Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act (S.C. 1987, c. 3)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Atlantic Accord

Atlantic Accord means the Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Province on offshore petroleum resource management and revenue sharing dated February 11, 1985, and includes any amendments thereto; (Accord atlantique)

Board

Board means the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board referred to in section 9; (Office)

Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador benefits plan

Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador benefits plan means a plan submitted under subsection 45(2); (plan de retombées économiques)

Canada-Newfoundland benefits plan

Canada-Newfoundland benefits plan[Repealed, 2014, c. 13, s. 4]

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer of the Board appointed pursuant to section 24; (premier dirigeant)

development plan

development plan means a plan submitted pursuant to subsection 139(2) for the purpose of obtaining approval of the general approach of developing a pool or field as proposed in the plan; (plan de mise en valeur)

Federal Government

Federal Government means the Governor in Council; (gouvernement fédéral)

Federal Minister

Federal Minister means the Minister of Natural Resources; (ministre fédéral)

field

field

• (a) means a general surface area underlain or appearing to be underlain by one or more pools, and

• (b) includes the subsurface regions vertically beneath the general surface area referred to in paragraph (a); (champ)

former regulations

former regulations means the Canada Oil and Gas Land Regulations made pursuant to the Public Lands Grants Act and the Territorial Lands Act and includes orders made pursuant to those Regulations; (anciens règlements)

fundamental decision

fundamental decision means a decision made by the Board respecting the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty pursuant to a provision of this Act that expressly provides for the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty subject to sections 31 to 40; (décision majeure)

gas

gas means natural gas and includes all substances, other than oil, that are produced in association with natural gas; (gaz)

government

government means the Federal Government, the Provincial Government or both, as the context requires; (Version anglaise seulement)

Minister

Minister means the Federal Minister, the Provincial Minister or both, as the context requires; (Version anglaise seulement)

offshore area

offshore area means those submarine areas lying seaward of the low water mark of the Province and extending, at any location, as far as

• (a) any prescribed line, or

• (b) where no line is prescribed at that location, the outer edge of the continental margin or a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Canada is measured, whichever is the greater; (zone extracôtière ou zone)

oil

oil means

• (a) crude oil regardless of gravity produced at a well head in liquid form, and

• (b) any other hydrocarbons, except coal and gas, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, hydrocarbons that may be extracted or recovered from deposits of oil sand, bitumen, bituminous sand, oil shale or from any other types of deposits on the seabed or subsoil thereof of the offshore area; (pétrole)

petroleum

petroleum means oil or gas; (hydrocarbures)

pool

pool means a natural underground reservoir containing or appearing to contain an accumulation of petroleum that is separated or appears to be separated from any other such accumulation; (gisement)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulations made by the Governor in Council; (Version anglaise seulement)

Province

Province means the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; (province)

Provincial Act

Provincial Act means the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Newfoundland and Labrador Act, R.S.N.L. 1990, c. C-2, as amended from time to time; (loi provinciale)

Provincial Government

Provincial Government means the lieutenant governor in council of the Province; (gouvernement provincial)

Provincial Minister

Provincial Minister means, other than for the purposes of Part III.1, the Minister of the Crown in right of the Province designated by the Provincial Government as the provincial minister for the purposes of this Act; (ministre provincial)

spill-treating agent

spill-treating agent, except in section 161.5, means a spill-treating agent that is on the list established under section 14.2 of the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act. (agent de traitement)

Marginal note:Construction

3 For greater certainty, the provisions of this Act shall not be interpreted as providing a basis for any claim by or on behalf of any province in respect of any interest in or legislative jurisdiction over any offshore area or any living or non-living resources of any offshore area.

Marginal note:Precedence over other Acts of Parliament

4 In case of any inconsistency or conflict between

• (a) this Act or any regulations made thereunder, and

• (b) any other Act of Parliament that applies to the offshore area or any regulations made under that Act, except the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act,

this Act and the regulations made thereunder take precedence.

Prescribing Limits of Offshore Area and Settlement Procedure for Disputes

Marginal note:Regulations

• 5 (1) Subject to section 7, the Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing lines enclosing areas adjacent to the Province for the purpose of paragraph (a) of the definition offshore area in section 2.

• Marginal note:Issue of charts

  (2) The Federal Minister may cause charts to be issued setting out the offshore area or any portion thereof as may be set out consistent with the nature and scale of the chart.

• Marginal note:Evidence

  (3) In any legal or other proceedings, a chart purporting to be issued by or under the authority of the Federal Minister is conclusive proof of the limits of the offshore area or portion thereof set out in the chart without proof of the signature or official character of the person purporting to have issued the chart.

