Protecting riparian
fish habitat, while facilitating urban development that exhibits high
standards of environmental stewardship, is a priority for the Government
of British Columbia. Good quality urban streamside habitat is essential
for ensuring healthy fish populations.
An alternate model
for urban riparian management has been developed that satisfies the
statutory obligations of the federal Fisheries Act, provides certainty
and flexibility to urban land owners and developers, and is not dependent
on local, provincial and federal government resources.
Many local governments
have shown strong leadership in managing riparian areas. To reinforce
this work, the Province is providing a consistent approach to addressing
the potential impact of residential, commercial, and industrial activities
on riparian fish habitat.
In developing
this new regulation, the Ministry of Environment has
worked in collaboration with the Union of British Columbia
Municipalities and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The Riparian Areas
Regulation (RAR), enacted under Section 12 of the Fish Protection Act
in July 2004, calls on local governments to protect
Riparian Areas during residential, commercial, and industrial development
by ensuring that proposed activities are subject to a science based
assessment conducted by a Qualified Environmental Professional.
Purpose
The purpose of the
Regulation is to provide protection for the features, functions and
conditions that are vital in the natural maintenance of stream health
and productivity. These vital features, functions and streamside area
conditions are numerous and varied and include such things as sources
of large organic debris (fallen trees and tree roots), areas for stream
channel migration, vegetative cover to help moderate water temperature,
provision of food, nutrients and organic matter to the stream, stream
bank stabilization and buffers for streams from excessive silt and
surface runoff pollution.
Qualified Environmental
Professionals and Assessment Methods
The Riparian Areas
Regulation model uses Qualified Environmental Professionals, hired
by land developers, to assess habitat and the potential impacts, develop
mitigation measures and avoid impacts of development to fish and fish
habitat, particularly riparian habitat. This shifts the cost of assessing
developments to the land developer, allowing governments to focus on
monitoring and enforcement within their respective jurisdictions. By
conscientiously following the assessment procedure set out in the Regulation,
the Qualified Environmental Professional and the land developer will
have applied due diligence in avoiding a harmful alteration, disruption
or destruction (HADD) of riparian fish habitat. In the event that a
HADD cannot be avoided, an application for an authorization, including
compensation, must be submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The assessment methods
attached as a schedule to the regulation are a key component of a regulatory
regime for riparian protection that is clear and measurable, but does
not rely exclusively on default set backs. The assessment is based
on the best available science with respect to riparian habitats.
The assessment
methodology provides clear direction to Qualified Environmental
Professionals on
how to assess impacts, how to determine setbacks based
on site conditions, and what measures need to be employed
to maintain the integrity of
the setbacks. Qualified Environmental Professionals,
for the purpose of this regulation, will have to certify
they have the qualifications,
experience and skills necessary to conduct the assessment.
The assessment will form the content of notifications by
development proponents to
regulatory agencies. The Ministry of Environment
will provide local governments confirmation of notifications,
enabling them to move forward in approving urban developments
without taking
on liability for reviewing and approving riparian setbacks.
To increase
the accountability of the Qualified Environmental Professional
and to permit compliance
monitoring, the assessment methodology will yield outcomes
that are measurable, repeatable, and independent of observer.
The assessment
methodology will also enable effectiveness monitoring
to be undertaken to determine whether impacts from urban development
on riparian habitats
are being fully avoided when the assessment methodology is
used correctly.
Geographical Area
Implementing Riparian Protection
The Riparian Areas
Regulation will apply only to local governments located on the east
side of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the Southern Interior,
as these are the parts of the province that are experiencing the most
rapid urban growth. This includes the following regional districts
and all municipalities within them: Capital, Central Okanagan, Columbia-Shuswap,
Comox-Strathcona, Cowichan Valley, Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver
(except the City of Vancouver), Nanaimo, North Okanagan, Okanagan-Similkameen,
Powell River, Squamish-Lillooet, Sunshine Coast, Thompson-Nicola and
the trust area under the Islands Trust Act.
The following
maps and table will assist with understanding where the
regulations are applicable.
Maps
Municipalities
and regional districts
DFO areas
MOE regions
Overlay of all three of the
borders is on the RARmap
Table
of RAR Areas
The regulation does
not apply to agriculture, mining or forestry-related land uses. Riparian
protection for these activities are provided by other initiatives.
QEP Training Course
The RAR training
course is for individuals who are Qualified Environmental
Professionals or who work with QEPs conducting the Riparian Areas
Regulation
assessment. There is also a short course offered for people
who want a detailed overview of the Regulation and Assessment.
The
course description, schedule and registration are at http://www.mala.ca/nrep/environment/rar.asp
Notification
System
