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Amendments to Air Quality Permit and Regulatory Fees

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Thank you to everyone who submitted their feedback during the engagement on amendments to Metro Vancouver’s air quality permit and regulatory fees. At its regular October 2021 meeting, the Metro Vancouver Board approved the Metro Vancouver Regional District Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021 (Bylaw 1330) following review of the compiled feedback and resulting Bylaw amendments.

View the new Bylaw to regulate air quality management fees​​​.


The changes reflected in Bylaw 1330 (formerly Bylaw 1083) intend to:

  • achieve health and environmental benefits associated with the reduction of harmful emissions and improved air quality,
  • ensure fees promote continuous improvement, and
  • recover the costs of monitoring and enforcement while maintaining Metro Vancouver’s commitment to discharger-pay, equity, and fairness principles.

Over the next five years, fees for some air contaminants will increase, especially those responsible for the greatest health impacts. These air contaminants with high health impacts are Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5), Photoreactive Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and Sulphur Oxides (SOx).

If you represent a permitted or regulated facility in Metro Vancouver and would like to receive an estimate of updated fees for your facility, please contact Metro Vancouver at regulationenforcement@metrovancouver.org to request an estimate.

Public opinion​ research

Even with higher fees, society bears much greater potential health costs arising from the exposure to discharged air contaminants, relative to proposed increased regulatory fees. Due to this impact, research was conducted 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.

Project timeline​​​

August – October 2020
COMPLETE
Public and stakeholder opinion research on current and best future fees and fee structure
October 2020
COMPLETE
Develop proposed Air Quality Management Fees Bylaw Amendment Discussion Paper
November 2020
COMPLETE
Present draft Air Quality Management Fees Bylaw Amendment Discussion Paper to the Metro Vancouver Board for approval to engage
January – April 2021
COMPLETE
Engagement on Air Quality Management Fees Bylaw Amendment Discussion Paper
Spring – Summer 2021
COMPLETE
Develop proposed amendments to Bylaw No. 1083 based on engagement feedback
Fall 2021
COMPLETE
​Present draft Bylaw No. 1083 to the Metro Vancouver Board for approval​
Spring 2022 – Spring 2023
COMPLETE
​Present consequential amendments to other relevant MVRD Bylaws to align with Bylaw 1330 to the Metro Vancouver Board for approval​

 Resources

 

 

Discussion Paperhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-permit-fee-change-discussion-paper.pdf, Discussion PaperDiscussion Paper
Discussion Paper Summaryhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-fee-discussion-paper-summary.pdf, Discussion Paper SummaryDiscussion Paper Summary
Public Opinion Researchhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/air-quality-fees-survey-2020.pdf, Public Opinion ResearchPublic Opinion Research
Health Effects Studyhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/Documents/health-impact-scale-for-air-quality-improvements-in-the-canadian-lower-fraser-valley-airshed.pdf, Health Effects StudyHealth Effects Study

 Related links

 

 

Air Quality Regulatory Programhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/environmental-regulation-enforcement/air-quality-regulatory-program, Air Quality Regulatory ProgramAir Quality Regulatory Program
Clean Air Planhttps://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/clean-air-plan, Clean Air PlanClean Air Plan
Climate 2050https://metrovancouver.org/services/air-quality-climate-action/climate-2050, Climate 2050Climate 2050
Metro Vancouver Regional District Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021https://metrovancouver.org/boards/Bylaws/MVRD_Bylaw_1330.pdf, Metro Vancouver Regional District Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021Metro Vancouver Regional District Air Quality Management Fees Regulation Bylaw No. 1330, 2021

Contact


  • Email
  • 604-432-6200​​​

Mail: 
Attn: Regulation & Enforcement
4515 Central Boulevard
Burnaby, BC V5H 0C6​​​​

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