Environment and Land Use Committee Act

The Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) is a committee of the provincial cabinet.  The members of ELUC currently are the Ministers of:

·          Sustainable Resource Management (Chair)

·          Forests

·          Water, Land and Air Protection

·          Energy and Mines

·          Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

The Environment and Land Use Committee Act gives ELUC a series of powers to develop programmes and recommendations to government related to environmental issues.   ELUC was intended to facilitate communication between ministries and develop strategies and programmes at the provincial level.  Its programmes do not by themselves have legal effect.

What makes the ELUC Act effective as a tool for environmental law is the powers that it gives to the provincial cabinet to make regulations.  Section 7 of the Act provides that the cabinet (on a recommendation from ELUC) can make any order that it “considers necessary or advisable respecting the environment or land use.”  Not only that, but these orders can restrict how government employees use their powers under other Acts. 

These powerful orders are used whenever cabinet wants to accomplish an environment or land use purpose but no other Act gives it the exact power needed.  Notable past uses of this power include:

·          Placing a moratorium, in 1991, on the development of golf courses in the province. 

·          Providing environmental protection for particular areas.  Because of the flexibility of the ELUC Act, the cabinet can tailor the protection to allow certain types of development only, or to regulate how the land is to be used, when no other Act explicitly provides for the appropriate restrictions.  Often they are used when cabinet wants to allow certain types of resource use, but not others.

·          Reserving certain areas from development pending the settlement of aboriginal land claims or resolution of other land use disputes. 

In 2001 there were over 50 ELUC land designations in place in the province, for various purposes. 

Because of the flexibility of ELUC designations, they can be extremely useful if you have cabinet on your side.  Ultimately, of course, using the ELUC Act is entirely a political decision, and there is no way to legally demand that it be used.

For more information about the Environment and Land use Committee Act:

 

·          The electronic text of the Environment and Land use Committee Act.

·          Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries Closures in British Columbia, which discusses a range of options for protecting marine areas, including ELUC Act designations.