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Orders of court
Court order provision under the Canadian Energy Regulator Act enabling judges to impose remedies on persons convicted of offences involving actual or potential unintended releases of oil, gas, or commodities from pipelines. Available remedies include operational prohibitions, environmental monitoring and audits, restoration, community service, publication of facts, notification requirements, financial penalties, compliance bonds, and educational donations, with orders valid for up to three years.
Operation of pipeline
Pipeline operators in Canada must obtain and maintain an active certificate from the Canadian Energy Regulator and receive authorization to open the pipeline before commencing operations. All pipeline operations must comply with certificate conditions and regulatory orders.
Application for certificate
Pipeline companies applying to the Canadian Energy Regulator for a certificate must submit detailed maps showing the pipeline's general location along with required plans and specifications. Applicants must file copies with provincial attorneys general, and the Regulator must ensure public notice through newspaper publication or other appropriate media.
Approval of deviations
Pipeline companies must submit detailed plans, profiles, and reference documentation to the Canadian Energy Regulator for approval of deviations from previously approved or constructed pipelines. The Regulator may exempt submission requirements if deviations serve public purposes or benefit the pipeline, provided deviations do not exceed Commission-specified distance limits from the original centerline.
Pipeline not work
Section 220 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act clarifies that pipelines are excluded from the definition of 'work' under the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, establishing that pipeline regulation falls exclusively under Canadian Energy Regulator jurisdiction.
Notice to owners
Pipeline companies must serve written notice on all affected landowners and publish notices describing the proposed pipeline route and CER head office location. Landowners have 30 days from service to file written opposition; other persons anticipating adverse effects have 30 days from publication to oppose. The Regulator must publish notices on its website.
Regulations
Section 221 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act authorizes the Governor in Council to establish regulations for pipeline sections crossing navigable waters, covering design, construction, operation, safety, security, deviations, relocation, and abandonment. Violations are prosecutable as summary conviction offences.
Sentencing principles
Section 174 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act mandates sentencing principles for pipeline offences involving unintended or uncontrolled releases of oil, gas, or commodities. Courts must increase fines based on aggravating factors including harm to human/environmental safety, intentional or reckless conduct, financial motivation, prior non-compliance, and post-offence concealment or failure to mitigate. Courts must provide written reasons if declining to apply identified aggravating factors.
Definitions
Section 2 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act establishes statutory definitions for federal energy infrastructure regulation, including abandoned facilities and pipelines, oil and gas exports and imports, ground disturbance thresholds for pipeline protection, and incorporates Indigenous governing bodies and knowledge in energy decision-making processes.
Orders of Commission
The Canadian Energy Regulator may issue orders determining compensation for pipeline and abandoned pipeline projects, including land acquisition, leasing, use restrictions, and damages from company activities during planning, construction, operation, or abandonment phases, with compensation assessments guided by statutory factors.
Examination of site of mining operations
Under the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, pipeline companies may enter mining or prospecting sites within or near their rights-of-way with 24 hours' written notice and regulatory authorization to inspect whether operations pose safety or security risks to the pipeline or persons. Companies may use site equipment to measure distances from the pipeline to operations.
Compensation for severance, etc., of mining property
Pipeline companies must pay compensation as determined by the Canadian Energy Regulator to mining property owners, lessees, and occupiers for losses caused by pipeline severance, including prevented or interrupted mining operations, access restrictions, operational modifications to protect the pipeline, and inaccessible minerals.
Consent of Yukon first nation or Governor in Council
Under Canadian Energy Regulator Act section 318, energy companies must obtain consent from relevant Yukon First Nations or the Gwich'in Tribal Council before using settlement land or Tetlit Gwich'in Yukon land. If consent is denied, the Governor in Council may authorize use after a public hearing with notice to affected parties. Companies must compensate First Nations for land use or injurious effects from pipeline construction.
Methods of acquisition or lease
Canadian pipeline companies acquiring or leasing land must include contractual provisions for compensation (lump-sum or periodic payments reviewed every five years), operational damages, indemnification (excluding owner gross negligence or willful misconduct), land-use restrictions, and compensation for adverse effects on remaining lands.
Companies only
Section 179 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act restricts pipeline construction, operation, and abandonment to registered companies only. Existing pipelines built before October 1, 1953 may be operated or improved by any person, provided they comply fully with the Act.
Additional material to be deposited
Pipeline companies must deposit additional materials with the Canadian Energy Regulator beyond standard filings, including plans, specifications, and drawings for pipeline components, as required by the regulator.
