Alberta Landowners Guide, Project Initiation and Consultation
 3rd edition | |
| Authors: | Duncan Kenyon, Nikki Way, Andrew Read, Barend Dronkers, Benjamin Israel, Binnu Jeyakumar, Nina Lothian |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pembina Institute |
| Publish Date: | October 2016 |
| PDF Download: | [Landowners' Guide] [Landowners' Primer] |
| Initiation Phase General Advice Project Initiation and Consultation Application Development Negotiating and Leasing Disputes and Concerns Landowners and Media Outreach | |
| Exploration Phase | |
| Development Phase | |
| Pipelines and Other Infrastructure | |
| Environmental Impacts | |
| Abandonment and Reclamation | |
| Compensation, Rights, and Hearings | |
| Appendices | |
Contents
Before the Project Starts
The best opportunity to influence the details of a project is before its application has been submitted to the Alberta Energy Regulator.[1]
Figure 1. Notification and approval process
The pre-application stage is the time when you can try to minimize impacts to you and your family, as the project is more
likely to be influenced at this stage. If the project is on your land, you should carefully consider the surface lease agreement to ensure it reflects your concerns and demands, and captures what you have agreed upon with the company. If a project is not on your land, the company may not be required to directly notify you about a project but you can still raise any concerns you have with the company and the Alberta Energy Regulator before they happen.
Before a company can submit an application to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for
an oil and gas project, it must notify or consult affected residents and landowners in the
region as part of its participant involvement program. When you hear about a proposed
project, you can use this guide to find out more about issues that may be important to
you, so that you can articulate your concerns during this pre-application stage. The
company must wait 14 days for those who were notified to raise concerns before it can
submit its application to the Regulator.
If you own or live on the land where the proposed development lies, the company will
approach you about surface rights access, which gives you some ability to negotiate
additional measures above and beyond the requirements that the company is obligated
to follow.
Depending on the type of project, you may or may not be notified of the project
application, even if you believe you are affected by the decision. If you were not
originally included in the participant involvement program and weren’t notified
personally, make sure that you raise your concerns with both the company and the
Regulator, and submit a pre-application concern (see Appendix E Glossary for
definitions). The company must show the Regulator that it has addressed (or attempted
to address) your concerns.
In many cases, landowners/occupants and companies do manage to negotiate an
agreement. If the company and those potentially affected by their operations are unable
to agree before an application is submitted to the Regulator, they can use the AER’s
Alternative Dispute Resolution program to help facilitate their discussion. After the
company submits its application, you can also raise your concerns formally through a
statement of concern and ask the Regulator to make a decision on the application
through a hearing. If the negotiations fail, or the company does not negotiate in good
faith, you can form a group to meet and negotiate with the company as a collective, or
use the media to raise awareness about your concerns and increase the likelihood that
the company will address them.
Throughout every step of the process, it is important to keep a paper trail of all your
interactions with the company, including when you found out about the project, when
company representatives were on your land, and any complaints or statements of
concern you file. Additionally, keep track of any costs you incur, including time spent
researching the project application, time inspecting your property after a company has
entered, and damages to fences or trees, etc. An example cost chart is included in
Appendix D.
The initial steps of the regulatory process are summarized in Figure 1.
Public Consultation, Notification and Involvement
The AER requires the energy industry to inform and consult all those “whose rights may be directly and adversely affected by the proposed application”.[2] There is no formal definition of who may be directly and adversely affected, but the company will likely interpret this to mean those who are described in the minimum consultation and notification requirements, outlined in the AER’s Directive 056 and summarized in Table 1 below. The AER encourages those who may or may not be directly affected to engage with the company early, ideally while the company is in the pre-application phase.[3] As a landowner, it is important that you maintain a certain degree of participation throughout the life cycle of a project.
Section 2 of Directive 056 sets out how a company is expected to consult or notify the
public about a proposed well, pipeline or other oil and gas facility.[4] There are further
special requirements for the notification of those living within the emergency planning zone of a sour gas well or pipeline (see Response to Problems and Emergency Response Plans), set out in Directive 071.[5] Appendix 11 of Directive 056 describes the entire participant involvement process. Minimum
consultation and notification requirements are also summarized here in Table 1.
