Output-Based Pricing System Regulations (SOR/2019-266)

Assessment

Marginal note:Assessment of emissions against emissions limit

• 44 (1) The person responsible for a covered facility must assess for each compliance period the quantity of GHGs that are emitted from the covered facility during the applicable compliance period against its applicable GHG emissions limit in accordance with the formula

  A – B

  where

  A

  is the quantity of GHGs that are emitted from the covered facility during the compliance period, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, determined in accordance with subsection 35; and

  B

  is the applicable GHG emissions limit for the covered facility for the compliance period, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, determined in accordance with sections 36, 36.1, 36.2, 41, 41.1, 41.2 or 42.

• Marginal note:Rounding

  (1.1) The result of the assessment in subsection (1) is to be rounded to the nearest whole number or, if the number is equidistant between two whole consecutive numbers, to the higher number.

• Marginal note:New covered facilities

  (2) If, on January 1 during a compliance period, the covered facility has not completed two calendar years of production following the date of first production, subsection (1) does not apply to the covered facility for that compliance period.

• Marginal note:Primary activity

  (3) Subsection (2) only applies to a covered facility whose primary activity is a specified industrial activity.

• Marginal note:New electricity generation facility

  (4) Subsection (2) does not apply to an electricity production facility that begins generating electricity on or after January 1, 2021.

• Marginal note:Date of production

  (5) For the purposes of subsection (2), to determine the date of first production for a covered facility all industrial activities that the facility has previously been or is currently engaged in must be taken into account.

Records

Marginal note:Content

• 45 (1) The person responsible for a covered facility must keep a record of the following information with respect to the covered facility and each unit within it, if applicable, for each compliance period

  • (a) the total quantity of GHGs from each specified emission type;

  • (b) the quantity of each GHG from each specified emission type;

  • (c) all data used for a calculation made under these Regulations, for each specified emission type and GHG, including data used to estimate missing data;

  • (d) all sampling, analysis and measurement data for each specified emission type and GHG;

  • (e) the methods used to quantify, sample, analyze and measure each specified emission type;

  • (f) the methods and data used to quantify production;

  • (g) the procedural changes made in data collection and calculations and changes to measuring devices used to quantify GHGs or production;

  • (h) the quantity of each GHG not included in the total quantity of GHGs under section 23 and the relevant specified emission type;

  • (i) the quantities of CO₂ captured, transported or stored expressed in tonnes and the data used to quantify that CO₂;

  • (j) the output-based standard calculated under section 37 for each specified industrial activity and all methods and data used to calculate that output-based standard;

  • (k) documents that demonstrate the maintenance, calibration and operation of measuring devices was done in accordance with these Regulations;

  • (l) if the person responsible for a covered facility sells thermal energy that was produced at the covered facility to other covered facilities or buys thermal energy from other covered facilities,

    • (i) the sales invoices or receipts for the thermal energy bought or sold,

    • (ii) the name of any covered facility from which thermal energy is bought or to which it is sold and the covered facility certificate number that was issued to the covered facility, and

    • (iii) the methods and data used to quantify the quantity of thermal energy bought or sold and the data in relation to the ratio of heat from the combustion of fossil fuel;

  • (m) any errors or omissions identified and the measures taken to correct them, with all supporting data and documentation;

  • (n) a copy of all permits issue pursuant to section 28; and

  • (o) documentation that demonstrates that the CO₂ was captured, transported and stored in accordance with the laws of Canada or a province or of the United States or one of its States.

• Marginal note:Continuous Emissions Monitoring System

  (2) For each compliance period during which a person responsible for the covered facility uses a continuous emissions monitoring system, they must comply with the record keeping requirements set out in Quantification Methods.

• Marginal note:Availability of information

  (3) The record must be kept within 30 days after the information becomes available.

• Marginal note:Provision of records

  (4) A person who is required to keep a record of information under subsection (1), must, on the Minister’s request, provide a copy of that record to the Minister without delay.

Marginal note:Electronic submission

• 46 (1) Any information that is required to be provided to the Minister under these Regulations with respect to a covered facility must be submitted electronically in the form and format specified by the Minister and must bear the electronic signature of the person responsible for the covered facility or of their authorized official.

• Marginal note:Provision on paper

  (2) If the Minister has not specified an electronic form and format or if it is not feasible to submit the information in accordance with subsection (1) because of circumstances beyond the control of the person responsible for the covered facility or their authorized official, the information must be submitted on paper, signed by the person responsible for the covered facility or their authorized official, in the form and format specified by the Minister. However, if no form and format has been so specified, it may be in any form and format.

Marginal note:Retention of information

• 47 (1) The person responsible for a covered facility must retain a record that contains the information set out in section 45, any information that the Minister specifies under subsection 187(2) of the Act and a copy of information submitted to the Minister under these Regulations, including any calculations, measurements and other data on which the information is based.

• Marginal note:Location of records

  (2) The records, copies and documents must be retained at the principal place of business in Canada of the person responsible for the covered facility or, on notification to the Minister, at any other place in Canada where they can be inspected.

• Marginal note:Relocation of records

  (3) If the records, copies or supporting documents are moved, the person responsible for the covered facility must notify the Minister, in writing, of the civic address of the new location within 30 days after the day of the move.

Marginal note:Obligation to notify

48 The person responsible for the covered facility must notify the Minister, in writing, within 30 days after a change to any of the following:

• (a) the administrative information set out in sections 1 and 2 of Schedules 2 and 5 and provided to the Minister under these Regulations;

• (b) the facility’s perimeter;

• (c) the information provided in an application for registration under subsection 171(1) of the Act or in a request for designation under subsection 172(1) of the Act; or

• (d) the information provided in an application for a permit under section 27, if the permit is still valid.