Notice of decision
The Canadian Energy Regulator must promptly issue written decisions with detailed reasons to all persons who made representations at public hearings regarding pipeline plan, profile, and book of reference approvals or refusals.
Error as to names
Section 209 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act permits pipeline construction across designated lands despite errors or omissions in the book of reference regarding landowner names or property interests, without requiring correction of such documentation defects.
Authorized tolls
Section 229 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act prohibits pipeline companies from charging tolls unless authorized by filed and approved tariffs or Commission orders. When companies own the oil, gas, or commodities transported through their pipelines, they must file sales contracts and amendments with the Regulator upon request, which are treated as tariffs for regulatory purposes.
Public hearing
Section 202 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act requires the Commission to hold a public hearing when written statements are filed regarding pipeline projects. The Commission must select a convenient hearing location with stated reasons, publish notice locally, notify statement-filers, and permit them and other interested parties to present representations. The Commission may inspect affected lands and may disregard frivolous, withdrawn, or bad-faith statements.
Definitions
Section 93 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act defines key terms for pipeline claims proceedings: compensable damage (costs, losses, and damages awarded by the Tribunal), holder (entities holding certificates, permits, or authorizations for regulated facilities, pipelines, power lines, or abandonment permits), and Tribunal (the pipeline claims tribunal).
Duty — company
Canadian pipeline operators must promptly receive, transport, and deliver all offered oil with due care. The Canadian Energy Regulator may extend similar obligations to gas and commodity pipelines by order, and may require operators to provide adequate facilities for receipt, transmission, storage, and interconnection where no undue burden results.
Limitation
Canadian Energy Regulator Act section 241 requires pipeline companies to obtain Commission approval before abandoning any pipeline. Companies must notify affected landowners and publish notices in local media. Mandatory public hearings apply if written opposition is filed unless withdrawn or deemed frivolous. The Commission may impose conditions on abandonment approvals, and companies remain liable for abandoned pipelines.
Orphan Pipelines Account
The Canadian Energy Regulator Act establishes an Orphan Pipelines Account to manage surplus security funds from abandoned pipelines. Surplus amounts—calculated as ordered security minus actual abandonment costs—may be credited to the account and earn annual interest. The account can fund abandonment costs when company security is insufficient, but companies remain fully liable for all abandonment obligations.
Orphan abandoned pipelines
Under the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, a designated officer may designate an abandoned pipeline as an orphan abandoned pipeline when the owning company's directors, officers, or the company itself cannot be located, or when the company is unknown, insolvent, bankrupt, in receivership, or dissolved.
Measures
Section 245 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act authorizes designated officers to take necessary measures for orphan pipeline abandonment and to delegate authority to employees or third parties. The Regulator, its staff, Crown agents, and authorized third parties are granted liability protection for good-faith actions or omissions during abandonment activities.
Pooled fund
Canadian pipeline operators may satisfy financial liability requirements for commodity releases by participating in a regulated pooled fund established by authorized pipeline companies. Operators must maintain additional reserves equal to any shortfall between their liability requirements and pooled fund access. The Governor in Council may establish regulations governing minimum fund levels, contribution and withdrawal limits, and participation conditions.
Certificate or order before June 1, 1990
The Canadian Energy Regulator Act applies pipeline governance provisions to international power lines that received certificates before June 1, 1990 under the former National Energy Board Act, treating electricity transmission infrastructure under the same regulatory framework while excluding abandoned power lines from abandoned pipeline definitions.
Purpose
Section 136 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act establishes that sections 137–142 reinforce the polluter-pays principle by imposing financial requirements on companies authorized to construct or operate pipelines in Canada.
Designation
Under Canadian Energy Regulator Act s. 141, the Governor in Council may designate pipeline operators whose companies experience unintended or uncontrolled releases of oil, gas, or commodities if they lack financial resources to cover response costs and compensation or fail to comply with regulatory orders. The Regulator may conduct response actions, authorize third parties with liability protection, and recover expenses from pooled financial arrangements or by reimbursing governments and Indigenous bodies.
Application of provisions in Part 6
Section 306 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act extends Part 6 regulatory provisions to offshore power lines in provincial waters. Pipeline transportation requirements are adapted for electricity transmission, with applicants and authorization holders required to comply with specified sections. Exemptions apply for facility-sharing and shared-use arrangements where regulatory leave or authorization conditions are obtained.
West Import Resilience Project: Environmental determination
Environmental determination for the West Import Resilience Project, covering a new 9km gas pipeline section between Wormington and Honeybourne and a 2km section in Churchover, UK.