Presented by:

Peter McAuliffe, Sr. Forestry Specialist, Regulatory Affairs and Stewardship Branch

Lori Miller, GIS Analyst, Regulatory Affairs and Stewardship Branch

BC Oil and Gas CommissionBC Oil and Gas Commission

Fibre Utilization Plan TrainingFibre Utilization Plan Training

Presentation to: Industry Clients

January 14, 2009

Fibre Utilization Information Letter 08-21

• Requirement: • All merchantable fibre cleared in conjunction with oil and

gas activities will be utilized where practicable. Oil and gas operators will monitor and report both merchantable and non-merchantable fibre volumes to the Commission.

• Effective January 15, 2009, all new holders of a MLTC and/or CPs issued by the Commission must utilize all merchantable fibre as described below.

• A Fibre Utilization Plan is to be submitted to the Commission along with each application that impacts merchantable fibre. This plan will include an estimate of the volume of both merchantable and non-merchantable fibre to be cleared and a description of how the fibre will be utilized or made available for utilization.

Fibre Utilization Information Letter 08-21 (cont’d)

• Fibre Merchantability: • Fibre is considered merchantable if it meets the merchantability specifications listed in Section

1.5 of the current Interior Appraisal Manual (2008) 12.5 cm DBH for Pl, 17.5 cm DBH (all other species)

• Exemptions: • Exemption from fibre utilization requirements must be requested at the time the application is

submitted. Exemption may be given by the Commission if: • 1. the volume of fibre is small and/or remote, or • 2. the holder of the MLTC or CP can provide documentation from potential buyers stating that

the species and grades of fibre are not currently being utilized, or • 3. the recovery of the fibre would cause damage to other resources in excess of the value of

the fibre recovered, or • 4. utilization of the fibre is not practicable.

• Reporting Requirement: • Oil and gas operators are required to submit a report of merchantable fibre utilized at the end of

the clearing phase for each project. The Commission will monitor and inspect projects to verify submitted reports and will track utilization by the oil and gas industry.

• Forest Health: • All fibre waste left on site must be managed to minimize fire and pest risks and must be disposed

in accordance with the Wildfire Act and Regulations.

Fibre Utilization Plan FormFibre Utilization Plan

Administration (Section A) This form must be submitted with any application requiring clearing of trees.

Company Name:       OGC File Number:      

Company File Number:       MLTC# :     

Phone #       Land Referral Agent:      

Forest District:      

Fibre Volume and Extent (Section B)

New Crown Land Area Disturbance (proposed) ___ Ha. (not including woodlot area)Source of Volume Estimate: Forest Cover MapsAppraisal Ocular estimateVolume Summary of Merchantable Timber (initial estimate) (final estimate)Coniferous ____m3 Deciduous  ____ m3 Coniferous ___ m3 Deciduous   ____m3

Volume Summary of Non-Merchantable Timber (initial estimate) (final estimate)Coniferous ____m3 Deciduous  ____m3 Coniferous   ____m3 Deciduous   ____m3

Utilization Plan (Section C) Exemption Requested – Justification attached Process to Highway Haul specs and deck at roadside (include GPS coordinates for proposed deck sites) Process to Mill specs and deliver to ____ (name facility and location)Utilize material on site for ___ (list uses)

Zone: North Central East/ West South

Sample Fibre Utilization Plan and Request for Exemption

SAMPLE FIBRE UTILIZATION PLANS:(1)Company XXXX plans to deliver the merchantable component of cleared timber to the YYYY mill in ZZZZZZZZ.(2)Company XXXX plans to deliver only the merchantable white spruce and pine components of cleared timber to

the YYYY mill in ZZZZZZZZ.(3)Company XXXX plans to deck the peeler component of cleared timber at the following location: (give

coordinates).(4)Company XXXX plans to utilize 50% of the non-merchantable component of cleared timber for biofuels

feedstock, to be delivered to the YYYY mill in ZZZZZZZZ. (5)Company XXXX does not plan to utilize any of the fibre cleared in this project (see request for exemption letter

for rationale).(6)There is no fibre within the boundary of the proposed project area, so no fibre will be utilized.