Required consultation and notification
For consultation, the applicant company (or the representative land agent) is obliged to conduct a face-to face meeting or telephone conversation with landowners in the required consultation area. Consultation implies a two-way process: not just informing people, but also listening to their concerns and responding to them. The company must provide an information package about the proposed project, and the relevant AER information brochures and packages as specified in Directive 056 (see The Land Agent Calls for details, applicable to all types of development). When consulting, the company must also obtain a confirmation of nonobjection, which does not necessarily have to be in writing. A surface rights agreement signed by landowners or occupants is a form of nonobjection.
Notification involves, at a minimum, sending people and/or local authorities a written
notice about the proposed project and an information letter from the AER. Additionally,
the company must offer copies of relevant AER publications and brochures (including
some of those supplied to the consulted landowners), and must be available either in
person or by telephone to answer any questions. Companies will send the materials to
the address on the land titles, so to ensure that you receive the proper notification
confirm that the address on your land titles are up to date.
After the company completes its notifications, they must wait 14 days to allow notified
parties to raise concerns about the application before the company can apply to the
AER. If the company does not receive the required confirmation of non-objection, or if
they are aware of outstanding concerns from those they notified or from other people,
they may still submit their application to the AER but they must apply through the non-routine application process, and send a copy of the public notice of application directly
to the concerned party. This provides an opportunity for the concerned parties to file a
statement of concern, as the AER will not make a decision on the application until the
filing deadline in the application notice has passed. If there are no outstanding
concerns, objections, or other technical reasons designated by the AER that require a
company to file through a non-routine route, then the company may be permitted to
submit a routine application. In this case, typically, no deadline for statements of
concern is outlined in the application notice, and the AER may proceed to make a
decision on the application immediately.
Since notification requirements differ depending on the size and type of a project or
facility, in some instances you may be consulted and informed as a nearby landowner,
while in others you may have to find the information yourself. Table 1 below is a
summary of relevant consultation and notification requirements to landowners,
residents[6] and occupants[7]. This table is not comprehensive, and does not summarize
additional parties that may be consulted or notified, such as local authorities, urban
authorities and airports. Consult the AER’s Directive 056 or direct more specific
questions to the AER’s stakeholder engagement group for more details on the AER’s
notification and consultation requirement.
Table 1. Summary of the minimum consultation and notification requirements
under the AER, outlined in Directive 056
Single well, multiwell pad, commercial or source water well (Category B well)[8]
No hydrogen sulphide (H2S) | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding consultation on well site location and well site access) Residents within 200 m |
| Notify | Landowners within 100 m Freehold coal rights owners or lessees |
Single well and Multiwell pad (Category C well)
Contains > 0.00 mol/kmol H2S, release rate less than 0.3 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding consultation on well site location and well site access) Landowners within 100 m (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees Crown disposition holders |
Single well (Category D well)
H2S release rate between 0.3 and 2.0 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding well site location and well site access); Landowners within 500 m (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees Crown disposition holders |
Single well (Category E well)
H2S release rate greater than 2.0 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding well site location and well site access); Landowners within 1.5 km (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees Crown disposition holders |
Proximity critical well (Category E well)
H2S release rate between 0.01 and 0.1 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding well site location and well site access) Landowners within 100 m (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees Crown disposition holders |
Proximity critical well (Category E well)
H2S release rate between 0.1 and 0.3 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding well site location and well site access) Landowners within 100 m (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees Crown disposition holders |
Proximity critical well (Category E well)
H2S release rate between 0.3 and 2.0 m3/s | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants (regarding well site location and well site access) Landowners within 500 m (regarding consultation on the setback) |
