O. Reg. 257/17: THE CAP AND TRADE PROGRAM

 

ontario regulation 257/17

made under the

Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act, 2016

Made: June 28, 2017
Filed: July 4, 2017
Published on e-Laws: July 4, 2017
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: July 22, 2017

Amending O. Reg. 144/16

(THE CAP AND TRADE PROGRAM)

1. Subsection 1 (1) of Ontario Regulation 144/16 is amended by adding the following definition:

“process gas” has the same meaning as in the Reporting Regulation;

2. Clause 7 (1) (b) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(b) the first year in which a GHG report is required to be verified under the Reporting Regulation with respect to the facility.

3. Subsection 9 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding the following paragraph:

1.1 No participant was required to have a GHG report verified with respect to the facility in the year immediately before the year in which the participant became a mandatory participant with respect to the facility.

4. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Amount attributed is zero, first two consecutive years after re-registration

9.0.1 (1) This section applies to a capped participant who is the owner or operator of a facility at which specified GHG activities are engaged in during a year if the following criteria are met:

1. A participant was previously required,

i. under the 2016 EPA Regulation, to have a 2016 EPA report verified with respect to the facility, or

ii. under the Reporting Regulation, to have a GHG report verified with respect to GHG activities engaged in at the facility.

2. The capped participant is required to have a GHG report verified with respect to the facility but no participant was required to have a GHG report verified with respect to the facility in the year immediately before the year in which the participant became a capped participant with respect to the facility.

3. The specified GHG activity described in Item 16 of Schedule 2 to the Reporting Regulation was not engaged in at the facility before January 1, 2017.

4. The specified GHG activities engaged in at the facility do not include the activity described in Item 18 of Schedule 2 to the Reporting Regulation.

5. The primary activity engaged in at the facility is not the specified GHG activity described in Item 7 of Schedule 2 to the Reporting Regulation.

(2) Despite sections 4 and 6, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the capped participant in respect of the specified GHG activities engaged in at the facility is zero,

(a) in the case of a mandatory participant, for each of the first two consecutive years following the most recent year in which no GHG report was required to be verified with respect to the facility; or

(b) in the case of a voluntary participant, for the first year following the most recent year in which no GHG report was required to be verified with respect to the facility.

5. Paragraph 5 of subsection 21 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “petroleum products” and substituting “petroleum products, process gas”.

6. Section 25 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Information to be provided

25. A person who is required to register as a mandatory participant shall give the Director the information set out in Schedule 1 and the following information relating to each activity and each facility in respect of which the person is required to register as a mandatory participant:

1. Any unique identifiers that have been provided to the person by the Ministry in respect of each activity and facility in respect of which a GHG report is required to be verified for the purposes of the 2015 EPA Regulation, the 2016 EPA Regulation or the Reporting Regulation.

2. All primary NAICS codes and any secondary NAICS codes related to each activity and facility.

3. The names and contact information of any persons responsible for preparing a 2015 EPA report, a 2016 EPA report or a GHG report in respect of the activities.

7. Subsection 42 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “a person’s” in the portion before the formula and substituting “the participant’s”.

8. Subsection 52 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “the transfer” and substituting “the removal”.

9. Section 60 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsections:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister may, at any time after providing a notice under subsection (1), change the information included in the notice by providing notice of the change in such manner as the Minister considers appropriate.

(3) The day on which bidding in the auction or sale may take place may be changed by a maximum of four business days, which four business days may be either before or after the day specified in the original notice of the auction or sale.

(4) Subject to subsections (5) and (6), if the day on which bidding in the auction or sale may take place is changed, all requirements under this Regulation in respect of which there is a time limit determined in relation to the day on which bidding takes place shall be, as of the day on which the notice of the change is provided by the Minister, determined in relation to the new day as specified in the notice of change.

(5) Subsection (4) does not apply with respect to a requirement if, before the day on which the Minister provides a notice of a change, the time limit in respect of the requirement expired.

(6) Despite subsection (4), if a participant has given financial assurance in accordance with this Regulation for the purpose of bidding in an auction or a sale and the day of the auction or sale is subsequently changed, the participant is not required to provide new financial assurance that is valid for at least 26 days following the revised day of the auction or sale. 

10. Paragraph 3 of subsection 61 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding “and manner” after “form” in the portion before subparagraph i.

11. Subsection 63 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “shall pay” and substituting “shall pay, in the form and manner approved by the Minister”.

12. Subsection 67 (3) of the Regulation is amended by adding the following paragraph:

4. Financial assurance in the form of a bank transfer that has been submitted by the participant has not been deposited into an escrow account established by the financial services administrator or the institution indicated by the financial services administrator.

13. (1) Subsection 85 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(1) The owner or operator of a facility may apply to the Minister for Ontario emission allowances to be distributed free of charge under subsection 31 (2) of the Act to the person in respect of the facility if,

(a) an emissions report is required to be prepared and verified in accordance with the Reporting Regulation in respect of the facility; and

(b) the person meets a description set out in subsection (2).

(2) Subsection 85 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting the following:

(2) The person must be the owner or operator of the facility during the year in which the person applies and must meet one of the following descriptions:

. . . . .

(3) Paragraph 2 of subsection 85 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Subject to subsection (3)” at the beginning.

(4) Subsection 85 (3) of the Regulation is revoked.

(5) Subparagraph 2 iii of subsection 85 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “petroleum products” and substituting “petroleum products, process gas”.

Commencement

14. This Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.