Regulatory Continuous Improvement: Lessons from British Columbia’s new statutory audit function’s application to mine tailings facilities

The document details the establishment of the Mine Audits Unit and the role of the Chief Auditor in British Columbia, created to ensure independent, transparent evaluation of the provincial mining regulatory framework. This initiative followed the 2014 Mount Polley tailings storage facility breach and a 2016 Auditor General report that found compliance and enforcement activities were inadequate. The first major audit focused on Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs), concluding that 2016 Code revisions have had positive impacts but identifying seven recommendations for improvement, including resolving inconsistencies with the Water Sustainability Act and clarifying ambiguous language. The Ministry has accepted these recommendations and established a Strategy and Advisory Services Team to implement them.

• The 2014 Mount Polley tailings storage facility (TSF) breach released over 20 million cubic metres of water, mine tailings, and construction materials, leading to a loss of public trust in both mining companies and the government's ability to protect human health and the environment.
• A 2016 audit by the Auditor General of British Columbia concluded that the government's mining compliance and enforcement activities were insufficient to protect the province from significant environmental risks, suggesting the creation of an independent unit outside the Ministry to avoid regulatory capture.
• In August 2020, the legislature established the Chief Auditor role within the Mines Act to ensure the audit function is legally independent, reports are public, and accountability is demonstrated to rebuild trust.
• The first audit of the regulatory framework for TSFs concluded that the 2016 Code revisions are generally consistent with industry best practices and have had positive impacts, although some provisions lack definitions or are subject to differing interpretations.
• The TSF audit identified a lack of recent policies and procedures to guide Ministry work on TSFs for activities other than inspections, such as permitting, document review, and activities at non-operating mines.
• The Ministry accepted seven recommendations from the TSF audit, which focus on four themes: resolving overlaps with the Water Sustainability Act's Dam Safety Regulation, incorporating evolving best practices, prioritizing inspector workload, and managing compliance data consistently.

APA

Rollo, A., Quinn, E., & Young, A. (2022). Regulatory Continuous Improvement: Lessons from British Columbia’s new statutory audit function’s application to mine tailings facilities. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-04/igf-case-study-regulatory-continuous-improvement-british-columbia.pdf

Chicago

Rollo, Andrew, Emily Quinn, and Alan Young. Regulatory Continuous Improvement: Lessons from British Columbia’s new statutory audit function’s application to mine tailings facilities. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-04/igf-case-study-regulatory-continuous-improvement-british-columbia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rollo |first1=Andrew |last2=Quinn |first2=Emily |last3=Young |first3=Alan |title=Regulatory Continuous Improvement: Lessons from British Columbia’s new statutory audit function’s application to mine tailings facilities |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-04/igf-case-study-regulatory-continuous-improvement-british-columbia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rollo2022regulatory, author = {Rollo, Andrew and Quinn, Emily and Young, Alan}, title = {{Regulatory Continuous Improvement: Lessons from British Columbia’s new statutory audit function’s application to mine tailings facilities}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-04/igf-case-study-regulatory-continuous-improvement-british-columbia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }