BILL 58
An Act to Amend the
Crown Lands and Forests Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
1 Section
1 of the Crown Lands and Forests Act, chapter C-38.1 of the Acts of
New Brunswick, 1980, is amended
(a) in the
definition « vente de bois de la Couronne » in the French
version by striking out the period at the end of the definition and
substituting a semicolon;
(b) by adding
the following definition in alphabetical order:
“forest operations compliance audit”
means a forest operations compliance audit referred to in section 31.1; (vérification de la
conformité des opérations forestières)
2 The
Act is amended by adding after section 31 the following:
Forest operations compliance
audits
31.1(1) On notice to a licensee, the Minister
may carry out a forest operations compliance audit in order to audit
the performance of the licensee in respect of the management of Crown
Lands under licence.
31.1(2) A forest operations compliance audit shall be conducted in a
manner and follow the procedure determined by the Minister.
31.1(3) On the demand of the Minister, the licensee or an employee or
agent of the licensee shall
(a) permit access to the area of Crown
Lands described in the licence, and
(b) furnish any information or document
that is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary to enable the Minister
to perform the forest operations compliance audit and that the licensee
or employee or agent of the licensee is reasonably able to furnish.
Forest audit report, compliance
action plan and non-compliance
31.2(1) Following a forest operations compliance audit, the Minister
shall deliver a forest audit report to the licensee
(a) setting out the findings of the
audit, including any instances of non-compliance and any corrective
action to be taken, and
(b) containing any other information
required by the regulations.
31.2(2) A licensee shall comply with a forest audit report within the
time period, if any, set out in the report.
31.2(3) If the Minister determines that the licensee did not comply with
the Act, the regulations, a forest management agreement or any other
agreement made under this Act, a forest audit report may, in accordance
with the regulations, require the licensee to submit a compliance
action plan and to pay a penalty.
31.2(4) If a forest audit report requires a licensee to provide the Minister
with a compliance action plan, the licensee shall provide to the Minister
the compliance action plan containing the information prescribed by
regulation.
31.2(5) A compliance action plan shall be provided
to the Minister in the form and in the manner prescribed by regulation.
31.2(6) The Minister shall assess each compliance action plan received
and determine whether the plan resolves the licensee’s non-compliance
and, if the plan is deficient, to require the licensee to provide
an appropriate compliance action plan that will have the effect of
resolving the non-compliance.
31.2(7) A compliance action plan and every revision of a compliance action
plan is subject to the approval of the Minister and the Minister may
withhold his or her approval until any alterations the Minister considers
necessary have been made.
31.2(8) Subject to the regulations, if the licensee refuses to provide
or refuses or fails to satisfactorily implement a compliance action
plan, the Minister may do any one or more of the following:
(a) require the licensee to provide
a further compliance action plan satisfactory to the Minister, and
(b) impose a penalty on the licensee.
31.2(9) The Minister may publish a copy of the forest audit report or
the compliance action plan in any manner the Minister considers appropriate.
31.2(10) A penalty imposed under a compliance action plan shall be calculated
in accordance with the regulations and shall not be greater than
(a) $10,000 for not providing a compliance
action plan to the Minister when required,
(b) $25,000 for refusal or failure to
satisfactorily implement a compliance action plan, and
(c) $25,000 in any other case.
31.2(11) A licensee required to pay a penalty shall pay the penalty within
the time period and in the manner prescribed by the regulations.
Designation of forest auditors
31.3(1) The Minister may designate any employee of the Minister to carry
out a forest operations compliance audit or for the purposes of carrying
out any other power or duty of the Minister referred to in section 31.1or 31.2.
31.3(2) A person purporting to exercise the
powers or duties of the Minister under this section shall produce
evidence of his or her authority to exercise that power or duty when
required to do so.
Forest Audit Appeal Board
31.4(1) There is established an appeal board to be known as the Forest
Audit Appeal Board.
31.4(2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council, on the recommendation of
the Minister, shall appoint members to the appeal board, consisting
of
(a) a chair of the appeal board,
(b) a vice-chair of the appeal board,
(c) five members of the appeal board
appointed from a list of licensees, sub-licensees or other persons,
compiled in accordance with subsection (3), to represent the forest
industry, and
(d) two members of the appeal board
appointed from among employees of the Department of Natural Resources
who are not involved with forest operations compliance audits.
31.4(3) If the Minister requests, the licensees and the sub-licensees
shall, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(c), and within a reasonable
period of time after the request, submit to the Minister 5 names of
eligible candidates for the appeal board.
31.4(4) The chair and the vice-chair of the appeal board appointed under
paragraphs (2)(a) and (b) and the persons appointed as members of
the board under paragraph (2)(d) shall be appointed to the appeal
board for a term of 2 years and may be reappointed.
