Gas prices were rolled back in Salmon Arm Tuesday morning with the elimination of B.C.'s consumer carbon tax.

At service stations throughout the community, the price per litre of regular dropped by about 20 cents to as low as $135.2. 

The province's consumer carbon tax was scheduled to increase on April 1. Instead, it was eliminated after the passing of legislation tabled by the B.C. government. 

At a press conference the day prior, Premier David Eby explained the carbon tax had assisted the government since 2008 with the task of reducing emissions, but had become divisive. He said the decision to remove it wasn't easy, but it was important. 

"At a time like this, when British Columbians and Canadians need to be pulling together, when there are huge pressures coming from the Trump White House to employment, to economic growth and to affordability... it was important for us to recognize that we needed to act quickly, to ensure that British Columbians were not having to pay the consumer carbon tax," said Eby. 

Asked about a carbon tax on industry, Eby said the province will use ouptput-based carbon pricing for "big companies, for big polluters, and some of these are industries like the concrete industry, the oil and  gas industry, the mining sector," explaining it has to be set at a level that incentivizes adoption of new technologies to reduce pollution ensure and does not "chase those jobs to other jurisdictions where there are no restrictions." 

With the end of the carbon tax comes the elimination of the climate action tax credit, designed to help offset the impact of the carbon taxes for individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes. The final payment goes out this month.