O. Reg. 237/18: EXPLORATION, DRILLING AND PRODUCTION

 

ontario regulation 237/18

made under the

Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act

Made: March 7, 2018
Filed: April 11, 2018
Published on e-Laws: April 12, 2018
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: April 28, 2018

Amending O. Reg. 245/97

(EXPLORATION, DRILLING AND PRODUCTION)

1. (1) The definition of “Provincial Standards” in section 1 of Ontario Regulation 245/97 is revoked and the following substituted.

“Provincial Standards” means the standards set out in the document entitled “Oil, Gas and Salt Resources of Ontario Provincial Operating Standards”, published by the Ministry and available on a website of the Government of Ontario, as that document is amended from time to time;

(2) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following definition:

“Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage”  means the standards set out in the document entitled “Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage Applications and Operations” published by the Ministry and available on a website of the Government of Ontario, as that document is amended from time to time;

(3) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsections:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), a project is prescribed as a compressed air energy storage project for the purposes of clause (b.1) of the definition of “well” in subsection 1 (1) and paragraph 5 of subsection 11 (1) of the Act if the project uses a well or will use a well,

(a) to access an underground salt cavern created by solution mining; and

(b) to inject, store or withdraw compressed air in the cavern for the purpose of producing electricity.

(3) Any pipelines, equipment or surface structures used in association with a well described in subsection (2) that, upon leaving the well, are located beyond the emergency shutdown valves or, if there is no emergency shutdown valve, beyond the first isolation valve do not form part of the prescribed compressed air energy storage project.

(4) Any pipelines, equipment or surface structures used in association with a well described in subsection (2) that, upon leaving the well, are located beyond the emergency shutdown valves or, if there is no emergency shutdown valve, beyond the first isolation valve are exempted from the definition of “work” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act.

(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to any pipelines, equipment or surface structures used in association with the drilling, completion, maintenance, servicing, overhauling, working over, abandonment or decommissioning of a well or underground salt cavern. 

2. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section immediately after the heading “Provincial Standards”:

1.1 Subject to section 2.1, a person who wishes to apply for a licence relating to a well under subsection 10 (1) of the Act or for a permit under subsection 11 (1) of the Act shall,

(a) prepare an application in accordance with the requirements set out in the Provincial Standards;

(b) conduct such consultations, provide such notices, and prepare and submit such reports of these activities as may be required in the Provincial Standards;

(c) submit the application to the Ministry in such manner or at such place as may be specified in the Provincial Standards; and

(d) ensure that the application is accompanied by such plans, studies, tests, evaluations, models, surveys, project descriptions and other information as may be specified in the Provincial Standards. 

3. Subsection 2 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “work” and substituting “work other than a work used in association with a compressed air energy storage project”.

4. The Regulation is amended by adding the following sections:

Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage

2.1 (1) A person who wishes to apply for a licence relating to a well under subsection 10 (1) of the Act that is part of a compressed air energy storage project or for a permit under subsection 11 (1) of the Act for such a project shall,

(a) prepare an application in accordance with the requirements set out in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage;

(b) conduct such consultations, provide such notices and prepare and submit such reports of these activities as may be required in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage;

(c) submit the application to the Ministry in such manner or at such place as may be specified in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage; and

(d) ensure that the application is accompanied by such plans, studies, tests, evaluations, models, surveys, project descriptions and other information as may be specified in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage.

(2) Any person who has entered into an agreement with the Independent Electricity System Operator for the operation of an energy storage facility in connection with a compressed air energy storage project before April 11, 2018 is not required to meet the requirements of subsection (1) with respect to an application for a licence relating to a well or for a permit for the project if the person applies for the licence or permit in accordance with subsection (3).

(3) The person referred to in subsection (2) shall apply for a licence relating to a well under subsection 10 (1) of the Act in connection with the compressed air energy storage project referred to in subsection (2) and for a permit under subsection 11 (1) of the Act for the project by submitting the following documents to the Ministry within 30 business days following the day O. Reg. 237/18 comes into force:

(a) well and cavern plans that address the design, recommissioning, operation, abandonment and decommissioning of any wells and caverns used in connection with the project;

(b) geotechnical, geological and geomechanical evaluations pertaining to the project;

(c) emergency management and emergency response procedures pertaining to the project;

(d) information pertaining to well corrosion for any wells used in connection with the project;

(e) hazard and operability analysis of the caverns, wellheads and piping used in connection with the project;

(f) information pertaining to the project site selection considerations and constraints;

(g) maps of the project’s location and surrounding area; and

(h) a report summarizing any consultation activities undertaken with respect to the project.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), operators of a compressed air energy storage project or a work used in association with such a project shall comply with the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage.

(5) An operator of a compressed air energy storage project or a work used in association with such a project may depart from the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage where:

(a) it is reasonable to do so in the circumstances;

(b) the operator takes measures to prevent or limit damage that provide a standard of protection that is equal to the standard established in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage;

(c) a qualified person has certified in writing that the criteria in clauses (a) and (b) are met with respect to the details and circumstances of the proposed departure and the certification is provided to the Ministry; and

(d) the operator obtains prior written approval from the Ministry of the details and circumstances of the proposed departure.

(6) For the purposes of clause (5) (c), a qualified person is a person who holds a licence or a temporary licence issued under the Professional Engineers Act or a person who possesses the qualifications, if any, set out in the applicable standard contained in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage. 

(7) An operator who departs from the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage in accordance with subsection (5) is not in contravention of subsection (4).

(8) An operator of a solution mining project in a salt cavern who intends to commence operating a compressed air energy storage project in the cavern must comply with any requirements in the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage that relate to the conversion of wells and caverns from solution mining to a compressed air energy storage project.

5. The definition of “production facility” in subsection 7 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “or” at the end of clause (c), by adding “or” at the end of clause (d) and by adding the following clause:

(e) conduct a compressed air energy storage project.

6. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section immediately after the heading “Release of Information”:

20.1 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), an applicant for a licence for a well under subsection 10 (1) of the Act or for a permit under subsection 11 (1) of the Act who is required to disclose application documents as part of a consultation process required by the Provincial Standards or the Provincial Standards for Compressed Air Energy Storage, may disclose those documents in a format that removes or otherwise conceals any information contained within those documents related to a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial or financial information supplied in confidence to the Ministry, the release of which could reasonably be expected to,

(a) prejudice significantly the competitive position of the applicant or interfere significantly with the contractual negotiations of the applicant; or

(b) result in undue loss or gain to the applicant or another person.

(2) An applicant who wishes to remove or otherwise conceal information in application documents in accordance with subsection (1) shall obtain the Ministry’s prior written approval to do so by submitting the documents in the format it wishes to use for the consultation process and identify the redacted information to the Ministry.

(3) The Ministry shall give its approval if it determines that the information that is to be removed or otherwise concealed in the documents meets the criteria set out in subsection (1).

(4) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the Ministry may refuse to approve the removal or concealment of information where,

(a) a compelling public interest in the disclosure of the information clearly outweighs the removal of information from the documents; or

(b) the documents are to be shared with a ministry of the government of Ontario or an agency, board, commission, corporation or other body designated as an institution in a regulation made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

7. Section 21 of the Regulation is amended by adding,

(a) “by the Ministry” after “released” in subsections (1), (2) and (4); and

(b) “by the Ministry” after “confidential” in subsections (3), (4), (5) and (7).

8. Section 23 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(5.1) A Class IV examiner may examine works with respect to a compressed air energy storage project except for the works specified in subsection (2).

Commencement

9. This Regulation comes into force on the later of October 1, 2018 and the day it is filed.