Q-2, r. 35.3.1 - Regulation respecting afforestation and reforestation projects eligible for the issuance of offset credits on privately-owned land

Section 2 Disposition versions

2022-12-29

2. In this Regulation, unless otherwise indicated by the context,

“afforestation” means the activity of creating forest cover by artificial means on a lot or part of a lot assigned to non-forestry purposes; (boisement)

“agroforestry-type afforestation activity” means an afforestation activity that involves establishing a windbreak, riparian strip or silvopasture system; (activité de boisement de type agroforestier);

“anhydrous biomass” means biomass with a moisture level close to 0%; (biomasse anhydre)

“annual crop” means the production of plants that complete a full biological cycle in 365 days; (culture annuelle)

“baseline scenario” means the scenario based on all the information and data needed to define the annual changes in carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project as it would have been had no project been implemented in accordance with this Regulation; (scénario de reference)

“biomass” means all the organic mass of plant origin present per surface unit in the carbon reservoirs of a project’s living aerial biomass, living below-ground biomass and dead biomass; (biomasse)

“biophysical characteristics” means the information and data gathered during an inventory to define the topography, soil, deposits and drainage, tree population, ligneous and non-ligneous vegetation strata and, where applicable, type of fallow land present on a lot or part of a lot used for a project and on an equivalent lot or part of a lot; (caractéristiques biophysiques)

“calculation tool” means the calculation tool designed by the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques to calculate the effect of a project’s GHG fluxes on radiative forcing and establish the number of offset credits to be issued pursuant to the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances (chapter Q-2, r. 46.1); (outil de calcul)

“cap-and-trade system for emission allowances” means the cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances established by the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances; (système de plafonnement et d’échange de droits d’émission)

“carbon sequestration” means the process that captures CO2 from the atmosphere to store carbon in the carbon reservoirs constituted by living aerial biomass and living below-ground biomass and then in a project’s other carbon reservoirs; (séquestration de carbone)

“CBM-CFS software” means the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector, designed by Natural Resources Canada; (logiciel MBC-SFC)

“DBH” means diameter at breast height; (DHP)

“dead biomass” means the biomass present in woody debris and snags present on the lot or part of a lot used for a project; (biomasse morte);

“deforestation” means the activity of harvesting trees on a lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes with a long-term view to allowing other land uses; (déboisement)

“DSH” means diameter at stump height; (DHS)

“early project” means a project that began after 31 December 1989 but before 29 December 2022; (projet hâtif)

“equivalent lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot that is not used for a project, but has plant or forest characteristics that are equivalent to those found on a lot or part of a lot used for a project before it is implemented, and on which the promoter has conducted a biomass inventory to gather the information and data needed to characterize the baseline scenario and project scenario for an early project; (lot ou partie de lot équivalent)

“executive officer” means the president, chief executive officer, general manager, chief financial officer or secretary of a legal person or business corporation or any person performing a similar role or designated as such by a resolution of the board of directors; (dirigeant)

“fallow land” means a parcel of agricultural land that has been abandoned for at least 5 years after having been cultivated, with no crops planned over the short term (3 to 5 years) but which may, occasionally, be mowed by the owner solely to control invasion by ligneous vegetation. In this Regulation, fallow land is divided into 3 categories: “grassy fallow land”, “shrubby fallow land”, and “woody fallow land”; (friche)

“forest development activity” means an activity referred to in paragraph 1 of section 4 of the Sustainable Forest Development Act (chapter A-18.1); (activité d’aménagement forestier)

“full stocking” means, when applied to regeneration, the optimal distribution coefficient for regeneration, which varies by site quality, at which all trees will occupy all available space at maturity; when applied to a forest stand, “full stocking” means a stand density at which all trees occupy all available space at maturity (plein boisement)

“grassy fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of herbaceous species covering, at ground level, 75% or more of the area to be managed. Some shrubs may be observed; (friche herbacée)

“greenhouse gas” or “GHG” means one or more of the gases referred to in the second paragraph of section 46.1 of the Environment Quality Act (chapter Q-2) and the second paragraph of section 70.1 du Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances, namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoruride (SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); (gaz à effet de serre ou GES)

“GHG flow” means the quantity of various forms of greenhouse gases, generally expressed in metric tonnes CO2 equivalent or in metric tonnes GHG, entering or leaving a carbon reservoir or resulting from the combustion of a fossil fuel; (flux de GES)

“initial context for a project” means the information and data gathered during the initial characterization of a project to define the history of land uses and, where applicable, the silvicultural management strategies or natural disturbances that led to the vegetative and forest characteristics observed prior to the implementation of the project; (contexte d’intégration du projet)

