Saskatchewan Regulation
Environmental risks and impacts of oil development in Saskatchewan are primarily regulated by the new Ministry of Economy (formerly by the Ministry of Energy and Resources) and the Ministry of Environment’s Lands Branch and Environmental Assessment (EA) Branch. The Ministry of the Economy administers the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, the key piece of legislation on development and exploration activities. Environmental protection is a key purpose of this act that includes, for example, provisions for inspections, the suspension or abandonment of operations, or ordering site remediation. The Ministry of Environment administers The Environmental Management and Protection Act (relating to preventing, the reporting of, and remediation from pollution, and water protection) as well as The Environmental Assessment Act that sets out the assessment and public consultation requirements and processes for proposed developments.
Since the Wall government came to office in 2007, the government has implemented annual budget cuts as well as regulatory “leaning” initiatives to foster more rapid economic growth based on extractive industries. The streamlining of environmental regulation of oil and gas was most evident in the replacement of the Ministry of Energy and Resources with the new Ministry of Economy that is intended to lead oil and gas regulation in the province to reduce regulatory duplication (providing industry with “one window” regulation).
Alongside this general trend, the province is struggling with several specific regulatory issues. For example, to date there has been no cumulative assessment of the impacts of the oil and gas sector in the province—a pressing knowledge gap particularly in the south of the province where oil and gas development is concentrated. There are also notable concerns regarding public consultation on oil and gas projects given the infrequent environmental impact assessments (EIA) of upstream oil and gas projects. EIAs are the primary avenue for public consultation on oil and gas developments but if regulators deem projects do not require an EIA, the public has no formal opportunity to be involved. This is frequently the case in Saskatchewan. According to the province’s Environmental Assessment Act, an EIA is required when a project is deemed a ‘development’ as narrowly defined under the Act (when there is widespread public concern about a project, or when a project has the potential to significantly impact the environment). However, the vast majority of projects are deemed routine and to have few impacts. This is a longstanding trend: according to data provided by the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Assessment Branch, from 1996-2013, only three EIAs were completed for new oil and gas projects.
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The content for this province was peer-reviewed in April 2015. We’d like to acknowledge the assistance of the external reviewers and Brittany McNena who contributed to this webpage content.
