Bill 138 explained in plain English
Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act, 2013
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill amends the Environmental Protection Act to phase out the use of coal for electricity generation at specific facilities by the end of 2014, with limited exceptions.
Bill 138, the Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act, 2013, amends the Environmental Protection Act. It prohibits the use of coal to generate electricity at specific large generation facilities after December 31, 2014. It also generally prohibits the use of coal for electricity generation after that date, with exceptions for facilities where electricity generation is not the primary purpose. The bill specifies that existing regulatory powers to grant exemptions do not apply to coal-fired electricity generation facilities unless they are similar to the types exempted by the bill. The Act comes into force on a day proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor.
- Prohibits the use of coal to generate electricity at four specified generation facilities (Atikokan, Lambton, Nanticoke, and Thunder Bay) after December 31, 2014.
- Generally prohibits the use of coal to generate electricity in Ontario after December 31, 2014.
- Provides exceptions to the general prohibition for certain types of generation facilities, specifically those where electricity generation is not the primary purpose.
- States that existing regulatory powers to exempt facilities from the Act do not apply to coal-fired electricity generation facilities unless they fall under the specific exceptions outlined in the bill.
- Specifies that penalties for contravening the prohibition on coal use are subject to the higher fines outlined in subsections 187 (4) and (5) of the Environmental Protection Act.
- Owners and operators of specific generation facilities (Atikokan, Lambton, Nanticoke, and Thunder Bay).
- Owners and operators of other generation facilities in Ontario.
- The Minister of the Environment (implied by the Act's purpose and enforcement).
- Owners and operators of specified generation facilities must ensure coal is not used to generate electricity after December 31, 2014.
- No person shall use coal at a generation facility to generate electricity in Ontario after December 31, 2014, subject to exceptions.
- Coal use for electricity generation at specified facilities and generally prohibited after December 31, 2014.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Conviction for breaching the prohibition on coal use is subject to the greater fines set out in subsections 187 (4) and (5) of the Environmental Protection Act.
- Fines apply for contravening the prohibition on coal use, with specific reference to the greater fines in subsections 187 (4) and (5) of the Environmental Protection Act.
- The exact commencement date of the Act is not specified and will be proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor.
- The definition of "generation facility" refers to the Electricity Act, 1998, which is not provided here.
- The specific details of the "greater fines" are not detailed in the bill text, only that they are found in the Environmental Protection Act.
Adds a new Part VI.1 which prohibits the use of coal for electricity generation at certain facilities after December 31, 2014, and generally prohibits coal use for electricity generation after that date, with specified exceptions. It also affects how exemptions can be granted for coal-fired generation facilities.
Source: Section 1
Makes the higher fines found in subsections 187 (4) and (5) applicable to violations of the new prohibition on coal use for electricity generation.
Source: Section 59.2 (3) and (4)
Restricts the application of clause 175.1 (1) (a) regarding exemptions for coal-fired electricity generation facilities.
Source: Section 59.4
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced