Proposed Amendments to Air Quality Management Fees Bylaw

Metro Vancouver is working to update the air quality management fees set out in MVRD Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021 (MVRD Bylaw No. 1330, 2021). Updates will be based on input from engagement, research, competitiveness with other jurisdictions, and consideration of current economic conditions. Updates intend to improve clarity, predictability, fairness, and competitiveness of the fees while maintaining alignment with Metro Vancouver’s principles of emissions reduction, discharger-pay (in proportion to the impact of their emissions), and fair cost recovery.

Proposed updates

The key updates proposed in the amendments include:

• Introducing application fee caps:
• $220,000 for new permits
• $110,000 for authorizations for facilities with expiring permits
  

• Clarifying and simplifying odorous air contaminant rules and fee rates:
• ​Charging fees based on emission limits, if a permit includes limits for odorous air contaminants
• Charging fees based on measured emissions at or above analytical method detection limits, if no emission limits are listed in a permit
• Shortening the list of odorous air contaminants focusing on the most odorous ones with published measurement methods
• Applying the same fee rate for permitted and measured odorous air contaminants
• Reducing some fee rates for odorous air contaminants
• Reintroducing the fee rate for total reduced sulphur emissions

• Clarifying fee calculations:
• Only the highest fee rate applies when a substance fits multiple categories to avoid double counting
• If a facility pays for combined odorous air contaminants, it will not pay extra for individual odorous air contaminants or total reduced sulphur emissions from the same emission source​
  

Next steps

Proposed amendments were presented for discussion to Metro Vancouver’s Air Quality Committee on January 16, 2026.

• Report for Air Quality Committee (January 2026)​​

Engagement​

Engagement sought feedback to shape an effective and practical bylaw and identify reasonable regulatory fees. The engagement program was designed to hear from those likely to have an interest, be impacted, or have a role in implementation. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed amendments.​

​Related r​esearch​​​

Public opinion research ​

Metro Vancouver has conducted research to gauge public opinion about how air quality management services should be funded. The findings of this research were that a majority of respondents (80%) believed that businesses emitting pollutants should pay most or all of the costs for regulating those emissions. Furthermore, the vast majority (92%) felt that fees should be scaled in accordance with the amount and degree of harm of the pollutants discharged.

• Public Opinion Research (October 2020)

Heath effects study

Metro Vancouver commissioned a health effects study that had a goal to develop a relative health impact scale that indicates how changes in emissions of different air contaminants impact public health in the Canadian portion of the Lower Fraser Valley.

• Health Effects Study (May 2019)

Background

Metro Vancouver p​​rotects air quality through emission regulations and site-specific authorizations (permits and approvals) to control the discharge of air contaminants. Metro Vancouver has charged fees for applications for authorization since 1973 and for authorized air emissions since 1992 to support the costs of delivering the air quality regulatory program and encourage emissions reduction.