BC Oil Gas Commission to Implement Area-Based
Analysis in Application Review Process
Effective January 5, 2015, the BC Oil and Gas Commission (the "OGC") will begin using "Area-based Analysis" in considering applications for oil and gas activities in northeastern BC. The stated intention of Area-based Analysis is to integrate the requirements of existing statutes and regulations and allow the OGC to better and more consistently take into account the cumulative impact of industrial development when assessing applications for oil and gas activities. The combined footprint impact of all industrial development on the selected "values" will be taken into account. This includes all surface land use disturbance associated with oil and gas activity, geophysical activity, cutblocks and non-oil activity (such as mining, recreation, hydro, wind power, transmission lines). The OGC and the Ministries of Forests and Lands and Natural Resource Operations have been collaboratively developing this new approach since 2012. The process is similar to the current cumulative impact assessments carried out by the Environmental Assessment Office, but will apply to all applications for oil and gas activities, not just major projects. It will cover the entire Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in northeastern BC, including all four key development basins (Liard; Horn River; Montney; and Cordova). The OGC has identified eight "values" that will be considered in the process. Only the first two will be used at the outset. The others are expected to be implemented over time. Read the full article by Williams, Rick; Bottomer, Timothy with Borden Ladner Gervais.

BC Regulations Ban Oil and Bitumen
from Natural Gas Pipelines
British Columbia's government says pipelines built to support the liquefied natural gas industry will not end up carrying oil or bitumen. The Natural Gas Development Ministry says a new regulation prohibits proposed natural gas pipelines from transporting oil or diluted bitumen. Aboriginal Relations Minister John Rustad says in a statement that the oil-and-bitumen-free pipeline regulation should address concerns of BC First Nations about possible environmental issues associated to oil pipelines. Read The Vancouver Sun article. 

British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board
Reduces Redundancy in Appeal Proceedings
On December 4, 2014, the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board (the "Board") issued reasons in a preliminary hearing relating to an appeal against Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.'s ("Rio Tinto") amended multi-media permit (the "Permit") for its Kitimat Modernization Project.

A. Background
The Permit authorizes Rio Tinto to discharge effluent, emissions, and waste from its aluminum smelter located in Kitimat, British Columbia. In April 2012, the Director, under authority of the Environmental Management Act (the "Act"), approved certain amendments to the Permit, which were sought by Rio Tinto in support of a project designed to modernize and increase the production at the Kitimat smelter. The amendment authorized an increase in the sulphur dioxide emission limit and added several conditions to the Permit, including a requirement to develop and implement an environmental effects monitoring plan (the "Plan") which is approved by the Ministry of Environment. The amendment also required Rio Tinto to submit to the Director a review of Plan results. If the said results were determined to be unacceptable, the maximum sulphur dioxide discharge limit would revert back to the original amount, unless the Director otherwise amended the discharge limit. The relevant chronology of the proceedings related to the Permit is as follows:

The Inherent Insecurity of Log Purchase Transactions
The British Columbia government has rights available under the Forest Act to assess underpayment of stumpage owing on harvested Crown timber and collect charges on top of any stumpage already paid on the timber at issue. In the November/December 2014 issue of BC Forest Professional, Davis LLP's Jeff Waatainen takes a look at security issues surrounding retroactive stumpage appraisal for those who enter into agreements for the purchase and sale of Crown timber. Jeff is a regular contributor to the "Legal Perspective" column in BC Forest Professional magazine and a contributor to Quickscribe EnviroFor. You can view the article on the Davis LLP website.

First Nations Angry that NAFTA Environment
Body Won't Probe BC Salmon Farms
Conservationists and First Nations are angry that NAFTA's environmental watchdog has rejected a recommendation to investigate Canada's handling of salmon farms along the BC coast. "I am deeply disappointed in Canada continuing to put wild salmon at risk," said Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation. "This process may have ended, but our struggle to safeguard wild salmon will not falter for a moment." The Commission on Environmental Co-operation said Friday [December 12^th] that its three-member council had voted against looking into accusations that Canada violated its own laws by allowing fish farms to harm wild salmon stocks through the spread of parasites. Canada and Mexico voted against the investigation, while the United States wanted to pursue it. Canada argued that there is already a lawsuit before the courts in BC. The commission's rules don't allow investigations into matters that are already the subject of legal proceedings. Read The Vancouver Sun article.  

Environmental Appeal Board Decisions
A number of Environmental Appeal Board decisions were released in the month of December. These include the following:

Environmental Management Act

• Emily Toews; Elisabeth Stannus; Unifor Local 2301 v. Director, Environmental Management Act [Preliminary Issues – Appeals Denied]
• Emily Toews; Elisabeth Stannus v. Director, Environmental Management Act [Application for Order to Produce Documents – Denied]

Wildlife Act

• Brian Glaicar; Robert Travis Crabbe; Marty Lightburn; Kenneth Robins; Douglas E. Goodwin; Jim Schmidt; Steven Leuenberger; Donald T. Wolfenden; Darryl Sword; Alex Smutny; Domenic Ferrarelli; Craig Zawada; Harry Leuenberger; David Beranek v. Regional Manager (Kootenay Boundary Region) [Final Decisions – 2013-WIL-004, 008 & 025 Appeals Allowed in Part, otherwise Appeals Dismissed]

Visit the Environmental Appeal website for more information.

A Cheaper form of Clean Energy:
The Province's analysis, released together with news of its FID, concludes that Site C will be a cost-effective alternative to help meet future electricity demands in BC and in particular, will be cheaper than developing gas-fired plants operated by BC Hydro, or any alternative projects by Independent Power Producers.

A Landmark Major Project for BC:
Site C will be, in current dollars, the most expensive capital project ever undertaken by the Province and merits scrutiny and continuing review for that reason alone. But Site C is also interesting because it will, over the next few years, provide global insight into whether costs and construction schedules for major capital projects can be effectively managed.

Climate Change Round-Up
Legislative efforts to address climate change have attracted renewed attention in recent weeks. British Columbia and Alberta have developed emissions intensity regimes while, at a global level, a range of ideas are still percolating. BC's brand new regime regulates facilities that have yet to be built, whereas Alberta's regime is seven years old, with a legislated expiration date that was extended a second time on December 19, 2014 until June 30, 2015. A summary of these regimes, and other major climate change regimes relevant to British Columbia, follows below:

BC's Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act
In November, 2014, Bill 2, or the Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act, received Royal Assent. The new Act replaces the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Cap and Trade) Act and regulates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. These facilities will be subject to a GHG emissions "intensity" benchmark of 0.16 carbon dioxide tonnes for each tonne of liquefied natural gas produced.

Read the full article by Matthew D. Keen, Jana McLean, and Michael Manhas with the law firm Bull Housser LLP.