31.4(5) No person shall be eligible for appointment as the chair or the
vice-chair of the appeal board who is or has been, within 6 months
before the appointment,
(a) employed in the Civil Service of
the Province, or
(b) an employee or agent of a licensee
or sub-licensee.
31.4(6) The members of the appeal board appointed under paragraph (2)(c)
shall
(a) be appointed for a term not exceeding
one year and may be reappointed, and
(b) not sit as a member of a panel of
the appeal board in respect of an appeal if
(i) the member is the person making the
appeal, or
(ii) the member is an employee or agent
of the person making the appeal.
31.4(7) The chair, vice-chair and members of the appeal board shall,
in the opinion of the Minister, have specialized, expert or technical
knowledge of the forest industry.
31.4(8) The vice-chair of the appeal board shall perform the duties and
shall have the powers and jurisdiction of the chair of the appeal
board during the absence or disability of the chair or at any time
when so authorized by the chair and in those instances shall be deemed
to be the chair.
31.4(9) The Minister may remove a member of an appeal board from office
for cause or for any incapacity.
Appeal of the findings of
an audit
31.5(1) The Forest Audit Appeal Board shall
hear appeals with respect to the findings of a forest audit report.
31.5(2) Any person directly affected by the findings of a forest audit
report may appeal the findings of the report to the appeal board on
the ground that an error has been made by the Minister in the preparation
or content of the forest audit report or in the application of an
arbitrary or unfair procedure in the making of the report.
31.5(3) The parties to an appeal under this section are the persons directly
affected by the findings of a forest audit report, as determined by
the Minister, and all other persons added by the Forest Audit Appeal
Board as parties to the appeal.
31.5(4) A person referred to in subsection (2) who seeks to appeal the
findings of a forest audit report shall file, in the manner and within
the time period prescribed by regulation, a notice of appeal containing
the information prescribed by regulation.
31.5(5) If a person referred to in subsection (2) appeals the findings
of a forest audit report, the results of the audit shall be considered
to be valid until the conclusion of the appeal process.
31.5(6) The Forest Audit Appeal Board shall hear, determine or deal with
any matter appealed to it and may confirm, revoke or vary the decision
of the Minister in respect of the findings of a forest audit report.
31.5(7) Every decision of the Forest Audit Appeal Board is final and
may not be questioned or reviewed in any court.
Security
31.6(1) Before proceeding to deal with any matter appealed, the Forest
Audit Appeal Board shall require the person seeking to appeal the
findings of the forest audit report to furnish the appeal board with
security in a form satisfactory to the appeal board and in an amount
and subject to the conditions prescribed by regulation.
31.6(2) After the completion of the appeal, if the board revokes or varies
the findings of the forest audit report, the Forest Audit Appeal Board
shall, as soon as reasonably possible, return the security to the
appellant.
31.6(3) After the completion of the appeal,
if the appeal board confirms the findings of the forest audit report,
the Forest Audit Appeal Board shall, on 10 days’ notice to the
appellant, realize upon the security.
3 Subsection
95(1) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (d) the following:
(d.1) respecting information to be contained
in a forest audit report referred to in section 31.2, including the assignment of categories
to instances of non-compliance;
(d.2) prescribing information to be provided
in relation to compliance action plans referred to in section 31.2 and the manner and form of providing
that information;
(d.3) respecting penalties referred to
in section 31.2 and the calculation
of the amounts of the penalties, which may vary according to the frequency
of the non-compliance and the impact of the non-compliance on the
environment or on the forest resource;
(d.4) respecting the procedures to be
followed in imposing penalties referred to in section 31.2 and all other matters in relation
to the penalties, including prescribing the time period within which
and the manner in which a penalty must be paid;
(d.5) respecting the categorization of
the non-compliance by the frequency of the non-compliance and the
impact of the non-compliance on the environment or on the forest resource
for the purposes of paragraph (d.3), including establishing guidelines
or criteria in relation to the categorization;
(d.6) respecting appeals to the Forest
Audit Appeal Board referred to in section 31.4, including
(i) the powers, functions and duties of
the appeal board;
(ii) the convening of a panel to hear
an appeal and the selection of members of the panel;
(iii) the remuneration and expenses of
members of the appeal board;
(d.7) prescribing the manner and the form
of hearings and the procedures to be followed at hearings of the Forest
Audit Appeal Board referred to in section 31.4;
(d.8) prescribing the manner in which
and the time period within which a notice of appeal referred to in
subsection 31.5(4) shall be fixed
and the information to be contained in the notice of appeal;
(d.9) prescribing the manner in which
a person directly affected by the findings of a forest audit report
may appeal the findings of the report;
(d.10) prescribing the amount of the security
required to be provided under section 31.6;
COMMENCEMENT
4 This Act or any provision of it comes into
force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.