1) (b) of the Act, other than Crown land subject to a timber licence, and

(b) land referred to in sections 37 (1) and 38 of the Act,

is based on the allowable annual cut attributable to the trial management unit that was in effect immediately before the applicable period, and section 111 and 112 of the Act and the Annual Rent Regulation are varied accordingly.

(2) If, during the applicable period, the portion of the allowable annual cut available to an agreement holder in respect of the areas referred to in subsection (1) is increased or reduced, the annual rent payable by the agreement holder under this section is increased or reduced in proportion to the increase or reduction of the allowable annual cut.

Winding up the trial program for a trial management unit

7   (1) At least 30 days before the earlier of

(a) the date section 151.3 of the Act is repealed under subsection (4) of that section, or

(b) the date the trial program for a trial management unit is terminated,

the chief forester must determine, in accordance with subsection (3), a volume-based allowable annual cut for the trial management unit.

(2) A determination referred to in subsection (1) takes effect on the earlier of

(a) the date section 151.3 of the Act is repealed under subsection (4) of that section, or

(b) the date the trial program for the trial management unit is terminated.

(3) The chief forester must determine an allowable annual cut referred to in subsection (1) by starting with the applicable volume identified in Schedule B and making such increases or reductions to that volume as the chief forester considers appropriate to reflect the increases or reductions, if any, that were made to the allowable annual cut for the applicable trial management unit during the trial program.

(4) Within two years of the date on which a determination referred to in subsection (1) takes effect under subsection (2), a new allowable annual cut must be determined under section 8 of the Act for the applicable tree farm licence area.

(5) If the chief forester considers that the allowable annual cut determined under subsection (1) is not likely to be changed significantly with a new determination under section 8 of the Act, then, despite subsection (4), the chief forester

(a) by written order may postpone the new determination under section 8 of the Act to a date that is up to 5 years after the date the determination referred to in subsection (1) takes effect under subsection (2), and

(b) must give written reasons for the postponement.

[am. B.C. Reg. 337/2007.]