In Canada, there is no dedicated legislation regarding CO2 pipelines, either at federal or provincial level. Existing CO2 pipelines operate for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or acid gas disposal and are covered by existing pipeline legislation.
Pipelines within the boundaries of a province are under provincial jurisdiction. However, interprovincial and international pipelines are under the federal jurisdiction of the National Energy Board (NEB), an independent federal agency reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Natural Resources that regulates international and interprovincial aspects of the oil, gas and electric utilities.
Thus far, the sole example of a federally regulated CO2 pipeline under the NEB's jurisdiction is the 205 mile Souris Valley Pipeline, which carries CO2 for EOR purposes from North Dakota, in the US, to the Weyburn and Midale oil fields in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The first CO2 began to flow in 2000 and, in 2010 it was carrying about 152 million cubic feet (4.3 million cubic metres) per day. In 2009, the Governments of Canada and Alberta announced funding for Enhance Energy Inc.'s Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) project, involving a 240 km (149 mile) pipeline from the province's industrial heartland to the Clive reservoirs in the south, with a design capacity of 40,000 tonnes of CO2 per day. This intraprovincial CO2 pipeline will be solely regulated by the Province of Alberta.
Additionally, there are several existing CO2 pipelines under provincial jurisdiction as well as pipelines that carry a combination of CO2 and hydrogen sulphide (acid gas) from gas processing facilities to underground storage sites.
Both federal and provincial jurisdictions require pipeline construction and operation to comply with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z662-07 Oil and Gas Pipelines Systems standard for pipelines transporting liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. This standard includes provisions specific to CO2 and other acid gases and has been recently amended to apply to pipelines transporting CO2.
What follows is an overview of the main legislation relevant to the transport of CO2 in Canada at the federal level and for selected provinces where CCS activities are under way.
This Act establishes the National Energy Board (NEB). As a result of the Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c.10), which came into force on 1 July 1996, jurisdiction over interprovincial and international commodity pipelines in Canada was transferred from the National Transportation Agency to the NEB. In order to assume this jurisdiction, the definition of 'pipeline' in the National Energy Board Act was broadened to include pipelines transporting commodities other than oil or gas, but excluding municipal sewer and water lines.
Part III of the Act defines the requirements for construction and operation of pipelines, including permitting and siting conditions and terms of economic regulation.
The NEB considers CO2 pipelines as 'commodity pipelines'. When the Souris Valley Pipeline was authorised in 1998, it was the NEB's first instance of an application for the construction and operation of a commodity pipeline. To date, the NEB has designated all commodity pipeline companies as 'Group 2 companies', which are typically smaller firms with fewer shippers. Group 2 companies are subject to complaint-based financial regulation. With this approach, the pipeline company may set its own tolls and, in the absence of a complaint, the Board presumes the filed tolls are just and reasonable.
These regulations set the requirements for the construction, operation and maintenance of pipelines under the jurisdiction of the NEB, but do not apply to commodity pipelines. Due to the wide variety of the fluids transported on commodity pipelines, the NEB determined that it would be more practical to regulate these lines on a case-by-case basis, rather than developing new regulations that would address all potential commodity issues. In 1996, the NEB exempted commodity pipelines from compliance with the requirements of OPR (Order MO-CO-3-96). However, Guide J of the Filing Manual for pipeline construction indicates that the NEB decided that any certificate issued for the construction of a commodity pipeline must address the issues covered by the OPR.
There is no dedicated federal legal framework to address the specific risks arising from CO2 transmission networks. Leakage from transported CO2 during the transport stage is addressed by the provincial or federal authority responsible for approving the construction and operation of the pipeline. Safety and environmental considerations are addressed through specific legislation and through the pipeline licensing process.
This Act and related regulations apply to pipelines transporting commodities. CO2 was added as a fluid whose transport is covered by this legislation. The pipelines covered are those operating for the purposes of EOR. Thus far, its application is limited to the Souris Valley pipeline. Transportation Safety Board incident reporting requirements must be met.
This Act provides that an environmental impact assessment is required for projects where: a federal authority is part of the project; where there is federal funding for the project; where the project is on federal lands; or where a federal authority issues a permit or licence or grants an approval to enable the project. The Enhance Energy Alberta Carbon Trunk Line is an example of a CO2 pipeline project that must undergo a federal environmental assessment as is it receiving funding from the Government of Canada.
Certain pipeline projects are listed as requiring an environmental assessment under Part II of the Inclusion List Regulations pursuant to the Act (SOR/94-637). Pipelines described in Part 5 of the Exclusion List Regulations, 2007 (SOR/2007-108) are not subject to the Act.
Federally regulated commodity pipelines fall under Part II of the Canada Labour Code and must undergo regular occupational health and safety inspections.
Pipelines crossing any navigable waterways must obtain approvals and authorisations from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This process can trigger the need for a federal environmental assessment.
Pipelines crossing any potential fish habitat must obtain approvals and authorisations from Transport Canada. This process can trigger the need for a federal environmental assessment.
This Act covers pipelines transporting CO2. It regulates the licensing, by the Ministry of Energy and Resources, of the construction and operation of CO2 pipelines in Saskatchewan. The Regulations implement the Pipeline Act.
This Act covers the construction, operation and decommissioning of flowlines, pipelines that connect a wellhead to another facility, such as a gas compression unit.
This Act and related Regulation apply to the construction, operation and maintenance of pipelines under the jurisdiction of the province's ERCB. The Act does not expressly apply to CO2 pipelines, but CO2 falls under the general definition of gas, which includes 'any gaseous substance for injection to an underground formation through a well'. The Pipeline Regulation refers to a series of directives issued by Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board that apply to CO2 pipelines (see Directive 056- 'Energy Development Applications and Schedules' and Directive 071- 'Emergency Preparedness and Response Requirements for the Petroleum Industry').
Under these instruments, a Conservation and Reclamation approval is required for the construction of any pipelines included in Class 1 ('major oil and gas pipelines', defined as pipelines whose length in km multiplied by the pipe's external diameter in mm is equal to or greater than a value of 2,690) regardless of their content. CO2 pipelines would need to obtain this approval.
Pipelines deemed 'reviewable projects' by the Act must go through the environmental assessment process to obtain an environmental assessment before proceeding with construction and operation. In the Reviewable Projects Regulation, pipelines carrying 'natural gas, oil or solids, or a liquid or gas derived from natural gas, oil or solids' that meet the stated criteria are considered reviewable projects.
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