Hundreds more facilities in British Columbia will have to start reporting their greenhouse gas emissions under a new regulation beginning Jan. 1.

“I can tell you the B.C. government intends to introduce a reporting regulation which will require industry starting at 10,000 tonnes per year of emissions to track and report and submit their emissions on an annual basis to the province of British Columbia,” said B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner.

Penner said industrial emitters now have to start reporting at 100,000 tonnes per year of greenhouse gas emissions under federal regulations, a rate ten times as high as what B.C. is putting in place.

Under the cap and trade system proposed through the Western Climate Initiative facilities would start being affected at 25,000 tonnes per year, he said.

“We think it makes sense to start measuring before people hit that threshold so you get a sense if the industry's moving towards it,” Penner said. “And it gives us more data.”

B.C. is the first province to require reporting at the 10,000 tonne threshold, according to information provided by Penner. "Right now it's the lowest in Canada," he said.

Some 200 facilities are expected to be affected.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.