BC exempted from federal methane rules

Summary#

The document is the Order Declaring that the Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector) Do Not Apply in British Columbia, 2025 (SOR/2025-37). It says that, because of a new equivalency agreement between the Minister of the Environment and the Government of British Columbia, the federal methane-and-VOC rules for upstream oil and gas will not apply in British Columbia (except for federal works and undertakings). The order took effect on registration (February 26, 2025).

What it does#

• Suspends the application of the Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector) in British Columbia, except for federal works or undertakings (for example, interprovincial pipelines).
• Uses an equivalency agreement under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 that says British Columbia’s own rules give equivalent methane reduction outcomes.
• The new equivalency runs for up to five years and is tied to the agreement’s term (the document frames the period as February 26, 2025 to February 25, 2030). The order ends if the agreement ends or is terminated earlier.
• Repeals the previous order that had declared the federal regulations non-applicable in British Columbia.

Who's affected#

• Oil and gas companies operating in British Columbia. They will follow provincial methane rules instead of the federal ones, except where operations are federal works or undertakings.
• Regulators: provincial authorities in British Columbia will continue to enforce provincial rules; Environment and Climate Change Canada will not apply the federal rules in the province while the agreement is in force.
• Nearby communities, environmental groups and others interested in methane emissions and enforcement will be affected indirectly, because oversight and reporting will be carried out under provincial processes instead of the federal rule set.
• It is unclear from the text whether any small groups beyond the oil and gas sector will be directly affected; no new direct costs to industry are expected.

Why it matters#

• The government says the British Columbia rules are expected to achieve at least equivalent greenhouse gas reductions in the oil and gas sector. Over January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2029, the department’s modelling shows cumulative methane reductions of 5.64 megatonnes (Mt CO2e) under the British Columbia rules versus 5.25 megatonnes (Mt CO2e) under the federal regulations.
• The order avoids having companies in British Columbia follow two overlapping sets of rules, which reduces administrative burden and duplicative reporting.
• The federal government estimates administrative cost savings of about $94,213 over five years from not having to apply the federal rules in the province.
• The equivalency agreement requires annual data sharing and reviews. The agreement also includes a conditional reassessment tied to possible future federal amendments; if those amendments make the two regimes no longer equivalent, the agreement could be ended earlier (the source notes December 31, 2026 as a potential termination point linked to those amendments). Environmental groups asked for more public data and measurement-based evidence; the agreement includes reporting requirements, but some stakeholders wanted further transparency.