Whereas a large volume of marine debris including plastics, styrofoam, components of boats, docks, and fishing gear is increasingly washing up on local shores which is environmentally damaging to marine environments, poses risks to fish and wildlife, creates a safety hazard for marine traffic, and places added pressure on communities to collect and haul shoreline marine debris to disposal facilities which is costly and logistically complex; And whereas local governments have no jurisdiction on shorelines, as that is under the authority of the Province, and provincial efforts to increase producer responsibility for product stewardship have not been sufficient at reducing pollution caused by marine debris due to the diversity of materials and their often unknown source of origin: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to adequately resource and develop a provincial program to assist with marine debris shoreline clean-up efforts that focusses on increasing regulation and enforcement for sectors responsible for the majority of marine debris, expanding recycling options for commonly found materials such as styrofoam, and funding communities that are struggling to address significant marine debris pollution on their shorelines so that regular community-led shoreline clean-up events are supported and collected marine debris can be safely transported to disposal facilities.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy Discarded plastics and derelict vessels pollute the environment and put coastal communities at risk. To help address this, in August 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy ENV introduced the Clean Coast Clean Waters Initiative. CCCW provides 14.83M in funding to help create jobs and support coastal communities, including Indigenous communities, as they recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn and loss of tourism. In addition, CCCW supports the Provinces work on the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan by funding shoreline cleanup and derelict vessel removal projects, which includes the removal of plastics and other debris from the marine coastal environment. To further support the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan, on December 17, 2020 the ministry announced the Recycled Plastics Manufacturing Stimulus RPMS fund. RPMS provides 5M to expand the use of innovative technologies to turn used plastics into new products, support the circular economy of plastics, increase local processing capacity for recycling and create new jobs for British Columbians. Regional representation and opportunities for youth, women and Indigenous people are included in the fund selection criteria. The Province acknowledges that the proper management of packaging and paper products PPP, including cardboard, from the industrial, commercial and institutional ICI sector is a challenge for some local governments, and is working to explore new regulatory or policy approaches to manage these materials. Currently, only residential PPP is regulated and therefore managed by Recycle BC. The ministry issued a Recycling Regulation Policy Intentions Paper in September 2020 that sought feedback on several items that were potential products to be captured under Extended Producer Responsibility EPR programs or other policy initiatives, including PPP from the ICI sector and marine debris. The ministry received substantive feedback from key partners and stakeholders, which is summarized in the Recycling Regulation Policy Intentions Paper - Summary of Feedback gov.bc.ca. This will inform the subsequent development of a multi-year plan for EPR in BC. As a first step, we saw there is broad support for collecting data to better understand current gaps in diversion and practices in managing PPP from the ICI sector and ENV is planning to perform research in this area. As of July 26, 2021, under s. 83j of the Community Charter, the Spheres of Concurrent Jurisdiction Environment and Wildlife Regulation the Regulation has been amended, to include a new part Part 3 that enables local governments in BC to take action on plastics by authorizing municipalities to implement bylaws that ban certain single-use items. Over the past year, Honourable Minister George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has approved nine municipal single-use plastic ban bylaws submitted for Ministerial approval by the municipalities of Victoria, Saanich, Richmond, Tofino, Ucluelet, Surrey, Nanaimo, Esquimalt and Rossland. Now any interested municipality can implement bylaws to ban certain single-use items following the requirements set out in the amended Regulation, without the need to submit for Ministerial approval. The Regulation provides a municipality with the option to regulate all, or some, of the following single-use items: - Bans on plastic checkout bags in conjunction with fees on single-use paper bags - Bans on polystyrene foam service ware - Bans on most plastic drinking straws, with by-request exemptions for accessible straws - Bans or by-request restrictions on plastic utensils including stir sticks The Province has recently committed to the development of a new coastal marine strategy for British Columbia, in partnership with First Nations and federal and local governments. The scope of this work is currently in development but may provide an opportunity to address issues of interest to coastal communities such as marine debris. The Province and Pacific North Coast Nations are currently co-leading implementation of the Marine Plan Partnership plans, which include objectives and strategies related to reducing marine pollution and restoring coastal habitats. As part of this work, the Marine Planning Partnership partners have provided funding support and monitoring capacity to help prioritize and inform local clean-up efforts in areas such as North Vancouver Island. Links Recycling Regulation Policy Intentions Paper: https:www2.gov.bc.caassetsgovenvironmentwaste-managementorganic-wastere… New part Part 3: https:www.bclaws.gov.bc.cacivixdocumentidmomom03092021 Over the past year: https:news.gov.bc.careleases2020ENV0051-001715