Whereas the Province of British Columbia amended the Agricultural Land Commission Act in 2018 under Bill 52; And whereas these changes included new prohibitions for dumping waste and other damaging substances on farmland, with significant penalties and new tools for enforcement: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province of British Columbia to follow through on these changes and invest more resources in prosecuting offenders who unlawfully deposit waste on agricultural lands.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food The Agricultural Land Commission ALC is responsible for the enforcement of the Agricultural Land Commission Act ALCA. The public may submit complaints and agencies may provide referrals of activities that may contravene the ALCA to the ALC. There are currently six ALC compliance and enforcement officers and one supervisor serving the Province. ALC Compliance and Enforcement Officers ALC Officers may coordinate with local government LGs and other agencies, depending on the site issue.When coordinating with LGs, ALC Officers may: - Conduct joint inspections with by-law enforcement officers; - Discuss who is going to take the lead in enforcement depends on the site-specific issues; - Advise the LG on what actions the ALC will be doing i.e., issue stop work, remediation, andor penalty orders; andor, - Discuss issues with LG legal counsel to support their legal case for by-law violations. ALC Officers also coordinate with other agencies, such as the Ministry of Environment ENV and Climate Change Strategy and the Ministry of Forests FOR. The level of coordination depends on the site-specific issues and other applicable legislation. Recent examples include coordinating with ENV on a site leading to the issuance of a remediation order and with FOR at another site leading to a contravention order. ALC Officers have the authority to enter and inspect land. The officers can issue stop work orders for actions that contravene or are about to contravene the ALCA or its regulations. They can also make recommendations to the ALCs CEO to issue remediation orders and administrative penalties. Remediation orders can now be added to an ALR propertys title to encourage enforcement. Further, the ALC can also apply to the BC Supreme Court to assist in enforcing its orders.