“initial inventory” means all the information and data gathered on a lot or part of a lot for a project and, where applicable, on an equivalent lot or part of a lot to determine the carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project at the project start date or, for an early project, at the project filing date; (inventaire initial)

“issuance inventory” means all the information and data gathered on a lot or part of a lot for a project in order to establish the outcome of the project at the end of a reporting period; (inventaire de délivrance)

“living aerial biomass” means all the living organic epigeal biomass of plant origin present in the tree, shrub, grass and moss vegetation strata of the lot or part of a lot for a project; (biomasse aérienne vivante)

“living below-ground biomass” means the biomass present in the large roots and fine roots of the ligneous species present on the lot or part of a lot used for a project; (biomasse souterraine vivante)

“lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes” means a lot or part of a lot where timber production is mandatorily or temporarily possible. This category includes both productive and unproductive forest lots and parts of forest lots; (lot ou partie de lot à vocation forestière)

“lot or part of a lot assigned to non-forestry purposes” means a lot or part of a lot, with or without an ecological characterization, where timber production is mandatorily or temporarily excluded. Such lots or parts of lots, with less than 25% of cover density, are generally used for purposes other than forestry. This type of lot or part of a lot is described as agricultural, assigned to non-forestry purposes or anthropogenic, depending on the characteristic degree of disturbance, from barely disturbed to extremely disturbed. The notion of disturbance is connected to a human activity that changes the physical characteristics of the environment such as deposit, deposit depth, drainage and slope, and therefore the resilience of the forest; (lot ou partie de lot à vocation non forestière)

“privately-owned land” means land that is not land in the domain of the State pursuant to the Act respecting the lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-8.1); (terre du domaine privé)

“productive forest lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot able to produce 30 m3 or more of ligneous matter per hectare in less than 120 years. Such lots or parts of lots are said to be assigned to forestry purposes because they are occupied by forest stands, and include natural forest, tended forest and planted forest; (lot ou partie de lot forestier productif)

“professional” means a professional within the meaning of section 1 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26); (professionnel)

“project aggregation” means a grouping of several eligible projects under the responsibility of the same promoter; (agrégation de projets)

“project characterization” means an activity performed at various project implementation stages to gather all the data and information needed to describe the project, create or update baseline scenarios and project scenarios, and determine the project outcome; (caractérisation d’un projet)

“project outcome” means the calculation showing the net GHG fluxes resulting from a comparison of the GHG fluxes for a project scenario with the GHG fluxes for a baseline scenario in order to determine the radiative effect of those fluxes and the number of offset credits to be issued to a promoter pursuant to the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances; (bilan de projet)

“project scenario” means a scenario based on all the information and data needed to define the annual changes in carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project when a project is implemented in accordance with this Regulation; (scénario de projet)

“promoter” means a person or municipality responsible for the implementation of a project eligible for the issuance of offset credits; (promoteur)

“radiative forcing” means the variation in radiation (the difference between incoming irradiance and outgoing irradiance, expressed in W m–2) at the tropopause or upper limit of the atmosphere due to a change in an external climate change factor; (forçage radiatif)

“reforestation” means an activity to reconstitute forest cover by artificial means on a lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes; (reboisement)

“reporting period” means a continuous period, within an eligibility period, during which the atmospheric CO2 removals or offset credits corresponding to atmospheric CO2 removals attributable to a project eligible for the issuance of offset credits are quantified pursuant to this Regulation for the issue of offset credits; (période de declaration)

“shrubby fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of shrub species with a current height of less than 1.5 to 2 m covering, at ground level, more than 25% of the area to be managed; (friche arbustive)

“snag” means a standing dead tree, whether whole or not, at a given stage of decomposition; (chicot)

“soil” means the part of the soil composed of organic matter, namely litter, fibre and humus, and part of the upper layer of the surface mineral horizon; (sol)

“timber forest products” means products created through the primary or secondary processing of logs. Timber forest products are subdivided into timber forest products with a short, medium or long lifespan. They include saw wood, particle board, veneer, plywood, pulp and paper, cardboard and energy products such as granules, firewood and biofuels; (produits forestiers ligneux)

“unproductive forest lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot that is unable to produce 30 m3 or more of ligneous matter per hectare in less than 120 years. This category includes all lots or parts of lots with a density below 25% and a height that does not exceed 10 m at maturity at age 120. A stand less than 120 years old may be considered as an unproductive forest stand when its density is below 25% and there is no sign that the cover will densify. If a major disturbance has affected a productive forest stand, the stand must have reached at least 40 years of age before being considered an unproductive forest lot or part of a lot; (lot ou partie de lot forestier improductif)

“woody fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of tree species over 2 m in height covering, at ground level, less than 25% of the area to be managed. (friche arborée)

M.O. 2022-11-17, s. 2.

