Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador 2005 Chapter 40

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cF-23
as amended

1. (1) Paragraph 2(a) of the Forestry Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) "annual operating plan" means a document covering a period of one year which sets out in detail the timber harvesting areas, silviculture treatment areas and forest access roads to be constructed within a parcel to which the plan applies and containing the information that may be required by regulation;

(2) Paragraphs 2(e) and (f) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

(e) "department" means the department presided over by the minister;

(f) "5 year operating plan" means a document covering a 5 year period that sets out information respecting forestry activities within operating areas located within a parcel of land to which the plan applies and which provides for sustained yield forest management of the parcel that is consistent with the sustainable forest management strategy of the province and the principle of sustainable development and containing other information that may be required by regulation;

(f.1) "forest access road" means a road that provides access to a proposed or actual area designated for forestry activities in a 5 year operating plan but is not a highway within the meaning of the Works, Services and Transportation Act and the Highway Traffic Act;

(f.2) "forestry activities" include but are not limited to forest access road construction, maintenance and decommissioning of forest access roads, timber harvesting, silviculture treatment, forest protection, forest management research and monitoring, conservation activities for the maintenance of ecosystems and other activities carried out in accordance with sustained yield forest management practices under a sustainable forest management plan;

(3) Paragraph 2(h) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" the word "sustainable".

(4) Paragraph 2(i) of the Act is repealed.

(5) Paragraph 2(l) of the Act is repealed.

(6) Paragraph 2(m) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(m) "minister" means the minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to administer this Act;

(m.1) "operating area" means an area designated for forestry activities which has clearly defined natural or man-made boundaries as delineated on a map and for the purposes of the regulations may be considered to be a part of a parcel;

(m.2) "parcel" means a block, lot or area of land or a combination of blocks, lots or areas of land, however acquired, of 120 hectares or more in extent to which the right to cut and remove trees is vested in the Crown or in a person or from which the Crown or person derives a continuing benefit from having the trees cut and removed on his or her behalf and which is wholly contained within one forest management district;

(7) The Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (r) the following:

(r.1) "sustainable forest management plan" means the 5 year operating plan together with the annual operating plans for an area covered by the 5 year operating plan and amendments to those plans;

(8) Section 2 of the Act is amended by

(a) adding the word "and" at the end of paragraph (s);

(b) striking out the semicolon and the word "and" at the end of paragraph (t) and substituting a period; and

2. (1) Subsection 3(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) The minister shall, in a manner that he or she considers to be appropriate, consult with residents of the province who may be directly affected by the

(a) preparation of a sustainable forest management plan under subsection 7(3);

(b) issuing of a Crown timber licence or a timber sale agreement under subsection 14(1); and

(2) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following:

(3) Where, under subsection 7(4), the minister orders a person to prepare a sustainable forest management plan, that person shall provide an opportunity for members of the public, the governments of the province and Canada and other agencies having an interest in the management of the area covered by that plan

(a) to meet for consultation at a place adjacent to or in the geographical area covered by that plan; and

(b) to have provided to persons affected by or having an interest in that plan, the information respecting sustainable forest management planning; and

(c) to record and respond to the concerns of the local community respecting the environmental effects of the forestry activities proposed in the sustainable forest management plan.

(4) The procedures for establishing and conducting public consultation meetings under subsection (3) shall be in accordance with the regulations and as required by the minister.

3. Section 6 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Timber resource analysis

6. (1) Commencing on December 31, 2005 and every fifth year afterward, the minister shall prepare a timber resource analysis for the province.

(2) Every tenth year after December 31, 2003 the minister shall prepare a sustainable forest management strategy for the province.

(3) A timber resource analysis and the sustainable forest management strategy for the province prepared under subsections (1) and (2) shall be submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council for approval.

(4) The sustainable forest management strategy for the province prepared under subsection (2) shall set out the nature and extent of the forest resources of the province, the results of the most recent timber resource analysis, the goals and indicators of forest management and the forest resource management strategies intended to achieve those goals for a region of the province and for the entire province.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection 14(2) and that an annual allowable cut has been determined in accordance with section 9 for each year of a 5 year timber resource analysis period indicated under subsection (1), the minister may permit the cutting of timber within a forest management district or with respect to a combination of parcels under subsection 9(2) in excess of the annual allowable cut for that district or combination, provided that the total allocation of timber for that district or combination over the 5 year period covered by the timber resource analysis does not exceed the total of the annual allowable cuts approved under the sustainable forest management strategy referred to in subsection (2) for that 5 year period.

4. (1) Subsection 7(3) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" the word "sustainable".

(2) Section 7 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(4) The minister may order a person who has a right to cut and remove timber from a parcel wholly contained within one forest management district or who is vested with a continuing benefit of having timber cut for that person from a parcel wholly contained within one forest management district, to prepare a sustainable forest management plan for that parcel.

