Legislation – Amendment
The Energy Safety and Security Act (“ESSA”) came into force on February 26, 2016. The ESSA amends the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act (“COGOA”) to provide the NEB with new tools to regulate northern oil and gas activities. The NEB provided the following summary of the key components affecting the COGOA:
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$1 billion absolute liability limit in the offshore and new obligations related to “financial responsibility” (i.e. readily accessible funds) and “financial resources” (i.e. overall financial capacity); operators continue to have unlimited liability when they are at fault or negligent.
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Improved transparency through new Board authority to hold public hearings, make some information public, and provide participant funding in relation to certain projects under COGOA.
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Once the NEB determines an application for a COGOA Authorization is complete, the NEB has 18 months to complete its review.
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Providing the NEB with the authority to establish an administrative monetary penalty (“AMP”) regime under COGOA.
The ESSA also amended the COGOA to include two new regulations:
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Canada Oil and Gas Operations Financial Requirements Regulations; and
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Canada Oil and Gas Administrative Monetary Penalty Regulations.