Verification Report

Marginal note:Verification body

• 49 (1) To be authorized to verify an annual report or a corrected report, a third party must

  • (a) meet the following accreditation requirements:

    • (i) it is accredited as a verification body to the ISO Standard 14065 by the Standards Council of Canada, the ANSI National Accreditation Board or any other accreditation organization that is a member of the International Accreditation Forum,

    • (ii) it has a scope of accreditation that is sufficient to verify the annual report or the corrected report, and

    • (iii) it is not suspended by an accreditation organization that issued an accreditation; and

  • (b) conduct the verification in accordance with the version of ISO Standard 14064-3 published by the International Organization for Standardization in 2006 and entitled Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions, the version of that Standard, published in 2019 and entitled Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements, or the subsequent published version, set out in their accreditation, by applying methods that allow it to make a determination to a reasonable level of assurance, as defined in that standard, on whether

    • (i) a material discrepancy exists with respect to the total quantity of GHGs and production reported in the annual report from each specified industrial activity that is used in the calculation of the emissions limit, and

    • (ii) in the verification body’s opinion, the annual report or corrected report was prepared in accordance with these Regulations.

• Marginal note:Material discrepancy

  (2) For the purpose of the verification of a covered facility’s annual report or corrected report, a material discrepancy exists when

  • (a) with respect to GHGs from covered facilities that have emitted a quantity of GHGs of less than 500 kt of CO₂e during the compliance period,

    • (i) in the case of an error or omission respecting GHGs that is identified during the verification and that may be quantified, the result, expressed as a percent, determined by the formula, is equal to or greater than 5%:

      A ÷ B × 100

      where

      A

      is the absolute value of the overstatement or understatement resulting from the error or omission, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

      B

      is the total quantity of GHGs reported in the annual report or corrected report, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

    • (ii) in the case of the aggregate of all errors and omissions respecting GHGs that are identified during the verification and that may be quantified, the result, expressed as a percent, determined by the formula, is equal to or greater than 5%:

      A ÷ B × 100

      where

      A

      is the absolute value of the net result of all overstatements and understatements resulting from all errors and omissions, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

      B

      is the total quantity of GHGs reported in the annual report or corrected report, expressed in CO₂e tonnes;

  • (b) with respect to GHGs from covered facilities that emitted a quantity of GHGs that is equal to or greater than 500 kt of CO₂e during the compliance period,

    • (i) in the case of an error or omission respecting GHGs that is identified during the verification and that may be quantified, the result, expressed as a percent, determined by the formula, is equal to or greater than 2%:

      A ÷ B × 100

      where

      A

      is the absolute value of the overstatement or understatement resulting from an error or omission, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

      B

      is the total quantity of GHGs reported in the annual report or corrected report, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

    • (ii) in the case of the aggregate of all errors and omissions respecting GHGs that are identified during the verification and that may be quantified, the result, expressed as a percent, determined by the formula, is equal to or greater than 2%:

      A ÷ B × 100

      where

      A

      is the absolute value of the net result of all overstatements and understatements resulting from all errors and omissions, expressed in CO₂e tonnes, and

      B

      is the total quantity of GHGs reported in the annual report or corrected report, expressed in CO₂e tonnes; and

  • (c) with respect to the production from a specified industrial activity that is used in the calculation of the emissions limit, in the case of an error or omission respecting the quantification of the production that is identified during the verification and may be quantified, the result, expressed as a percent, determined by the formula, is equal to or greater than 5%:

    A ÷ B × 100

    where

    A

    is the absolute value of the overstatement or understatement resulting from an error or omission expressed in the applicable unit of measure, and

    B

    is the production from the specified industrial activity in question that is reported in the annual report or corrected report, expressed in the applicable unit of measure.

Marginal note:Conflict of interest

• 50 (1) The person responsible for a covered facility must ensure that no real or potential conflict of interest exists between the person and the accredited verification body, including members of the verification team and any individual or corporate entity associated with the verification body, that is a threat to or compromises the verification body’s impartiality that cannot be effectively managed.

• Marginal note:Consecutive verifications

  (2) The person responsible must not have their annual report verified by a verification body that has verified six consecutive annual reports prepared under these Regulations with respect to the same covered facility, unless three years have elapsed since the last of those reports was verified. However, a corrected report may be verified by the verification body within those three years if it is in relation to an annual report verified by that verification body.

• Marginal note:Maximum number of verifications

  (3) The person responsible for a covered facility must not have more than a total of six of its annual reports prepared under these Regulations for the same covered facility verified by the same verification body within a period of nine years.

Marginal note:Facility visit

• 51 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the person responsible for a covered facility must ensure that their covered facility is visited by an accredited verification body in the following situations:

  • (a) it is the initial verification of the covered facility under these Regulations or by the verification body;

  • (b) two calendar years have passed since a verification body has visited the covered facility for the purposes of verifying an annual report or corrected report;

  • (c) in the last annual report for the covered facility prepared under these Regulations, the verification body made a determination

    • (i) that a material discrepancy exists with respect to the total quantity of GHGs or production reported in the annual report from a specified industrial activity that is used in the calculation of the emissions limit, or

    • (ii) that the annual report was not prepared in accordance with these Regulations; or

  • (d) the verification body is of the opinion a site visit is required.

• Marginal note:Other visits

  (2) If buildings that are used for legal, administrative or management purposes are not located where an industrial activity is carried out, the person responsible for a covered facility must ensure that the verification body visits those buildings if data or information necessary for verifying an annual report or a corrected report is kept in those buildings.