Ontario Releases Draft Cap-And-Trade Regulations

During its budget announcement this afternoon, February 25, 2016, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) released draft regulations for the province's much-anticipated cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The draft regulations build on the MOECC's public consultation in late 2015 and report back to stakeholders in January 2016 (for more detail, see our bulletins here and here). The draft regulations are open for public comment until April 10, 2016 and would be issued under the proposed Bill 172, the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act, 2016. This bill passed first reading in the legislature on February 24 and will be open for public comment until March 25, 2016.