Not in force

In force: 2022-12-29

2. In this Regulation, unless otherwise indicated by the context,

“afforestation” means the activity of creating forest cover by artificial means on a lot or part of a lot assigned to non-forestry purposes; (boisement)

“agroforestry-type afforestation activity” means an afforestation activity that involves establishing a windbreak, riparian strip or silvopasture system; (activité de boisement de type agroforestier);

“anhydrous biomass” means biomass with a moisture level close to 0%; (biomasse anhydre)

“annual crop” means the production of plants that complete a full biological cycle in 365 days; (culture annuelle)

“baseline scenario” means the scenario based on all the information and data needed to define the annual changes in carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project as it would have been had no project been implemented in accordance with this Regulation; (scénario de reference)

“biomass” means all the organic mass of plant origin present per surface unit in the carbon reservoirs of a project’s living aerial biomass, living below-ground biomass and dead biomass; (biomasse)

“biophysical characteristics” means the information and data gathered during an inventory to define the topography, soil, deposits and drainage, tree population, ligneous and non-ligneous vegetation strata and, where applicable, type of fallow land present on a lot or part of a lot used for a project and on an equivalent lot or part of a lot; (caractéristiques biophysiques)

“calculation tool” means the calculation tool designed by the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques to calculate the effect of a project’s GHG fluxes on radiative forcing and establish the number of offset credits to be issued pursuant to the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances (chapter Q-2, r. 46.1); (outil de calcul)

“cap-and-trade system for emission allowances” means the cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances established by the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances; (système de plafonnement et d’échange de droits d’émission)

“carbon sequestration” means the process that captures CO2 from the atmosphere to store carbon in the carbon reservoirs constituted by living aerial biomass and living below-ground biomass and then in a project’s other carbon reservoirs; (séquestration de carbone)

“CBM-CFS software” means the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector, designed by Natural Resources Canada; (logiciel MBC-SFC)

“DBH” means diameter at breast height; (DHP)

“dead biomass” means the biomass present in woody debris and snags present on the lot or part of a lot used for a project; (biomasse morte);

“deforestation” means the activity of harvesting trees on a lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes with a long-term view to allowing other land uses; (déboisement)

“DSH” means diameter at stump height; (DHS)

“early project” means a project that began after 31 December 1989 but before 29 December 2022; (projet hâtif)

“equivalent lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot that is not used for a project, but has plant or forest characteristics that are equivalent to those found on a lot or part of a lot used for a project before it is implemented, and on which the promoter has conducted a biomass inventory to gather the information and data needed to characterize the baseline scenario and project scenario for an early project; (lot ou partie de lot équivalent)

“executive officer” means the president, chief executive officer, general manager, chief financial officer or secretary of a legal person or business corporation or any person performing a similar role or designated as such by a resolution of the board of directors; (dirigeant)

“fallow land” means a parcel of agricultural land that has been abandoned for at least 5 years after having been cultivated, with no crops planned over the short term (3 to 5 years) but which may, occasionally, be mowed by the owner solely to control invasion by ligneous vegetation. In this Regulation, fallow land is divided into 3 categories: “grassy fallow land”, “shrubby fallow land”, and “woody fallow land”; (friche)

“forest development activity” means an activity referred to in paragraph 1 of section 4 of the Sustainable Forest Development Act (chapter A-18.1); (activité d’aménagement forestier)

“full stocking” means, when applied to regeneration, the optimal distribution coefficient for regeneration, which varies by site quality, at which all trees will occupy all available space at maturity; when applied to a forest stand, “full stocking” means a stand density at which all trees occupy all available space at maturity (plein boisement)

“grassy fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of herbaceous species covering, at ground level, 75% or more of the area to be managed. Some shrubs may be observed; (friche herbacée)

“greenhouse gas” or “GHG” means one or more of the gases referred to in the second paragraph of section 46.1 of the Environment Quality Act (chapter Q-2) and the second paragraph of section 70.1 du Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances, namely carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoruride (SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); (gaz à effet de serre ou GES)

“GHG flow” means the quantity of various forms of greenhouse gases, generally expressed in metric tonnes CO2 equivalent or in metric tonnes GHG, entering or leaving a carbon reservoir or resulting from the combustion of a fossil fuel; (flux de GES)

“initial context for a project” means the information and data gathered during the initial characterization of a project to define the history of land uses and, where applicable, the silvicultural management strategies or natural disturbances that led to the vegetative and forest characteristics observed prior to the implementation of the project; (contexte d’intégration du projet)

“initial inventory” means all the information and data gathered on a lot or part of a lot for a project and, where applicable, on an equivalent lot or part of a lot to determine the carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project at the project start date or, for an early project, at the project filing date; (inventaire initial)

