BC’s
abundant supply of oil and gas—most notably in the Northeast part of the
province—provides energy for many homes, cars and businesses, and considerable
royalties and taxes for the provincial treasury.
Extracting
it and burning it, however, results in serious environmental damage both
globally (greenhouse gas emissions) and locally (seismic lines, roads,
pumpjacks, gathering lines, and processing facilities in the farm fields and
wilderness areas).
It is especially important to understand the
environmental consequences of oil and gas now—at a time when major national,
provincial, and local decisions are being made.Nationally, Canadians are debating how to implement the Kyoto Accord
and Environment Canada is reporting that oil and gas production, processing,
and transmission is responsible for much of Canada’s increase in
greenhouse gas emissions over the last decade.
Provincially,
the BC government is beginning to implement its policy to double oil and gas
production in five years, de-regulate the oil and gas industry, cut enforcement
staff, and aggressively promote coal-bed methane as a clean energy source.
Locally,
many communities—especially those on Vancouver Island—are struggling with a
choice between the intrusions of wind farms and burning more natural gas.
Most
oil and gas operations in B.C. are regulated under a number of provincial acts:
·Petroleum and Natural Gas Act – Regulates how companies
can acquire rights to drill for oil and gas and also how and where oil and gas
projects can be carried out.
·Pipeline Act – Regulates oil and gas gathering lines and
flow lines (pipelines), unless they cross into Alberta, Yukon, or the United
States (in which case they’re regulated by the federal government under the National Energy Board Act).
·Oil and Gas Commission Act – Creates the Oil and Gas
Commission as a ‘single window’ from which Oil and Gas companies can get
virtually all of the government approvals (including environmental approvals)
needed to find, produce, process, and transport oil and gas in BC.
Oil
and Gas exploration in the ‘offshore’ (more than 12 nautical miles from the
shore) is regulated by the federal government.In these areas, instead of provincial laws, the following laws apply:
