Law

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Open Access
Alberta's 2008 Approach to Climate Change: A Step Forward?
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2008) Poschwatta, Jenette
Climate change is upon us and it poses considerable challenges. In January 2008, Alberta released its new action plan (Alberta's 2008 Climate Change Strategy) to address the problem of climate change. The focus of the paper is an analysis of the Alberta approach and asks whether the approach is adequate to the challenge. The paper identifies several key deficiencies including ambivalent targets, undeveloped actions and a lack of integration with existing climate legislation. Finally, the paper cautions that the Alberta approach to the problem of climate change may lead to unintended consequences.
Open Access
Change to Believe In: A Legal Checklist for Alberta's Land-Use Framework
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2009) Kennett, Steven A.
Open Access
Water Management Planning and the Crown's Duty to Consult and Accommodate: A Comment on Tsuu T'ina First Nation v. Alberta
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2008) Bankes, Nigel
Open Access
Draft Australian Legislation on Carbon Capture and Storage: A Canadian Perspective
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2008) Bankes, Nigel; Poschwatta, Jenette
The Australian government has continued its leadership role in the development of a legal and regulatory framework for carbon capture and storage (CCS) with the release of draft CCS legislation. This paper provides a description and analysis of the Australian proposals and also offers a critique of the legislation from a Canadian perspective. The paper examines the proposed disposition regime, regulatory issues including approval of site plans and site closure, and liability issues. The paper also considers the way in which the draft proposes to deal with possible conflicts between CCS interests and petroleum exploration and production interests.
Open Access
The Federal Government's Climate Change Policy and the Role of Carbon Capture and Storage
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2008) Bankes, Nigel
Following release of its new greenhouse gas policy in April 2007, the Government of Canada released additional documents in March 2008, elaborating on various aspects of the policy with actual regulations promised in Fall 2008. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is relevant to the policy in four ways: (1) regulated emitters may meet their targets by engaging in CCS, (2) CCS projects will qualify as offsets projects, (3) a regulated entity may dedicate its fund contributions to a CCS project, and (4) CCS technology will be used to determine emissions intensity targets for new (post-2012) projects.
Open Access
Polar Bears: The Implications of An ESA Listing for the Continuing Conservation Hunt of Bears Article
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2008) Bankes, Nigel
Nexen Inc.
Open Access
Key Shortcomings in the Current Regulatory Framework for Oil Sands Development in Alberta
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Vlavianos, Nickie
As oil sands development continues in Alberta, questions are being raised about the adequacy of the current oil sands legislative and regulatory framework. This article outlines three shortcomings in the current framework. They relate to the following: the lack of comprehensive plans for oil sands development and for land use in the province; the complexity and lack of transparency with respect to overlapping mandates in the current framework; and issues in regard to the absence or insufficiency of public participation at key decision-making points in the current process.
Open Access
Searching for Meaning in Energy Resource 'Conservation'
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Wenig, Michael M.; Moore, Michal C.
In developing a “comprehensive energy strategy,” Alberta should rigorously assess the meanings and values of its existing energy-related policies. This article addresses the province’s long-standing energy resources “conservation” mandate and concludes that the mandate is ambiguous and deficient in failing to promote full cost, life cycle considerations in energy developments.
Open Access
Consultation with Aboriginal Peoples in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region: Is it Meeting the Crown's Legal Obligations?
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Passelac-Ross, Monique; Potes, Verónica
Open Access
Carbon Capture and Storage in Alberta: Learning from the Acid Gas Disposal Analogy
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Bankes, Nigel; Poschwatta, Jenette
There is a growing interest both globally and in western Canada in the capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide as a possible mechanism to help parties meet the stabilization objective of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the quantified emission limitations of the Kyoto Protocol. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) envisages that CO2 will be captured from large final emitters (LFEs) and injected into a target formation. The widespread adoption of CCS will require the resolution of uncertainties in the areas of property, regulatory and liability. This paper uses acid gas disposal (AGD) as an analogy to explore the uncertainties in implementing CCS. The article begins by describing AGD and then moves to consider each of the property, regulatory and liability issues associated with this activity. It concludes with some preliminary reflections on Alberta’s AGD overall regulatory scheme and its adequacy.
