Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. O-7)

Delegation

Marginal note:Delegation

• 4.1 (1) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may delegate any of its powers under section 5, 5.02, 5.03, 5.11, 5.12, 26.1 or 27 to any person, and the person shall exercise those powers in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

• Marginal note:Navigable waters

  (2) The person to whom the power to issue an authorization under paragraph 5(1)(b) is delegated may exercise that power in relation to a section or part of a pipeline that passes in, on, over, under, through or across a navigable water only after having consulted the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator.

Cost Recovery

Marginal note:Regulations respecting fees, etc.

• 4.2 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) respecting the fees or charges, or the method of calculating the fees or charges, to be paid for the provision, by the Canadian Energy Regulator or the Minister, of a service or product under this Act;

  • (b) respecting the fees or charges, or the method of calculating the fees or charges, in respect of any of the Canadian Energy Regulator’s or the Minister’s activities under or related to this Act or under any other Act of Parliament, that are to be paid by

    • (i) a person who makes an application for an authorization under paragraph 5(1)(b) or an application under subsection 5.1(2), or

    • (ii) the holder of an operating licence or authorization issued under section 5; and

  • (c) respecting the refund of all or part of any fee or charge referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), or the method of calculating that refund.

• Marginal note:Amounts not to exceed cost

  (2) The amounts of the fees or charges referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall not exceed the cost of providing the services or products.

• Marginal note:Amounts not to exceed cost

  (3) The amounts of the fees or charges referred to in paragraph (1)(b) shall not exceed the cost of performing the activities under or related to this Act or under any other Act of Parliament.

Licences and Authorizations

Operating Licences and Authorization for Work

Marginal note:Licences and authorizations

• 5 (1) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may, on application made in the form and containing the information fixed by the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator, and made in the prescribed manner, issue

  • (a) an operating licence; and

  • (b) an authorization with respect to each work or activity proposed to be carried on.

• Marginal note:Term and renewals

  (2) An operating licence expires on the thirty-first day of March immediately after the day on which it is issued and may be renewed for successive periods not exceeding one year each.

• Marginal note:Requirements for operating licence

  (3) An operating licence is subject to any requirements that are determined by the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator or that are prescribed and to any deposits that are prescribed.

• Marginal note:Requirements for authorization

  (4) An authorization shall be subject to such approvals as the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator determines or as may be granted in accordance with the regulations and such requirements and deposits as the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator determines or as may be prescribed, including

  • (a) requirements relating to liability for loss, damage, costs or expenses;

  • (b) requirements for the carrying out of environmental programs or studies; and

  • (c) requirements for the payment of expenses incurred by the Canadian Energy Regulator in approving the design, construction and operation of production facilities and production platforms as those terms are defined in the regulations.

• Marginal note:Suspension or revocation

  (5) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may suspend or revoke an operating licence or an authorization for failure to comply with, contravention of or default in respect of

  • (a) a requirement, approval or deposit subject to which the licence or authorization was issued;

  • (a.1) a fee or charge payable in accordance with regulations made under section 4.2;

  • (b) a requirement undertaken in a declaration referred to in subsection 5.11(1) or (2);

  • (c) subsection 5.11(3), 5.12(2), 26.1(4) or (5) or 27(1.1), (1.2) or (5); or

  • (d) any applicable regulation.

• Marginal note:Variation

  (6) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator may vary the conditions of an operating licence or authorization under section 383 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act.

Marginal note:Timing

• 5.001 (1) If an application for an authorization under subsection 5(1) is made with respect to a work or activity proposed to be carried on in whole or in part in any area in respect of which the Minister of Northern Affairs has administrative responsibility for natural resources, the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator shall, within 18 months after the day on which the applicant has, in the Commission’s opinion, provided a complete application, either issue the authorization to the applicant under that subsection or notify the applicant in writing of its decision not to issue the authorization.

• Marginal note:Extensions

  (2) The Minister may, by order, extend the period referred to in subsection (1) by a maximum of three months. The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, by order, further extend that period by any additional period or periods of time.

• Marginal note:Impact assessment

  (3) If the application for an authorization is in respect of a designated project, as defined in section 2 of the Impact Assessment Act, for which an impact assessment is required under that Act, the Minister of the Environment must issue the decision statement referred to in section 65 of that Act in respect of the designated project.

• Marginal note:Excluded period

  (4) If the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator requires the applicant to provide information or undertake a study with respect to the work or activity, the period that is taken by the applicant, in the Commission’s opinion, to comply with the requirement is not included in the calculation of the period referred to in subsection (1) or, if the period is extended under subsection (2), within that extended period.

