BILL AIMS TO CUT RED TAPE

Easier oilsands approvals

EDMONTON Oilsands projects that get the green light from the Alberta Energy Regulator will go ahead without a final stamp of approval from cabinet if an omnibus bill tabled by the UCP government passes.

Bill 22, the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, which received first reading in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, makes 14 changes to a number of different pieces of legislation involving six Alberta ministries.

Grant Hunter, associate minister of red tape reduction, said the changes will improve efficiency and get people back to work as the province gets back up and running following the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Unneeded red tape has been stifling Albertans for far too long and it’s put us at a competitive disadvantage to other jurisdictions,” Hunter said before the bill was tabled. “Now more than ever it’s time to get control of red tape in this province. Our economy needs this boost.”

Hunter said changes to the Oil Sands Conservation Act eliminating cabinet’s final OK would speed up project approvals by up to 10 months.

But NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt accused the government of making itself less accountable to the public.

“No one elected the AER. The AER is not a part of a system of government representing all the perspectives, held accountable to the public,” he said Thursday.

The AER is responsible for regulating oil, oilsands, natural gas, and coal projects in Alberta. The regulator makes decisions regarding development applications, compliance, monitoring and project closures.

Oilsands projects can become political issues even after they are approved by the regulator. Hunter said the regulator will continue to have responsibilities, including making sure that First Nations are appropriately consulted.

“The duty to consult is still the law and we still have that responsibility. So AER will have to have that responsibility and make sure that they take care of it in the best way,” he said.

Schmidt said it’s the Crown that has the constitutional requirement to consult with First Nations but this bill passes that responsibility onto the AER. “This is a complete abdication of the role of the premier and executive council to work with Indigenous leaders on a nation-to-nation basis,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bill 22 would eliminate the Energy Efficiency Alberta (EEA) agency.

The EEA, which was created in 2017 by the NDP government to offer incentives for things like solar panels and home improvements to boost energy efficiency, already had programs cut in 2019. If the bill passes, the agency would be absorbed into the Emissions Reductions Alberta (ERA) agency.

Hunter said the government doesn’t need to have “two agencies that are doing the same thing.”

Schmidt said he’s not surprised that the EEA is being dissolved following last year’s cuts but said the programs created jobs and helped lower the cost of living. He denies the EEA and ERA do the same thing.

“Energy Efficiency Alberta was a very-much consumer-focused agency. They provided rebates and programs to Alberta consumers whereas the Emissions Reductions Alberta provides financial support to greenhouse gas programs in major industries,” he said.

Hunter would not say whether the EEA’S remaining programs would continue, deferring instead to the environment minister.

In a news release Thursday afternoon, the government said the EEA will continue to honour pre-existing program commitments until the agency closes on Sept. 30.

Alberta’s emissions-reduction efforts will focus on the commercial and industrial sectors, which account for more than 65 per cent of the province’s total emissions, the release says.

Chris Severson-baker, the Alberta director of the Pembina Institute, says the decision to get rid of the EEA feels like going back in time.

When the EEA was created in 2017, Alberta was one of the last jurisdictions in North America to create an agency focused on energy efficiency, he said.

He said the kind of small-industry and residential programs that the province appears to be backing away from were successful and every dollar invested resulted in three dollars of economic activity.

He said the new ERA has the potential to do a better job perhaps by providing multiple services to the same industrial partners but groups like his will be watching to make sure the ERA’S mandate does expand and that leads to emission reductions.

The news release says the government will be working with the ERA on new ideas to reduce emissions and release details when they are available.

Other changes under the legislation include amending the Surface Rights Act to allow more landowners to be compensated for oil and gas development on their property without having to go to court. The maximum award the board could hand out to unpaid landowners would be increased from $25,000 to $50,000.

The bill would remove the Canadian residency requirement for boards of directors for businesses and the Alberta residency requirement for boards of non-profit organizations would be eliminated.