Open Access
'Speaking Truth to Power', Some Reflections on the Role of Law
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Bankes, Nigel
The article explores two views of the relationship between law and power using examples principally derived from the relationship between indigenous peoples and the state in both domestic (national) law and international law. From a critical perspective law simply encodes, entrenches and perpetuates power relationships. From this perspective law is incapable of speaking truth to power. From a liberal perspective law has emancipatory possibilities with the potential to de-stabilize and change the status quo. The presentation argues that the possibilities associated with this second perspective are most likely to be realized as a result of the interaction between different legal systems and especially the interaction between domestic (or national) legal systems and the international legal system.
Open Access
Next Steps for Cumulative Effects Management in Alberta's Athabasca Oil Sands Region
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2007) Kennett, Steven A.
This article comments on the origins and record of two initiatives intended to contribute to cumulative effects management in Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands region. There is clear evidence of a growing gap between expectations regarding these initiatives and their performance. Opportunities for closing this gap include improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of these initiatives, a stronger role for the Government of Alberta in providing leadership and support, and attention to underlying obstacles to cumulative effects management.
Open Access
A Checklist for Evaluating Alberta’s New Land-Use Initiatives
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2006) Kennett, Steven A.
This article proposes a checklist for evaluating the likelihood that recent policy initiatives launched by the Government of Alberta will be successful in addressing the province’s pressing land-use issues. The checklist consists of eight questions that highlight the requirements for successful land-use initiatives. Issues addressed include the focus of these initiatives on the management of cumulative environmental effects, their ability to deliver integrated landscape management, and their implementation through land-use planning and the establishment of regulatory limits on the total amount or intensity of the activities that are causing landscape-scale change.
Open Access
The Role of Municipalities and Regional Health Authorities in Oil and Gas Development in Alberta
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2006) Vlavianos, Nickie
The potential for municipalities and regional health authorities to affect the course of resource development in Alberta was recently brought to light in the case of Compton Petroleum Corporation’s application to drill six sour gas wells just outside Calgary. The case raised issues about the jurisdiction and role of municipalities and regional health authorities in oil and gas development. This article examines that jurisdiction and the role these entities can play in oil and gas development in Alberta. The article finds that, although their jurisdiction may be limited, there are significant avenues available for municipalities and regional health authorities to ensure that their local and regional concerns are addressed.
Open Access
Mikisew Cree and the Lands Taken Up Clause of the Numbered Treaties
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2006) Bankes, Nigel
Open Access
A New Draft Law on the Subsoil for Russia: Advantages and Disadvantages
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2006) Goudina, Ekaterina
Open Access
Alberta's Oil and Gas Boom Fuels Land-Use Conflicts – But Should the EUB be Taking the Heat?
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2005) Kennett, Steven A.; Wenig, Michael M.
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) is at the centre of a growing 'storm' of land-use conflicts arising from oil and gas activities. The public typically looks to the EUB to resolve those conflicts, because of the EUB's role as the province's primary regulator of oil and gas operations. However, the EUB is poorly suited to handling this role because: (1) there is a lack of adequate, high level policy and planning to guide the EUB's decisions; (2) the EUB's 'public interest' determinations are skewed by Alberta Energy's issuance of mineral rights; and (3) the EUB lacks authority to manage the cumulative effects of all activities on all types of land bases. For these reasons, the public should look to Cabinet and the Legislature, as well as the EUB, for resolution of land use conflicts.
Open Access
Treaty No. 8 and the Trapping Rights of Aboriginal Peoples: Empty Promises?
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2005) Passelac-Ross, Monique M.
Open Access
And Now for the Hard Part – Lessons for the NRCB from the Three Sisters Wildlife Corridor Saga
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2005) Kennett, Steven A.
The requirement that wildlife movement corridors be maintained across the Three Sisters property has been a major source of controversy since the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) issued its project approval in 1992. This article describes the origins and evolution of this controversy and presents recommendations for strengthening the implementation process for NRCB decisions.
Open Access
It May Be Wrong, But Is It Illegal? – Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition v. Flett and the Limits of Discretionary Decision-making
(Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2004) Kennett, Steven A.
This article comments on Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition v. Flett, a recent case concerning the expansion of Castle Mountain Resort in southwestern Alberta. The court’s reasons for quashing decisions by a senior official and a Minister have important implications for discretionary decision-making within Alberta’s environmental assessment regime.