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Bill C-383

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First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament,

70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-383
An Act to prohibit the export of thermal coal from Canada
FIRST READING, February 14, 2024

Ms. Collins
441308


SUMMARY

This enactment prohibits the export of thermal coal from Canada except in accordance with a permit issued by the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Transport.

Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:
www.ourcommons.ca


1st Session, 44th Parliament,

70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-383

An Act to prohibit the export of thermal coal from Canada

Preamble

Whereas Canada currently exports millions of tonnes of thermal coal each year with over 18 million tonnes leaving its ports in 2022 alone;

Whereas the downstream combustion of those exports generates tens of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually;

Whereas Canada has ratified the Paris Agreement, done in Paris on December 12, 2015, which entered into force in 2016, whose objectives include limiting the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit that increase to 1.‍5°C, in recognition of the fact that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change;

Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been clear that no increase or a limited increase of 1.‍5°C above pre-industrial temperature levels requires global net human-induced greenhouse gas emissions to fall by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050;

Whereas the combustion of thermal coal is one of the largest contributors to climate change, contributing approximately 30% of recent annual global greenhouse gas emissions;

And whereas, in 2021, the Prime Minister committed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow to working towards banning thermal coal exports from and through Canada by no later than 2030, a commitment that has since been reiterated by the Minister of the Environment on numerous occasions;

Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Prohibiting the Export of Thermal Coal Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

export, in respect of thermal coal, includes the exportation from Canada of thermal coal that is imported into Canada or transported in transit through Canada.‍ (exportation)

Ministers means the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Transport.‍ (ministres)

thermal coal means coal that is to be used to generate electricity as well as coal that is classified in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, published by the Customs Co-operation Council (also known as the World Customs Organization), as amended from time to time, as bituminous coal, other coal, sub-bituminous coal, lignite or agglomerated lignite, but does not include metallurgical bituminous coal.‍ (charbon thermique)

Prohibition

Export of thermal coal

3 It is prohibited for a person to export thermal coal except in accordance with a permit issued under section 4.

Permits

Issuance

4 (1) The Ministers may, subject to the regulations, issue a permit that authorizes a person to export thermal coal if the Ministers are of the opinion that the export is necessary to address an imminent threat to human health or safety or to the environment.

Conditions

(2) The Ministers may, subject to the regulations, make the permit subject to any conditions that the Ministers consider appropriate.

Application

(3) An application for a permit must be filed with the Ministers in the form and manner specified by the regulations and must contain the information required by the regulations.

Refusal to issue permit

(4) If the Ministers refuse to issue a permit, they must notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the refusal.

Obligation of permit holder

(5) The permit holder must comply with the permit conditions.

Amendment, suspension or revocation of permit

(6) The Ministers may, subject to the regulations, amend, suspend or revoke a permit.

Publication of notice of decision

5 The Ministers must publish — on a Government of Canada website and in any other manner that the Ministers consider appropriate — a notice of the decision to issue or refuse to issue a permit, including reasons for the decision, as soon as feasible after the decision is made. They must also publish any prescribed documents relating to permit applications.

Offences and Punishment

Contravention of section 3 or subsection 4(5)

6 Every person who contravenes section 3 or subsection 4(5) is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on conviction on indictment,

    • (i) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than six million dollars, and

    • (ii) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than 12 million dollars; or

  • (b) on summary conviction,

    • (i) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than four million dollars, and

    • (ii) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than eight million dollars.

Regulations

Regulations

7 The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) respecting permits referred to in section 4, including in relation to their issuance, the conditions to which they may be subject and their amendment, suspension or revocation;

  • (b) specifying the form and manner in which a permit application must be made and the information that it must contain; and

  • (c) prescribing documents for the purpose of section 5.

Coming into Force

Order in council

8 This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council made on the recommendation of the Ministers, after consultation with trade unions whose members are likely to be affected by the prohibition of the export of thermal coal, which day must not be later than the first anniversary of the day on which this Act receives royal assent.

Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons

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