“issuance inventory” means all the information and data gathered on a lot or part of a lot for a project in order to establish the outcome of the project at the end of a reporting period; (inventaire de délivrance)

“living aerial biomass” means all the living organic epigeal biomass of plant origin present in the tree, shrub, grass and moss vegetation strata of the lot or part of a lot for a project; (biomasse aérienne vivante)

“living below-ground biomass” means the biomass present in the large roots and fine roots of the ligneous species present on the lot or part of a lot used for a project; (biomasse souterraine vivante)

“lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes” means a lot or part of a lot where timber production is mandatorily or temporarily possible. This category includes both productive and unproductive forest lots and parts of forest lots; (lot ou partie de lot à vocation forestière)

“lot or part of a lot assigned to non-forestry purposes” means a lot or part of a lot, with or without an ecological characterization, where timber production is mandatorily or temporarily excluded. Such lots or parts of lots, with less than 25% of cover density, are generally used for purposes other than forestry. This type of lot or part of a lot is described as agricultural, assigned to non-forestry purposes or anthropogenic, depending on the characteristic degree of disturbance, from barely disturbed to extremely disturbed. The notion of disturbance is connected to a human activity that changes the physical characteristics of the environment such as deposit, deposit depth, drainage and slope, and therefore the resilience of the forest; (lot ou partie de lot à vocation non forestière)

“privately-owned land” means land that is not land in the domain of the State pursuant to the Act respecting the lands in the domain of the State (chapter T-8.1); (terre du domaine privé)

“productive forest lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot able to produce 30 m3 or more of ligneous matter per hectare in less than 120 years. Such lots or parts of lots are said to be assigned to forestry purposes because they are occupied by forest stands, and include natural forest, tended forest and planted forest; (lot ou partie de lot forestier productif)

“professional” means a professional within the meaning of section 1 of the Professional Code (chapter C-26); (professionnel)

“project aggregation” means a grouping of several eligible projects under the responsibility of the same promoter; (agrégation de projets)

“project characterization” means an activity performed at various project implementation stages to gather all the data and information needed to describe the project, create or update baseline scenarios and project scenarios, and determine the project outcome; (caractérisation d’un projet)

“project outcome” means the calculation showing the net GHG fluxes resulting from a comparison of the GHG fluxes for a project scenario with the GHG fluxes for a baseline scenario in order to determine the radiative effect of those fluxes and the number of offset credits to be issued to a promoter pursuant to the Regulation respecting a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emission allowances; (bilan de projet)

“project scenario” means a scenario based on all the information and data needed to define the annual changes in carbon stock in the carbon reservoirs for a project when a project is implemented in accordance with this Regulation; (scénario de projet)

“promoter” means a person or municipality responsible for the implementation of a project eligible for the issuance of offset credits; (promoteur)

“radiative forcing” means the variation in radiation (the difference between incoming irradiance and outgoing irradiance, expressed in W m–2) at the tropopause or upper limit of the atmosphere due to a change in an external climate change factor; (forçage radiatif)

“reforestation” means an activity to reconstitute forest cover by artificial means on a lot or part of a lot assigned to forestry purposes; (reboisement)

“reporting period” means a continuous period, within an eligibility period, during which the atmospheric CO2 removals or offset credits corresponding to atmospheric CO2 removals attributable to a project eligible for the issuance of offset credits are quantified pursuant to this Regulation for the issue of offset credits; (période de declaration)

“shrubby fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of shrub species with a current height of less than 1.5 to 2 m covering, at ground level, more than 25% of the area to be managed; (friche arbustive)

“snag” means a standing dead tree, whether whole or not, at a given stage of decomposition; (chicot)

“soil” means the part of the soil composed of organic matter, namely litter, fibre and humus, and part of the upper layer of the surface mineral horizon; (sol)

“timber forest products” means products created through the primary or secondary processing of logs. Timber forest products are subdivided into timber forest products with a short, medium or long lifespan. They include saw wood, particle board, veneer, plywood, pulp and paper, cardboard and energy products such as granules, firewood and biofuels; (produits forestiers ligneux)

“unproductive forest lot or part of a lot” means a lot or part of a lot that is unable to produce 30 m3 or more of ligneous matter per hectare in less than 120 years. This category includes all lots or parts of lots with a density below 25% and a height that does not exceed 10 m at maturity at age 120. A stand less than 120 years old may be considered as an unproductive forest stand when its density is below 25% and there is no sign that the cover will densify. If a major disturbance has affected a productive forest stand, the stand must have reached at least 40 years of age before being considered an unproductive forest lot or part of a lot; (lot ou partie de lot forestier improductif)

“woody fallow land” means fallow land characterized by the presence of tree species over 2 m in height covering, at ground level, less than 25% of the area to be managed. (friche arborée)

M.O. 2022-11-17, s. 2.