Author Archives: Nigel Bankes

About Nigel Bankes

Nigel Bankes is emeritus professor of law at the University of Calgary. Prior to his retirement in June 2021 Nigel held the chair in natural resources law in the Faculty of Law.

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) launches its new website: a valuable source for researching the law of Alberta

PDF version: The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) launches its new website: a valuable source for researching the law of Alberta 

Website commented on: The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI), http://www.alri.ualberta.ca/

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) is the official law reform agency of the province of Alberta. It provides independent comprehensive advice to the Government of Alberta and other agencies. Lawyers and researchers will be interested to learn that ALRI has launched its new website. You might want to take a moment to click on the http://http://www.alri.ualberta.ca/ site and familiarize yourself with the wealth of information that is available here including all of ALRI’s reports going back to its formation in 1967. Out of print reports are available in pdf format. The reports are organized on the website by subject matter and by report type: issues paper, consultation memoranda, reports for discussion and final reports. All of the material is fully searchable. ALRI will also provide hard copies of in print reports on request.

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Compensation for cancelled oil sands rights under the terms of the draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

PDF version: Compensation for cancelled oil sands rights under the terms of the draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 

Documents commented on: Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 2011 – 2021, Strategic Plan and Implementation Plan; Proposed Lower Athabasca Integrated Regional Plan Regulations

In an earlier blog on a draft version of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, SA 2009, c.A-26.8 (ALSA) I suggested that I might provide a further blog on the implications of the Plan (if implemented) for existing property interests. This is that blog but with a focus on oil sands rights that will be cancelled if the Plan is implemented as proposed. The Draft LARP also addresses other Crown resource interests that might be affected including timber harvesting interests.

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A single window for the permitting of energy projects in Alberta: who will look out for the chickens?

PDF version: A single window for the permitting of energy projects in Alberta: who will look out for the chickens? 

Report commented on: Enhancing Assurance: Developing an integrated energy resources regulator, a discussion document, May 2011

In a discussion paper released on May 9, 2011 under a covering message from Premier Stelmach, the provincial government has announced its intention to create a single window for the permitting of energy projects in the province. The proposal envisages a single new board that will have all of the current responsibilities of the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) plus the following additional responsibilities (as they pertain to energy projects including conventional oil and gas, oilsands, and coal – and in the future perhaps mining):

1. The responsibilities currently vested in Alberta Environment under the terms of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, (EPEA) RSA 2000c. E-12, and the Water Act, RSA 2000, c.W-3 to conduct EIAs, issue licences and authorizations under the Water Act and EPEA and to deal with reclamation and remediation on private land.

2. The responsibilities currently vested in Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) to issue public land dispositions including mineral surface leases, and to deal with reclamation and remediation on public land.

Does this make sense?

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Alberta’s CCS Disposition Scheme: the Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation

By: Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: Alberta’s CCS Disposition Scheme: the Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation 

Regulation Commented On: Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation, A.R. 68/2011

The provincial government is making steady progress in implementing its plan to put in place a legal and regulatory framework for carbon capture and storage projects. The province passed legislation in the fall of 2010 (Bill 24, Carbon Capture and Storage Statutes Amendment Act, which I blogged here) to deal with pore space ownership issues and to provide a framework for granting agreements to sequester captured carbon dioxide (CO2) in that pore space; and in March 2011 it launched a Regulatory Framework Assessment (RFA) to review the current regulatory rules.

The most recent step is the promulgation (at the end of April) of the Carbon Sequestration Tenure Regulation, Alta. Reg. 68/2011. This regulation puts some meat on the framework established by the new Part 9 of the Mines and Minerals Act (RSA 2000, c. M-17 (MMA)). In particular, it describes in greater detail the elements of the two new forms of agreement (evaluation permits and carbon sequestration leases) and some of the content of monitoring, measuring and verification plans (MMV) and closure plans. The regulations also go some way towards clarifying the relationship between the Department of Energy and the Energy Resources Conservation Board in relation to some of the more technical aspects of MMV programs and closure plans.

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The proof of the pudding: ALSA and the Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

PDF version: The proof of the pudding: ALSA and the Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

Documents commented on: Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan 2011 – 2021, Strategic Plan and Implementation Plan; Proposed Lower Athabasca Integrated Regional Plan Regulations

On April 5, 2011 the Government of Alberta (GOA) moved a step further to implementing the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, SA 2009, c.A-26.8 (ALSA) when it released a draft version of the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) for public consultation. ALSA has been much in the news in Alberta over the last few months and the legislation has been embroiled in debates over property rights leading the GOA to introduce a Bill (Bill 10) to amend ALSA to, inter alia, clarify the relationship between regional plans and property rights. I have commented on that debate (see here) and on Bill 10 (see here).

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