Summary#

Bill 228, Resource Management and Safety Act, 2024, would create the Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2024 and amend the Forest Fires Prevention Act, the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act and the Surveyors Act. Its stated goals include preparing for wildland fires, allowing geologic carbon storage with safeguards, and addressing hazards from oil and gas works. The bill sets up legal powers and rules, but many carbon-storage details depend on future regulations.

• The Forest Fires Prevention Act would be renamed the Wildland Fire Management Act. It would add new officer powers, fire-permit rules, planning duties for municipalities and some other entities, and stronger penalties. Some provisions, including the planning duties and new remediation and administrative-penalty powers, would start only on a date set by proclamation.
• The new carbon-storage law would require permits for most research and storage activities, in areas allowed by regulation. Permit decisions would have to meet stated safety, environmental, land-use and, where relevant, Indigenous-consultation conditions.
• The carbon law would let the province take certain pore-space rights without owners’ consent by regulation, subject to conditions. It would also allow the Ontario Land Tribunal to join pore-space rights for a project if legal tests are met.
• The carbon law would create a stewardship fund. Authorization holders and other groups set by regulation would have to pay into it; the fund could pay certain costs and liabilities the Crown takes on after a storage site closes.
• The Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act would let the Minister take action to address certain hazards when an operator has not followed an order and is bankrupt, dissolved or deceased, and the work is a hazard.
• The Surveyors Act would provide for limited and temporary licences, change how some licence requirements are set, and remove the Fees Mediation Committee.

What it means for you#

• People in wildland areas: A wildland fire officer could enter private land for fire management and could ask people in a wildland area for their name, contact details, route and overnight locations. During a fire response, officers could use private equipment and summon able people over 18, with exceptions for people providing essential services or who are physically unfit. Rates for people and equipment would be set by regulation or ministerial order.
• People starting outdoor fires: During a fire season, starting or tending an outdoor fire would generally require a permit, including outside a restricted fire zone. The Minister could declare additional fire seasons in parts of the year when they are not otherwise fire seasons.
• Municipalities and some other entities: Municipalities in a fire region, and other entities later prescribed, would have to prepare and annually review a wildland fire management plan. The Minister could order an entity to create or update a plan.
• Landowners and carbon-storage applicants: The bill would not itself approve a storage project. A storage permit would require written municipal endorsement under rules to be made later. Permit applicants would also need the necessary land and pore-space rights. If a Tribunal order gave a permit holder rights to enter or use land, compensation would be required under that order.
• Owners of pore-space rights: The bill says pore space generally forms part of surface rights, unless separately reserved or transferred. But regulations could take pore-space rights for certain lands and vest them in the Crown without consent. Any compensation would depend on regulations; the bill rules out other compensation.
• Surveyors: The Registrar could issue limited and temporary licences, and retired members could apply to be reinstated. The detailed requirements would be set in the Association’s by-laws.

Money#

No publicly available information on estimated costs.

• Carbon-storage authorization holders and other groups set by regulation would have to pay into the stewardship fund. The bill does not set payment amounts.
• The fund could pay costs and liabilities the Crown assumes after a site closure certificate, and the Crown could add money to the fund.
• Wildfire response rules could require payment for summoned people or use of private equipment; the rates and terms are not set in the bill.
• The bill gives the Minister power to recover certain costs of hazard-response work from oil and gas operators or their security.

What is unclear#

• The Forest Fires Prevention Act and other amended Acts were not supplied, so the bill’s changes could not be checked against their current wording.
• Many key carbon-storage rules—including allowed areas, application steps, fees, financial security, insurance and payments to the fund—would be set by later regulations. The bill does not give their amounts or timelines.
• The bill does not say how pore-space compensation would be calculated unless regulations do so, or how affected owners would be notified before rights are taken.
• The bill sets conditions for Indigenous consultation in some permit cases, but leaves the required process to future regulations.
• The bill does not specify how the Crown would fund long-term site obligations if the stewardship fund were insufficient.
• The bill does not give a start date for the new carbon-storage law; it would begin on a date set by proclamation. Some other provisions also require proclamation.

Case for#

• The carbon-storage law would create a permit system with checks on safety, environmental effects, land use and, where relevant, Indigenous rights.
• A permit holder could be required to monitor, maintain and close a site, while the Crown would take on specified responsibilities only after closure conditions are met and a certificate is issued.
• The wildfire changes would give officers tools to investigate fires, restrict activities in emergencies and require planning by municipalities and other prescribed entities.
• The oil and gas amendment could let the Minister address a hazard when an operator cannot act and has not followed an order.

Case against#

• The province could take pore-space rights without consent, while compensation is limited to what future regulations require.
• The Crown could take on ownership and long-term obligations for a closed carbon-storage site. The bill does not estimate those costs or say how much money the fund must hold.
• Many important safeguards and costs depend on future regulations, so the bill alone does not show how strict or costly the system would be.
• Wildfire officers would have broad powers to enter private land, inspect property and summon people or use private equipment. Some new penalties could also include fines, jail, remediation orders or administrative penalties.