Goodbye ERCB, SRD, SRB, ARD. Hello Superboard

Join us January 30th to hear the chief architect of the soon to be created Superboard as he outlines significant changes to how natural resources are regulated in Alberta and what these changes will mean to right of way professions.

A Regulatory Task Force was created by the provincial government in March 2010 to do a comprehensive upstream oil and gas regulatory review and recommend system level reforms to ensure Alberta has a modern, efficient, outcomes-based and competitive regulatory system that continues to maintain Alberta’s strong commitment to environmental management, public safety, and resource conservation. Six major recommendations came out of this review:

1.  Establish a new policy management office to ensure integration of natural resource policies;
2. Create a single regulatory body which has unified responsibility for the regulatory function of upstream oil and gas projects (legislation to be introduced in 2012);
3. Provide clear public engagement processes that present greater opportunities for meaningful public input on the development of Alberta’s natural resource policies and decisions;
4. Use a common approach to risk assessment and management which applies the most effective tool for the type of activity being managed;
5. Adopt performance measures to measure the success of the new system in meeting its goals and enable continuous improvement; and
6. Create a mechanism to help resolve disputes between landowners and companies, and enforce agreements where required.

What this means to the majority of the Chapter 48 IRWA membership is that we will need to learn an entirely different regulatory landscape in 2012 and in order to maintain our high level of professionalism we need to learn it fast. Join us January 30^th to hear the chief architect of the soon to be created Superboard as he outlines the changes and what they will mean to us. Keith Leggat, Director, Policy and Legislation Innovation Branch, Alberta Environment and Water, Government of Alberta, has over 30 years of experience in sustainable resource and environmental management as a planner, policy analyst and director. His current responsibilities include policy integration, strategic regulatory change and supporting implementation of the Regulatory Enhancement Task Force recommendations. Attendance at this luncheon may be your only chance to provide direct feedback on this important change in the way you do business and space is limited so please register early.