| Notify | Freehold coal rights owners or lessees |
Facility for an exempt single well (Category B facility)[9]
If deemed non-routine through objections/concerns | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants Residents within 300 m |
| Notify | Crown disposition holders |
Gas processing plant, multiwell gas battery, multiwell oil battery, compressor station, gas fractionation
| |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants Residents within 500 m |
| Notify | Landowners and occupants within 1.5 km Crown disposition holders |
Oil satellite (multiwell), bitumen satellite (multiwell) (Category B facility)
Less than 0.01 mol/kmol H2S in inlet stream | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants |
| Notify | Crown disposition holders |
Injection/disposal facility (water or enhanced oil recovery (EOR)), custom treating facility, straddle plant (Category B facility)
Less than 0.01 mol/kmol H2S in inlet stream | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants Residents within 500 m |
| Notify | Landowners and occupants within 1.5 km Crown disposition holders |
Gas processing plant, gas battery (single or multiwell), oil battery (single or multiwell), compressor station (Category C facility)
Less than 1 tonne per day of sulpher inlet | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants Residents within 1.5 km |
| Notify | Landowners and occupants within 2.0 km Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
Oil satellite (single or multiwell), bitumen satellite (single or multiwell) (Category C facility)
Less than 1 tonne per day of sulpher inlet | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants |
| Notify | Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) Crown disposition holders |
Gas processing plant, gas battery (single or multiwell), oil battery (single or multiwell), bitumen battery (single or multiwell), compressor station (Category D facility)
More than 1 tonne per day of sulpher inlet | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants Residents within 1.5 km |
| Notify | Landowners and occupants within 3.0 km Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
Oil satellite (single or multiwell), bitumen satellite (Single or multiwell) (Category D facility)
More than 1 tonne per day of sulpher inlet | |
| Consult | Landowner, occupants |
| Notify | Crown disposition holders Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
Natural gas or oil effluent pipeline (Category B or C Pipeline)
Non-sour or sour service (up to 10 mol/kmol H2S) | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants on the right-of-way |
| Notify | Residents within 200 m (for larger pipelines) Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
Pipeline tank farm, oil loading/unloading terminal, compressor station, pump station (Category B Pipeline)
Pipeline downstream facilities | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants on the right-of-way Residents within 500 m |
| Notify | Landowners, occupants within 1.5 km Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
Natural gas or oil effluent pipeline, high vapour pressure (HVP) pipelines (Category D Pipeline)
Level 1 – 4 gas pipelines (more than 10 mol/kmol H2S) | |
| Consult | Landowners and occupants on the right-of-way (and within 100 m for Level 2, 3, 4 natural gas pipelines) |
| Notify | Landowners, occupants and residents within 500 m (and within 1.5 km for level 3 or 4 pipelines, or within 200 m for HVP pipelines) Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (if more than 0.1 mol/kmol of H2S) |
This is only a summary of information relevant for rural residents and landowners, and is not exhaustive. To ensure the accuracy of these requirements and for other consultation and notification requirements, refer to the most updated version of Directive 056.[10]
References
- ↑ This material is from the Pembina Institute publication 'Landowners' Guide to Oil and Gas Development, 3rd edition (2016)'
https://www.pembina.org/pub/landowners - ↑ AER, Directive 056; Energy Development Applications and Schedules (2014) section 2.1. AER Directives are available at AER, “Directives.” http://www.aer.ca/rules-and-regulations/directives/
- ↑ AER, Directive 056, section 2.1.
- ↑ AER, Directive 056, section 2.
- ↑ AER, Directive 071: Emergency Preparedness and Response Requirements for the Petroleum Industry (2009).
- ↑ A resident is defined by the AER as a person occupying a residence on a temporary or permanent basis.
- ↑ An occupant is defined by the AER as “a person other than the owner who is in actual possession of land; a person who is shown on a certificate of title or by contracts as having an interest in the land that confers a right to occupy the land; in the case of Métis land, a person having a right or interest in land recorded on the Métis title register pursuant to the Métis Settlements Land Registry Regulation; the holder of a permit for a coal mine.”
- ↑ The category types of wells are determined by hydrogen sulphide (H2S) content, H2S release rate, and proximity to the public. These are outlined further in Directive 056.
- ↑ Exempt single well facilities are described in AER, Directive 056, section 5.5.1.
- ↑ AER, Directive 056, tables 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2 and 7.1.
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