scholarly journals Recent Regulatory and Legislative Developments of Interest to Oil and Gas Lawyers

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-292
Author(s):  
Gordon M. Nettleton

This article examines recent regulatory and legislative developments relevant to oil and gas lawyers. Regulatory decisions ofthefederal National Energy Board and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board receive particularfocus, as well as legislative developments in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The article concludes with a discussion of recent guidelines, policies and directives.

2015 ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
John Gruber

This article canvasses significant regulatory and legislative development in oil and gas law during the period April 2004 to March 2005. Selected contributions of courts (the Federal Court of Appeal, Alberta Court of Appeal, and Alberta Court of Queen's Bench), regulatory bodies (the National Energy Board, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, and the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board), and legislators (at the federal and provincial levels) are summarized and analyzed, followed by a discussion of policy initiatives. The article deals with a variety of developments, highlighting themes of considerable importance to oil and gas Iaw.  These include: the continuing effects of GB 2003-028 on gas/bitumen conservation policy, the consequences of the recent regulatory decisions of the National Energy Board on TransCanada Pipelines Limited tolls on upstream and midstream companies and, more generally, changes to energy legislation in Alberta and British Columbia.


2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Mark Smith ◽  
Janice Buckingham ◽  
Conni Gibson ◽  
Jason Dubchak

This article examines legislative and regulatory developments that have occurred from May 1998 through April 1999 that are relevant to oil and gas lawyers. The emphasis is on federal and Alberta legislative amendments. Regulatory decisions of federal, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia boards are reviewed and their application to oil and gas matters are discussed.


1994 ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Donald MacDiarmid ◽  
Patrick Maguire ◽  
Shawn Denstedt

In the following discussion the authors summarize recent developments in statutes, regulations and regulatory decisions which may be of particular interest to oil and gas lawyers in Canada. The scope of the summary is limited to federal law and the laws of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Notwithstanding this limitation, the developments in this area of law are numerous and this paper seeks only to draw attention to them without attempting to provide detailed descriptions or analysis.


CIM Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-214
Author(s):  
G. J. Simandl ◽  
C. Akam ◽  
M. Yakimoski ◽  
D. Richardson ◽  
A. Teucher ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wally Braul

The Northeast British Columbia (NEBC) oil patch is undergoing a boom in land tenure sales, exploration, and production. This comes at a time of increasing public concern over the use of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”), an unconventional technology that ushered in a new era of production in NEBC, along with several new contentious issues. Recently, four significant regulatory changes have been enacted or planned for the immediate future. The first, likely in response to public concern over fracking, occurred in October 2010 with an overhaul of the decades-old Petroleum and Natural Gas Act and the coming into force of the bulk of the provisions in the Oil and Gas Activities Act. The changes primarily affect production and environmental management, and several new provisions have a direct impact on fracking. The second change under development is the creation of a long-awaited groundwater licencing regime, marking a stronger environmental presence in the NEBC, and possibly abrogating pre-existing extraction rights. The third change arises from the expiry of Crown-First Nation Consultation Process Agreements (CPAs). Recent jurisprudence continues to point to the need for improved consultation and accommodation, but current negotiations may or may not succeed in arriving at a more comprehensive successor to the expired CPAs. Finally, under British Columbia’s contaminated sites regime, new measures expand the liability exposure of oil patch operators for contaminated sites in both civil actions and government enforcement proceedings.


Author(s):  
Ward Prystay ◽  
Andrea Pomeroy ◽  
Sandra Webster

Some of the largest oil and gas projects in Canada are currently being proposed in British Columbia. Establishing a fulsome and scientifically and socially defensible scope for environmental assessments in the oil and gas sector is a serious challenge for government and proponents. The approach taken by the federal National Energy Board to scope effects assessments on pipelines is quite different than the approach taken by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office on other types of oil and gas projects. The NEB has published guidelines for scoping and conducting environmental and socio-economic assessments within its Filing Manual (National Energy Board [NEB] 2014). This manual sets out the expectations for scoping, baseline information, and effects assessments to be submitted as part of approval applications. Proponents are expected to provide all information necessary to meet the guidelines. In British Columbia, the environmental assessment process is dictated by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act and includes a negotiated terms of reference for the assessment, called the Application Information Requirements (AIR). The approach to selection of valued components is guided by provincial guidelines (EAO, 2013). The first draft of the AIR is prepared by the proponent and is then amended to address matters raised by federal and provincial agencies, local governments, and representatives of potentially affected First Nations. Through two to three revisions, the scope of assessment is jointly established and then formally issued by the government. While there are valid reasons for the differing federal and provincial approaches to scoping environmental assessments, each of these processes create risks for proponents in terms of project timelines and costs for preparing the environmental assessment. More specifically, the use of generic and negotiated guidelines can result in a number of issues including: • A scope of assessment that is broader than necessary to understand the potential for significant adverse effects • Inclusion of issues that are “near and dear” to a specific regulator or community but has no direct relationship to the effects of the project itself • Selection of valued components that do not allow for defensible quantification of effects or use of directly relevant significance thresholds • Selection of valued components that are only of indirect concern as opposed to focusing the assessment on the true concern. • Double counting of environmental effects • Risks in assessing cumulative effects This paper discusses where and how these risks occur, and provides examples from recent and current environmental assessments for pipelines and facilities in British Columbia. Opportunities to manage the scope of assessment while providing a fulsome, efficient, effective and scientifically/socially defensible assessment are discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judi Krzyzanowski

Concerns have arisen recently as to whether the upstream oil and gas (UOG) sector — responsible for exploration, production, and some processing of raw fossil fuels — is negatively impacting human (and environmental) health in northeast British Columbia (NEBC). The region has experienced increased rates of cancers and other illnesses that have been linked to the contaminants and stressors associated with UOG. Contaminants reach human receptors through environmental pathways, namely air, soil, water, and food. Each contaminant or stressor has specific sources, transport, exposure mechanisms, and biochemistry; and each can impact health both directly and indirectly. Of particular concern are airborne sulphur and nitrogen oxides, hazardous volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulphide, ozone, noise, and radiation; as well as soil- or water-borne hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and radiation — some of which can also impact human health through food pathways. It has been determined that UOG is negatively impacting human health in NEBC; however, further information, such as environmental monitoring, is required before the actual health risks and impacts posed by UOG can be quantified.


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