Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act (S.C. 1988, c. 28)

Marginal note:Participant funding program

142.03 The Board may establish a participant funding program to facilitate the participation of the public in the environmental assessment as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 of any physical activity described in subsection 142.02(2) that meets the condition set out in paragraph 58(1)(a) of that Act and that is the subject of an application for an authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b) or an application made under subsection 143(2).

Marginal note:Right of entry

• 142.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), any person may, for the purpose of exploring for or exploiting petroleum, enter on and use any portion of the offshore area in order to carry on a work or activity authorized under paragraph 142(1)(b).

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) Where a person occupies a portion of the offshore area under a lawful right or title, other than an authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b) or an interest as defined in Part II, no person may enter on or use that portion for a purpose referred to in subsection (1) without the consent of the occupier or, where consent has been refused, except in accordance with the terms and conditions imposed by a decision of an arbitrator made in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Sable Island National Park Reserve of Canada

  (3) With respect to Sable Island National Park Reserve of Canada, the surface access rights provided for under this section are limited to the following:

  • (a) access to existing wellheads for the purposes of safety and environmental protection;

  • (b) petroleum exploration activities with a low impact on the environment, including seismic, geological or geophysical programs;

  • (c) emergency evacuation capacity for offshore workers; and

  • (d) the operation, maintenance and inspection of emergency facilities, including helicopter landing and fuel storage facilities.

Safety of Works and Activities

Marginal note:Safety

142.2 The Board shall, before issuing an authorization for a work or activity referred to in paragraph 142(1)(b), consider the safety of the work or activity by reviewing, in consultation with the Chief Safety Officer, the system as a whole and its components, including its structures, facilities, equipment, operating procedures and personnel.

Spill-treating Agent

Marginal note:Net environmental benefit

142.21 The Board shall not permit the use of a spill-treating agent in an authorization issued under paragraph 142(1)(b) unless the Board determines, taking into account any prescribed factors and any factors the Board considers appropriate, that the use of the spill-treating agent is likely to achieve a net environmental benefit.

Financial Requirements

Marginal note:Compliance with certain provisions

142.3 The Board shall, before issuing an authorization for a work or activity referred to in paragraph 142(1)(b), ensure that the applicant has complied with the requirements of subsections 167.1(1) or (2) and 168(1) or (1.01) in respect of that work or activity.

Development Plan Approval

Marginal note:Approval of general approach of development

• 143 (1) No approval that is

  • (a) applicable to an authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b) to carry on work or activity in relation to developing a pool or field, and

  • (b) prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection

  shall be granted, except with the consent of both Ministers, unless the Board, on application submitted in accordance with subsection (2), has approved a development plan relating to the pool or field pursuant to paragraphs (4)(a) and (b).

• Marginal note:Application and submission of development plan

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an application for the approval of a development plan shall be submitted to the Board in the form and containing the information fixed by the Board, at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, together with the proposed development plan in the form and containing the information described in subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Development plan in two parts

  (3) A development plan relating to the proposed development of a pool or field submitted pursuant to this section shall be set out in two parts, containing

  • (a) in Part I, a description of the general approach of developing the pool or field, and in particular, information, in such detail as may be prescribed, with respect to

    • (i) the scope, purpose, location, timing and nature of the proposed development,

    • (ii) the production rate, evaluations of the pool or field, estimated amounts of petroleum proposed to be recovered, reserves, recovery methods, production monitoring procedures, costs and environmental factors in connection with the proposed development, and

    • (iii) the production system and any alternative production systems that could be used for the development of the pool or field; and

  • (b) in Part II, all technical or other information and proposals, as may be prescribed, necessary for a comprehensive review and evaluation of the proposed development.

• Marginal note:Approval of development plan

  (4) After reviewing an application and development plan submitted by any person pursuant to this section the Board may, subject to such requirements as the Board deems appropriate or as may be prescribed, approve

  • (a) subject to sections 32 to 37, Part I of the development plan; and

  • (b) Part II of the development plan.

• Marginal note:Approval of amendments to plan

  (5) Where a development plan has been approved pursuant to subsection (4), no amendment of Part I or II of the development plan shall be made unless it is approved by the Board in accordance with paragraph (4)(a) or (b), as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

  (6) Subsections (2) to (5) apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, with respect to a proposed amendment to a development plan.

Declarations

Marginal note:Declaration by applicant

• 143.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), no authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b) shall be issued unless the Board has received, from the applicant for the authorization, a declaration in the form fixed by the Board that states that

  • (a) the equipment and installations that are to be used in the work or activity to be authorized are fit for the purposes for which they are to be used, the operating procedures relating to them are appropriate for those uses, and the personnel who are to be employed in connection with them are qualified and competent for their employment; and

  • (b) the applicant shall ensure, so long as the work or activity that is authorized continues, that the equipment and installations continue to be fit for the purposes for which they are used, the operating procedures continue to be appropriate for those uses, and the personnel continue to be so qualified and competent.

• (2) [Repealed, 2014, c. 13, s. 65]

• Marginal note:Changes

  (3) Where the equipment, an installation, the operating procedures or any of the personnel specified in the declaration changes and no longer conforms to the declaration, the holder of the authorization shall provide the Board with a new declaration as soon as possible after the change occurs.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (4) The Board or any delegate of the Board is not liable to any person by reason only of having issued an authorization in reliance on a declaration made under this section.

