Regulations | Links | Print

Description:
The Northern Pipeline Agency was created with the proclamation of the Northern Pipelines Act in April 1978 to oversee the planning and construction of the Canadian portion of the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline Project by the Foothills Group of Companies. The Agency reports to Parliament through the Minister for International Trade and has two senior officers. The Commissioner of the Agency is presently the Deputy Minister for International Trade. The Administrator and Designated Officer of the Agency is the Vice-Chairman of the National Energy Board in Calgary. Given the continuing low level of Agency activity, an arrangement is in place whereby the Agency relies heavily on the National Energy Board for administrative and technical assistance.

Responsibilities:
The Agency's mandate is to regulate the project and streamline and expedite the review and approval process. It is also responsible for ensuring the pipeline system yields the maximum economic and social benefits for Canada with the least amount of social and environmental disruption, particularly to first nations communities. The Agency is designated as a single window between the Foothills Group of Companies, and federal authorities, provincial and territorial governments, and the Government of the United States. Many regulatory powers of other federal departments and agencies related to this pipeline construction project have been delegated to the Agency

The Northern Pipeline Act requires that the adverse social and environmental effects of the construction and operation of the Foothills' pipeline be minimised. A certificate of public convenience issued under subsection 20(1) of the Northern Pipeline Act sets terms and conditions that oblige Foothills to give priority to the protection or enhancement of important wildlife habitat and to minimise to the satisfaction of the designated officer a detailed range of potential adverse effects (through selective scheduling of activities if necessary), including: disturbance of erosion-sensitive terrain; increase of sediment loading in water bodies; entry of noxious weeds; leaving of harmful substances, or creation of aqueous runoff or discharge, where likely to enter any water body; air pollution and ice fog; blasting; noise; the obstruction or entrapment of big game animals; and the development of subsurface channels along the pipeline. Foothills is also obliged to undertake land rehabilitation and re-vegetation where necessary and to provide a buffer strip between cleared areas and water bodies or roads; to undertake water testing and follow-up monitoring of the effectiveness of the mitigation measures taken and the impact pipeline construction on habitat, seasonal distribution, and movement of significant wildlife populations.

Regulations:

• Northern Pipeline Socio-Economic and Environmental Terms and Conditions for Northern British Columbia
• Northern Pipeline Socio-Economic and Environmental Terms and Conditions for Southern British Columbia
• Northern Pipeline Socio-Economic and Environmental Terms and Conditions for the Province of Alberta
• Northern Pipeline Socio-Economic and Environmental Terms and Conditions for the Province of Saskatchewan
• Northern Pipeline Socio-Economic and Environmental Terms and Conditions for the Swift River Portion of the Pipeline in the Province of British Columbia

Links:

• Department of Justice: Northern Pipeline Act
  Complete text of the act