BC Safety Authority holds bioenergy sessions

July 15, 2010 – The Province of British Columbia has recently passed various changes to
the BC Safety Standards Act. The main focus of these changes provides owners and
operators of regulated equipment the opportunity to use Alternative Safety
Approaches (ASA) that are consistent with the objectives of the Safety
Standards Act in place of complying with the prescriptive requirements in the
regulations. The changes enable the Minister to make regulations with respect
to these alternative approaches. The province will start drafting these
regulations at the beginning of September 2010. Initially, the applicability of
this new approach may be restricted to the bioenergy sector; however, as the
Act applies to all sectors regulated under it, other sectors may be able to
choose this option over time.

The Ministry of Housing and Social Development and the BC Safety Authority are
seeking input from all stakeholders who might be affected by these changes. As
a result, the BC Safety Authority will be hosting a series of stakeholder
engagement sessions during July and August seeking your input, views, comments,
and suggestions on the ASA approach. The BC Safety Authority will be holding
several executive briefing sessions of approximately one to one‐and‐half hours during the period of July 15 to August 6, 2010.
In addition, during that same period, the Authority will host a series of three‐hour (half‐day) information sessions that
will provide further details on the overall ASA concept, as well as outline in
broad terms:

• How an owner/operator might apply to register for an alternative safety approach,
• The activities an owner/operator would need to undertake to ensure that consistency
  with the objectives of the Safety Standards Act is being achieved under an
  Alternative Safety Approach,
• The document (typically referred to as a Safety Management Plan or SMP) an
  owner/operator would need to submit to the Authority to demonstrate consistency
  with the objectives of the Act and subsidiary regulations are being met, and
• The processes the Authority may implement to review, accept, or cancel an SMP
  submitted by an owner/operator.

The goal of the sessions is to find a best fit for the needs of stakeholders and the
regulator for the purposes of developing regulations and policies.

Please read the discussion paper for details and check the consultation schedule.  Both of these documents, as well as any updates, are posted on the BC Safety Authority website: www.safetyauthority.ca/se_asa.

Written
comments or questions can be directed to Jim Allaway, leader,
Stakeholder
Engagement Programs:
Mail: BC Safety Authority
#200 – 505 6th Street
New Westminster BC V3L 0E1
Email:
Jim.Allaway@safetyauthority.ca

Fax: 778‐396‐2064