This Act amends a number of other statutes (the Energy Resources Conservation Act; the Mines and Minerals Act; the Oil and Gas Conservation Act; and the Surface Rights Act) to clarify the regulatory structure for CCS in Alberta. The Act vests in the Alberta Government the ownership of pore space and provides it with the authority to grant licences and leases for the injection of CO2. With respect to long-term stewardship, there are provisions vesting ownership of the stored CO2 in the Crown once the Minister responsible issues a closure certificate to the lessee. Once this certificate is issued, the Crown assumes all the obligations of the lessee that arise under a number of statutes and also must indemnify the lessee for claims in tort. The indemnity is only provided if the claim results from activities carried out as part of the agreement with the Government for injecting CO2 and if the lessee has complied with any other regulations. The lessee is required, before the issuance of the closure certificate, to make payments into a post-closure stewardship fund that will make a contribution to covering the province's assumed liability, the costs of monitoring the site and the management costs of CCS facilities. Further details will be provided by regulation, which will be introduced after the Alberta Government has undertaken a Regulatory Framework Assessment for CCS.
This regulation establishes the process for obtaining pore space tenure rights for carrying out CO2 geological storage. It specifies that the underground formations must be deeper than 1000 metres below the surface. The regulation follows a similar model to granting tenure for oil, natural gas, oil sands or other minerals in the province. The regulation is made under the authority of the Mines and Minerals Act (ss. 5 and 124), which was amended by the Carbon Capture and Storage Statutes Amendment Act in 2010 to enable CO2 storage.
The regulation sets out the terms for an evaluation permit, which grants the permit holder the right to carry out activities to evaluate the suitability of a subsurface reservoir for CO2 storage. The permit lasts for five years and is subject to administrative fees and measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV) requirements.
The regulation also establishes details of a carbon sequestration lease, which grants the lessee the right to drill wells, conduct evaluation and testing, and inject captured CO2 into the geologic reservoirs within the lease area. The duration of the lease is fifteen years. Lessees must submit a MMV plan for approval by the Minister of Energy every three years. Closure plans must also be submitted for approval on a three year basis.
CO2 storage operations will still have to obtain other necessary approvals, such as surface access and injection well licences, through existing processes covered by other regulations or directives.
To ensure this regulation is reviewed for relevancy and necessity, it will expire on 30 April 2016, at which point it may be re-passed as is or amended.