On September 17, 2015, the Alberta Energy Regulator (the “AER”) released its draft Directive Fluid Tailings Management for Oil Sands Mining Projects (the “Draft Directive”). The Draft Directive establishes new requirements that operators must meet to manage tailings during and after mine operations, including application filing requirements, the review ...
On September 23, 2015, the Alberta Energy Regulator released Bulletin 2015-28: “Posting of Participation and Procedural Decisions” a significant change in the AER’s practice with respect to the publishing of its decisions. Until now, relatively few AER decisions were directly available on the AER’s website. To date, only five AER decisions from 2015 have been ...
The past week has seen three significant decisions relating to the manner in which the rates of public utilities are to be determined in Canada. Although one can argue about whether the decisions clarify and confirm existing law or create new law, no one can reasonably dispute that utilities face new challenges to establish rates that will allow them to recover all of their ...
On July 7, 2015, Alberta’s Premier Rachel Notley directed her Cabinet Ministers to review their Ministries’ policies, programs and legislation that may require changes based on the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration). Premier Notley tasked her Ministers to “engage directly with Indigenous people to ...
On June 25, 2015, Alberta's Environment Minister announced that the province will make changes to current climate change legislation, including the doubling of carbon levies from $15/tonne to $30/tonne by 2017. The government also stated that larger emitters will be required to reduce emissions intensity of greenhouse gases by 20 percent by 2017, up from the current 12 ...
On June 9, 2015, the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) and the Aboriginal Consultation Office (“ACO”) released revised Joint Operating Procedures for First Nations Consultation on Energy Resources Activities (the “Revised Operating Procedures”). Bulletin 2015-20, detailing the revisions, was released by the AER on June 10, 2015. The Revised ...
On May 15, 2015, the federal government announced that it will commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. New regulations for Canada's oil and gas sector, as well as regulations on natural gas electrical plants, will be introduced. Canada's Environment Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, stated that she will be meeting with provincial ...
On Monday, June 1, 2015, the federal Minister of Natural Resources, Greg Rickford, announced that the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act has come into force.
As we discussed in an earlier post, the Act will require companies operating in the extractive natural resources sector (oil and gas, mining) to report certain payments, including royalties, taxes, fees ...
Does the granting of subsurface mineral rights trigger the duty to consult with Aboriginal groups? In Saskatchewan, the short answer is “no”. The possibility of impact on Treaty 10 rights from the disposition of subsurface oil sands exploration permits is determined to be “too speculative” by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in Buffalo River Dene Nation v ...
On April 15, 2015, the BC Court of Appeal issued its decision in Saik’uz First Nation and Stellat’en First Nation v. Rio Tinto Alcan Inc, 2015 BCCA 154. The decision is significant because the Court of Appeal found that proof of an existing Aboriginal right (including title) is not required prior to Aboriginal peoples commencing claims against private parties to enforce ...
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Lawson Lundell's Environmental, Indigenous and Natural Resources Blog focuses on environmental, indigenous and natural resources law, as well as related litigation. Included are summaries of significant cases from Canadian appellate courts, changes in the legal framework governing resource development including energy and climate change policy, and key decisions from the more influential regulatory bodies in Canada.
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