Public Interest Bonding Strategy for environmental accountability

The Public Interest Bonding Strategy demonstrates how the Province is enhancing environmental accountability.

The Public Interest Bonding Strategy aims to put policies in place to ensure industry funds are available for decommissioning and closure of industrial projects, while supporting industry production and investment.

Project status

The Public Interest Bonding Strategy is paused. Current environmental protections remain in place, including requirements under the Environmental Management Act and the Major Mines Reclamation Security Policy (Interim). The ministry remains committed to advancing environmental objectives and will explore opportunities to revisit this important work in the future.

Engagement materials, including the 2024 intentions paper and 2022 discussion paper, remain available for reference on the Public Interest Bonding Strategy’s GovTogetherBC webpage. The ministry acknowledges and values the contributions made by Indigenous Peoples, industry, non-governmental organizations, and the public throughout the engagement process to date.

Public Interest Bonding Strategy framework

The Ministry of Environment and Parks has completed foundational work in developing a new regulatory framework for the Public Interest Bonding Strategy. The strategy’s guiding principles act as key criteria in the framework’s development:

• Polluter pays
• Risk-based approach
• Transparent and accountable decisions
• Consistent, compatible and fair decision-making
• Uphold the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act
• Maintain industry competitiveness and financial viability
• Reduce and mitigate environmental risk

The regulatory framework will rely on laws and regulations to govern decommissioning and closure of industrial projects in British Columbia. In November 2023, Bill 29, the Environmental Management Amendment Act, was passed, providing authority to require owners of high-risk industrial projects to prepare decommissioning and closure plans and provide financial security. These powers will come into force once the regulatory framework is implemented.

Decommissioning and closure plans ensure that responsible parties have plans for closure and cleanup of high-risk sites while financial security, such as a bond, may be required to ensure plan obligations are fulfilled.

The Public Interest Bonding Strategy’s regulatory framework will apply to new (future) and existing active industrial projects authorized to discharge waste to the environment under the Environmental Management Act. It will not apply to facilities that are already closed. Major mines must provide financial security under the Reclamation Security Policy as a condition of their Mines Act Permit.