Certificate of Compliance

Under the RMA such certificates may be useful in case of waterway diversion, structures in stream (e.g. culverts, fords, bridges and dams) and land use activities such as drilling, but have limited use in case of discharges and water takes. This is because it is difficult to assure ongoing compliance for ‘dynamic’ resource use such as takes and discharges. As an example a complying wood burner may be granted a certificate of compliance, however, when operated poorly (e.g. burning wet firewood) the resulting smoke could breach a local regional rule.