Marginal note:Definitions

• 6 (1) In this section,

  agreement

  agreement means an agreement between the Government of Canada and the government of a province respecting resource management and revenue sharing in relation to activities respecting the exploration for or the production of petroleum carried out on any frontier lands; (accord)

  frontier lands

  frontier lands means lands that belong to Her Majesty in right of Canada, or in respect of which Her Majesty in right of Canada has the right to dispose of or exploit the natural resources and that are situated in

  • (a) Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Sable Island, or

  • (b) those submarine areas, not within a province, adjacent to the coast of Canada and extending throughout the natural prolongation of the land territory of Canada to the outer edge of the continental margin or to a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Canada is measured, whichever is the greater. (terres domaniales)

• Marginal note:Disputes between neighbouring provinces

  (2) Where a dispute between the Province and any other province that is a party to an agreement arises in relation to a line or portion thereof prescribed or to be prescribed for the purpose of the definition offshore area in section 2 and the Government of Canada is unable, by means of negotiation, to bring about a resolution of the dispute within a reasonable time, the dispute shall, at such time as the Federal Minister deems appropriate, be referred to an impartial person, tribunal or body and settled by means of the procedure determined in accordance with subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Procedures determined by Federal Minister

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the person, tribunal or body to which a dispute is to be referred, the constitution and membership of any tribunal or body and the procedures for the settlement of a dispute shall be determined by the Federal Minister after consultation with the provinces concerned in the dispute.

• Marginal note:Principles of international law to apply

  (4) Where the procedure for the settlement of a dispute pursuant to this section involves arbitration, the arbitrator shall apply the principles of international law governing maritime boundary delimitation, with such modifications as the circumstances require.

• Marginal note:Approval of Provincial Minister not required before regulation made

  (5) Notwithstanding section 7, where a dispute is settled pursuant to this section and a regulation under subsection 5(1) prescribing the line in relation to which the dispute arose is made in accordance with the settlement, the regulation is not subject to the procedure set out in section 7 with respect to the portion of the line to which the dispute related.

Condition Precedent for Certain Regulations

Marginal note:Provincial Minister’s approval

• 7 (1) Before a regulation is made under subsection 5(1), section 29.1, subsection 41(7), section 64, subsection 67(2), section 118, subsection 122(1), 125(1), 149(1), 162(2.3), 163(1.02) or 202.01(1) or section 203, the Federal Minister shall consult the Provincial Minister with respect to the proposed regulation and the regulation shall not be made without the Provincial Minister’s approval.

• Marginal note:Approval of Provincial minister

  (2) Before a regulation is made under subsection 205.001(3) or (4) or 205.124(1), the Federal Minister shall consult the minister of the government of the Province who is responsible for occupational health and safety with respect to the proposed regulation and no regulation shall be so made without the approval of that minister.

Application

Marginal note:Application

• 8 (1) This Act applies within the offshore area.

• Marginal note:Excluded legislation

  (2) Subject to section 101, the Canada Petroleum Resources Act and the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act and any regulations made under those Acts do not apply within the offshore area.

PART IJoint Management

Establishment of Board

Marginal note:Jointly established Board

• 9 (1) There is established by the joint operation of this Act and the Provincial Act a board to be known as the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board.

• Marginal note:Change of name

  (1.1) The name of the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board is changed to Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board is deemed to have been established under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:References

  (1.2) A reference in any contract, document, instrument, proclamation, by-law or order in council to the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board is, unless the context otherwise requires, to be read as a reference to the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

• Marginal note:Treated as Provincial entity

  (2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the Board shall for all purposes be treated as having been established by or under a law of the Province.

• Marginal note:Powers of corporation

  (3) The Board has the legal powers and capacities of a corporation incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, including those set out in section 21 of the Interpretation Act.

• Marginal note:Dissolution of Board

  (4) The Board may be dissolved only by the joint operation of an Act of Parliament and an Act of the Legislature of the Province.

Marginal note:Board consisting of seven members

• 10 (1) The Board shall consist of seven members.

• Marginal note:Federal and Provincial appointees

  (2) Three members of the Board are to be appointed by the Federal Government, three by the Provincial Government and the Chairperson of the Board is to be appointed by both the Federal Government and the Provincial Government.

• Marginal note:Vice-chairpersons

  (3) One or two members of the Board may be designated to be vice-chairpersons of the Board if they are so designated by both the Federal Government and the Provincial Government.

• Marginal note:Designation by both governments

  (4) The designation of a vice-chairperson of the Board pursuant to subsection (3) is effective after both governments have each made the designation.

• Marginal note:Alternate members

  (5) Each government may appoint one alternate member to act as a member of the Board in the absence of any of the members of the Board appointed by that government.

• Marginal note:Joint appointees

  (6) Notwithstanding subsection (2) or (5), any member or alternate member of the Board may be appointed by both the Federal Government and the Provincial Government.