(5) Where a person has a right to cut timber or is vested with a continuing benefit from having timber cut and removed from parcels in more than one forest management district, the minister may, with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, order that person to prepare a sustainable forest management plan that provides one sustainable forest management plan for all parcels contained in more than one forest management district.

(6) A 5 year plan included in a sustainable forest management plan ordered under subsection (4) or (5) shall provide for sustained yield forest management of the parcels consistent with the sustainable forest management strategy of the province and principles of sustainable development.

(7) The minister, with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, may vary the time by which a sustainable forest management plan is to expire.

5. Section 8 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Management principles

8. A forest management district shall be managed in accordance with the principles of sustained yield forest management.

6. Section 9 of the Act is amended by renumbering it as subsection 9(1) and by adding immediately after that subsection the following:

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the minister may combine parcels from 2 or more forest management districts for the purpose of determining an annual allowable cut for those combined parcels.

7. Sections 10 and 11 of the Act are repealed.

8. Paragraph 12(1)(a) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) the right to manage and cut timber on land held by a person;

9. Subsection 14(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Crown timber cut under subsection (1) shall be cut in accordance with the annual allowable cut calculated under section 9.

10. Subsections 18(1), (2) and (3) of the Act are amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" wherever they occur, the word "sustainable".

11. (1) Paragraph 38(h) of the Act is repealed.

(2) Paragraphs 38(n) and (o) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

(n) prescribing the manner in which public consultations are to be held under this Act and the information to be made available during that consultation;

(o) respecting sustainable forest management, 5 year operating plans, annual operating plans and sustainable forest management plans;

(p) respecting annual reports required under this Act;

(q) prescribing the penalties to be imposed for cutting or removing timber from Crown lands or public land contrary to the provisions of this Act;

(r) prescribing the penalties generally to be imposed for contravening this Act; and

(s) prescribing the form, content and due dates for sustainable forest management plans.

12. Paragraph 39(d) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(d) "parcel", notwithstanding paragraph 2(m.2), means a block, lot or area of land or some combination of blocks, lots or areas of land, however acquired, of 120 hectares or more in extent to which the right to cut and remove trees is vested in the same person or from which that person derives a continuing benefit from having the trees cut and removed on his or her behalf and which is wholly contained within one forest management district;

13. Subsection 43(3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(3) An order made under subsection (2)

(a) shall be made subject to the condition that the applicant submit to the minister a sustainable forest management plan or specified parts of a plan acceptable to the minister and prepared in accordance with

(i) the sustainable forest management strategy for the province, and

(ii) terms and conditions that may be specified in the order, and

(iii) regulations made under this Act,

for each parcel or part of a parcel to which the order relates; and

(b) shall be valid for a period of not more than one year from the date specified in the order, but no order under subsection (2) shall be made more than twice with respect to the same parcel of land or a part of that parcel.

14. Subsection 46(1) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" wherever they occur the word "sustainable".

15. (1) Paragraph 76(1)(e) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" the word "sustainable".

(2) Paragraph 76(1)(f) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" the word "sustainable".

(3) Paragraph 76(1)(g) is repealed and the following substituted:

(g) respecting the due dates for the submission of 5 year operating plans, annual operating plans and annual reports;

(4) Paragraph 76(1)(h) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the words "forest management plan" the word "sustainable".

16. Section 112 of the Act is repealed.

17. Section 113 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Construction or abandonment to be approved

113. (1) The minister or a forestry official may construct and maintain a forest access road that he or she considers necessary for the carrying out of good sustainable forest management practices.

(2) The minister or a forestry official may authorize the

(a) construction by another person of a forest access road that he or she considers necessary for the carrying out of good sustainable forestry practices; or

(b) abandonment or closure of a forest access road upon those terms and conditions that the minister or forestry official considers necessary to restore and rehabilitate the areas affected by the construction of that road to a condition acceptable to the minister or the forestry official.

(3) A person shall not construct, close or abandon a forest access road without the authorization of the minister or a forestry official.

(4) A person shall not, by timber harvesting, or another activity, damage or cause damage to a forest access road.

18. Section 116 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Maintenance and rehabilitation required

116. (1) A party to a forest management agreement or a timber sale agreement or a person who has a right to cut timber under a timber licence, timber lease, terms and conditions of an approved management plan or another person may

(a) subject to section 113, construct a forest access road or perform other work incidental to that construction;

(b) restrict travel over a forest access road constructed by that party or person; and

(c) subject to section 113, close or abandon a forest access road or perform work incidental to that closure or abandonment.

(2) A forest access road built on Crown land or public land shall be built, used and maintained to standards established by the minister or as the minister delegates to a forestry official.

19. Section 117 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Crown not liable

117. The Crown is not liable for an injury suffered by a person or for damage caused to the property of a person as a result of the use of a forest access road.