Selected oilsands projects might dodge enviro rules

OTTAWA — Oilsands projects that use steam to release bitumen from deep underground will likely get a pass from new federal environmental assessment rules — but Ottawa is still considering how to deal with those that use solvents instead of water.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna introduced the new Impact Assessment Act in February in hopes of giving more credibility to the federal environment review process. It sets new timelines for reviews, eases restrictions on participants, adds transparency to the science behind decisions and requires assessments to account for social, health, economic and climate change impacts.

In addition to the legislation, the government also sets regulations that determine what types of projects will be covered by the new act — and environment groups are furious that so-called “in situ” oilsands projects are not on the draft project list.

“We see that as a federal abdication of responsibility,” said Patrick DeRochie, climate and energy program manager at Environmental Defence.

In situ production is one of the two ways of extracting bitumen from the oilsands in Alberta. Pit mining is used for deposits near the surface, but about 80 per cent of oilsands reserves are too far beneath the surface to allow for pit mining.

That’s when steam is injected deep into the ground to liquefy the bitumen, allowing it to be pumped to the surface — a process that requires a lot of energy, resulting in heavy greenhouse gas emissions.

Under Ottawa’s new legislation, projects can only trigger a federal assessment if they could have an impact on areas that fall under federal jurisdiction, which include emissions, as well as fisheries, species at risk and Indigenous rights.

The government said while in situ projects can fall under Ottawa’s jurisdiction because of their potential impact on emissions, they can be exempted when already subject to emissions rules — such as in Alberta, which is planning a hard cap on oilsands emissions at 100 million tonnes.

If the only area of federal concern for a particular project is climate, and that provincial laws exist to address that concern, it only makes sense to exempt those projects, said a government official familiar with the measures.

There’s a wrinkle, however: new in situ technology is emerging that uses solvents instead of steam, requiring less energy and resulting in fewer emissions, but posing different environmental risks that might fall under federal jurisdiction — fisheries, migratory birds, or Indigenous rights.