Certificates

Marginal note:Certificate

• 143.2 (1) No authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b) shall be issued with respect to any prescribed equipment or installation, or any equipment or installation of a prescribed class, unless the Board has received, from the applicant for the authorization, a certificate issued by a certifying authority in the form fixed by the Board.

• Marginal note:Continuing obligation

  (2) The holder of an authorization shall ensure that the certificate referred to in subsection (1) remains in force for so long as the equipment or installation to which the certificate relates is used in the work or activity in respect of which the authorization is issued.

• Marginal note:Contents of certificate

  (3) A certificate referred to in subsection (1) shall state that the equipment or installation in question

  • (a) is fit for the purposes for which it is to be used and may be operated safely without posing a threat to persons or to the environment in the location and for the time set out in the certificate; and

  • (b) is in conformity with all of the requirements and conditions that are imposed for the purposes of this section by subsection 142(4), whether they are imposed by regulation or by the Board.

• Marginal note:Validity of certificate

  (4) A certificate referred to in subsection (1) is not valid if the certifying authority

  • (a) has not complied with any prescribed procedure or any procedure that the Board may establish; or

  • (b) is a person or an organization that has participated in the design, construction or installation of the equipment or installation in respect of which the certificate is issued, to any extent greater than that prescribed.

• Marginal note:Access

  (5) An applicant shall permit the certifying authority to have access to the equipment and installations in respect of which the certificate is required and to any information that relates to them.

• Definition of certifying authority

  (6) For the purposes of this section, certifying authority has the meaning assigned by the regulations.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (7) The Board or any delegate of the Board is not liable to any person by reason only of having issued an authorization in reliance on a certificate issued under this section.

Chief Safety Officer and Chief Conservation Officer

Marginal note:Designation

144 The Board may, for the purposes of this Act, designate any person as the Chief Safety Officer and any other person as the Chief Conservation Officer. However, the Chief Executive Officer may not be designated as the Chief Safety Officer.

Statutory Instruments Act

Marginal note:Orders

144.1 For the purposes of this Act, an order made by an operational safety officer, the Chief Safety Officer, a conservation officer, the Chief Conservation Officer, the Committee or a health and safety officer as defined in subsection 210.001(1) is not a statutory instrument as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act.

Extended Formation Flow Tests

Marginal note:Title

• 144.2 (1) Subject to subsection (2), title to petroleum produced during an extended formation flow test vests in the person who conducts the test in accordance with an authorization under paragraph 142(1)(b), with every approval and requirement subject to which such an authorization is issued and with any applicable regulation, whether or not the person has a production licence issued under Part II.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) Title to petroleum referred to in subsection (1) is conditional on compliance with the terms of the authorization, approval or regulation, including the payment of royalties or other payment in lieu of royalties.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) This section applies only in respect of an extended formation flow test that provides significant information for determining the best recovery system for a reservoir or for determining the limits of a reservoir or the productivity of a well producing petroleum from a reservoir and that does not adversely affect the ultimate recovery from a reservoir.

Oil and Gas Committee

Constitution

Marginal note:Oil and Gas Committee

• 145 (1) The Board may, for the purposes of this Act and the Provincial Act, establish a committee to be known as the Oil and Gas Committee, consisting of not more than five members, not more than three of whom may be employees in the federal public administration or the public service of the Province.

• Marginal note:Appointment of members and chairperson

  (2) The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board to hold office for a term of three years, and one member shall be designated as chairperson for such term as may be fixed by the Board.

• Marginal note:Re-appointment permitted

  (3) A retiring chairperson or retiring member may be re-appointed to the Committee in the same or another capacity.

Marginal note:Qualification of members

• 146 (1) The Board shall appoint as members of the Committee at least two persons who appear to the Board to have specialized, expert or technical knowledge of petroleum.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) The members and employees of the Board and the Chief Conservation Officer are not eligible to be members of the Committee.

• Marginal note:Staff

  (3) The Board shall provide the Committee with such officers, clerks and employees as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the Committee, and may provide the Committee with such professional or technical assistance for temporary periods or for specific work as the Committee may request, but no such assistance shall be provided otherwise than from the staff of the Board except with the approval of the two Ministers.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (4) The members of the Committee who are not employees in the federal public administration or the public service of the Province shall be paid such remuneration as may be authorized by the Board.

• Marginal note:Expenses

  (5) All members of the Committee are entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses while absent from their ordinary place of residence in the course of their duties.

Marginal note:Interest in petroleum properties

147 No member of the Committee shall have a pecuniary interest of any description, directly or indirectly, in any property in petroleum to which this Part applies or own shares in any company engaged in any phase of the petroleum industry in Canada in an amount in excess of five per cent of the issued shares thereof and no member who owns any shares of any company engaged in any phase of the petroleum industry in Canada shall vote when a question affecting such a company is before the Committee.

Marginal note:Quorum

• 148 (1) A majority of the members, including one member who is not an employee in the federal public administration or the public service of the Province, constitutes a quorum of the Committee.

• Marginal note:Powers of Committee

  (2) The Committee may make general rules not inconsistent with this Act regulating its practice and procedure and the places and times of its sittings.