• Marginal note:Public notice of excluded period

  (5) The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator shall, without delay, make public the dates on which the period referred to in subsection (4) begins and ends.

Marginal note:Participant funding program

5.002 The Canadian Energy Regulator may establish a participant funding program to facilitate the participation of the public in the impact assessment, as defined in section 2 of the Impact Assessment Act, of any designated project, as defined in that section, if

• (a) the Canadian Energy Regulator has responsibilities for the project under that Act;

• (b) the project includes physical activities that are designated by regulations made under paragraph 112(1)(e) of that Act or that are part of a class of activities designated by those regulations; and

• (c) the project is the subject of an application for an authorization under subsection 5(1) of this Act.

Marginal note:Right of entry

• 5.01 (1) Any person may, for the purpose of exploring for or exploiting oil or gas, maintaining safety or protecting the environment, enter on and use the surface of the land in any area in which this Act applies in order to carry on a work or activity authorized under paragraph 5(1)(b).

• Marginal note:Right of entry — abandoned pipeline

  (1.1) Any person or their successor or assign may, for the purpose of maintaining safety or protecting the environment, enter on and use the surface of the land in any area in which this Act applies in order to carry on a work or activity in relation to an abandoned pipeline for which the person has received the leave required by paragraph 4.01(1)(d).

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) Despite subsections (1) and (1.1), if a person occupies land in an area to which this Act applies and that person owns or has title to the land — or has lawful possession of it, other than by virtue of an authorization under paragraph 5(1)(b) or an interest as defined in section 2 of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act — it is prohibited for anyone to enter on or use the surface of that land without the consent of the occupier or, if consent has been refused, except in accordance with the terms and conditions of

  • (a) in the case of land within Nunavut, a decision of the Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal made in accordance with the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act;

  • (a.1) in the case of land in the Northwest Territories, an order made by a territorial tribunal that is competent to resolve matters in dispute relating to access to the surface of lands; and

  • (b) in any other case, a decision of an arbitrator made in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Subsections (1) to (2) do not apply in respect of Inuit-owned land as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act.

• (4) [Repealed, 1998, c. 5, s. 12]

Navigable Waters

Marginal note:Construction or operation

5.011 No person shall construct or operate a pipeline that passes in, on, over, under, through or across a navigable water unless an authorization to construct or operate, as the case may be, the pipeline has been issued under paragraph 5(1)(b).

Marginal note:Effects on navigation

5.012 In addition to any other factor that it considers appropriate, the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator shall take into account the effects that its decision might have on navigation, including safety of navigation, when deciding whether to issue an authorization under paragraph 5(1)(b) in respect of a pipeline that passes in, on, over, under, through or across a navigable water.

Marginal note:Pipeline not work

5.013 Despite the definition work in section 2 of the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, a pipeline in respect of which an authorization has been or may be issued under paragraph 5(1)(b) is not a work to which that Act applies.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 5.014 (1) The Governor in Council may, for purposes related to navigation, on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Northern Affairs and the Minister of Transport, make regulations respecting sections or parts of pipelines that pass in, on, over, under, through or across any navigable water in any area in respect of which the Minister of Northern Affairs has administrative responsibility for natural resources, including regulations respecting the design, construction, operation and abandonment of those pipelines and the issuance of authorizations under paragraph 5(1)(b) in respect of their construction or operation.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) The Governor in Council may, for purposes related to navigation, on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Transport, make regulations respecting sections or parts of pipelines that pass in, on, over, under, through or across any navigable waters in any area in respect of which the Minister of Natural Resources has administrative responsibility for natural resources, including regulations respecting the design, construction, operation and abandonment of those pipelines and the issuance of authorizations under paragraph 5(1)(b) in respect of their construction or operation.

Marginal note:Existing terms and conditions

5.015 Terms and conditions imposed at any time before the coming into force of this section in relation to an approval given under the Navigation Protection Act in respect of a pipeline, in respect of which an authorization has been issued under paragraph 5(1)(b), apply as if they were requirements determined by the National Energy Board to be requirements to which the authorization is subject.

Safety of Works and Activities

Marginal note:Safety

5.02 The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator shall, before issuing an authorization for a work or activity referred to in paragraph 5(1)(b), consider the safety of the work or activity by reviewing, in consultation with the Chief Safety Officer, the system as a whole and its components, including its installations, equipment, operating procedures and personnel.

Spill-treating Agent

Marginal note:Net environmental benefit

5.021 The Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator must not permit the use of a spill-treating agent in an authorization issued under paragraph 5(1)(b) unless that Commission determines, taking into account any prescribed factors and any factors the Regulator considers appropriate, that the use of the spill-treating agent is likely to achieve a net environmental benefit.