|
Canadian regulatory agencies pledge streamlined approvals Yukon and Northwest Territories anxious to “nurture” business, but want a role in determining Arctic oil and gas development, representatives tell symposium Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
It has been sold as a streamlined and coordinated review and regulatory process for potential gas developments and pipelines involving either the Northwest Territories or the Yukon.
The roadmap through the current jungle of boards and agencies is being cleaned up in a bid to keep repetition and needless delay to a minimum.
“Our government is determined to maintain and nurture an open-for-business approach,” Lois Craig, Yukon assistant deputy minister for resource management, told an Arctic gas symposium in Calgary.
The Yukon negotiated an agreement in 1998 with all 14 of its First Nations to adopt a common regulatory process, although seven of the groups still have unsettled land claims.
Under the Yukon Oil and Gas Act, companies must outline a benefits package for affected First Nations communities when the planned activity will cost more than C$1 million over a 12-month period.
The legislation also gives First Nations with settled land claims the authority to regulate oil and gas activity on their territory.
Environmental assessment required Mark Zrum, regional manager of land resources for the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, said proposed projects must also undergo a department-operated environmental assessment which could take from six weeks to two years to complete, depending on the size of the project.
In the Northwest Territories, land and water-use permits in the Mackenzie River Valley region are granted by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, a new body which emphasizes consultation with First Nations groups before permits are issued.
Board interim chair Melody McLeod said the objective is to ensure a consultative role for Northwest Territories native groups, whether or not they have settled land claims.
“The residents of the NWT always felt left out of the process when somebody was working in their backyard,” she said. Policies being shaped But the board is still shaping many policies as it faces a number of procedures, including public hearings, for the first time.
Earlier this year, 12 federal, territorial and First Nations agencies, which got together for the first time in November 2000, released a document to guide gas development in the Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort Sea offshore.
It is based on four principles: Thorough consideration of the environmental and socioeconomic effects; efficiency and effectiveness; improved certainty and clarity; and public participation. The parties are now refining the procedures.
Outside of areas administered by First Nations, exploration, discovery and production licenses are run by the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs under a “profit sensitive” royalty system. Companies will pay 1 percent of gross revenues for the first 18 production months and incrementally higher rates as project revenues rise, said Mimi Fortier, director of the department’s Oil and Gas Directorate.
| 