SAMPLE REQUESTS FOR EXEMPTION FROM FIBRE UTILIZATION REQUIREMENT:Exemption from fibre utilization requirements must be requested at the time the application is submitted.

Exemption may be given by the Commission if: (1) the volume of fibre is small and/or remote, or (2) the holder of the MLTC or CP can provide documentation from potential buyers stating that the species and

grades of fibre are not currently being utilized, or(3) the recovery of the fibre would cause damage to other resources in excess of the value of the fibre recovered,

or

(4) utilization of the fibre is not practicable.

Derivation of Volume Estimates

Downloadable Data• GeoBC data discovery download site at the following link:http://aardvark.gov.bc.ca/apps/dwds/home.so• VRI - Forest Vegetation Composite Polygons and Rank 1 Layer (the data is freely

available and users do not require a BCeID to access the site).File information:• FOREST VEGETATION COMPOSITE POLYGONS: A composite table comprising

the polygon table attributes including tree species and tree volume tables. Procedure• Import data into GIS software from the mapsheet(s) of interest• Load VRI composite polygon data containing volume attributes (file above)• Overlay specific oil and gas application data Query• Select underlying forest cover polygon(s) to query attributes for entry into excel

spreadsheet• Enter attributes into provided Fibre Volume Utilization Calculation Table• Mandatory VRI polygon attributes: polygon id, species code and number, volume per

hectare (at 12.5 cm dbh for Pl and 17.5 cm DBH for all other species), area of polygon with project.

Derivation of Volume Estimates (cont’d)

Insert data into spreadsheet:• Enter each species into the appropriate coniferous or deciduous

spreadsheet. A list of species can be found in the above link for the VRI data dictionary.

• If the feature falls within multiple VRI polygons, the application disturbance area must be adjusted to reflect the area within each VRI polygon.

• The Merchantable Volume (m3) and Non-merchantable Volume (m3) will be calculated under the respective columns and total volumes will then be populated.

• Non-merchantable Volume can be calculated from the estimated average of 20% of the Merchantable Volume.

Detailed instructions are posted on the OGC ftp site at: ftp://www.ogc.gov.bc.ca/outgoing/OGC_Data/Forestry/FibreUtilization/

Polygon ID - 696

Polygon ID – 612

GEOPHYSICAL ROJECTS

Geophysical Project Volume Estimate:The procedure for estimating fibre volumes on geophysical projects requires the applicant to visually integrate all polygons or satellite photo cover types for the entire project area and use the average or typical polygon type to calculate volumes using the volume calculation spreadsheet.

Volume Calculation SpreadsheetExample of feature falling within multiple VRI polygons

Polygon ID

Species Code Number Species Volume/ha (m3)

Application Disturbance Area (ha)

Merchantable Volume

(m3)Non-merchantable

Volume (m3)

646 1 SW 449.9 1.45 652.355 130.471

646 2 EP 3.7 1.45 5.365 1.073

   

854 1 SW 215.7 0.47 101.379 20.2758

854 2 PL 104.8 0.47 49.256 9.8512

854 3 AT 27.8 0.47 13.066 2.6132

   

  Total Merchantable Volume (m3):   821.421

  Total Non-merchantable Volume (m3): 164.2842

      Total Fibre Volume (m3):   985.7052

•To be submitted at end of the clearing phase of each project.•Summarizes actual level of fibre utilization.•Used by OGC to monitor utilization and to confirm that the Fibre Utilization Plan is being followed.

Fibre Utilization Report

Questions/comments?

Contacts:

Peter McAuliffe (policy) Peter.McAuliffe@gov.bc.ca (250)365-2774

Lori Miller (GIS procedures) Lori.Miller@gov.bc.ca (250)261-5713

PACA Staff (specifics):

Annette Block (North Zone)- Annette.Block@gov.bc.ca (250)261-5798

Karen Larsen (East-West Zone)- Karen.Larsen@gov.bc.ca (250)787-3213

Glen Swanson (Central Zone)- Glen.Swanson@gov.bc.ca (250)261-5714

Dean Zimmer (South Zone) - Dean.Zimmer@gov.bc.ca (250)787-3230

Thank you.Thank you.