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| This archived statute consolidation is current to May 14, 2001 and includes changes enacted and in force by that date. For the most current information, click here. |
| [Updated to November 2, 1999] | Assented to July 30, 1998 |
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1 (1) In this Act:
"advisory committee" means the advisory committee established under section 7;
"commission" means the Oil and Gas Commission established under section 2;
"minister" means the minister responsible for the administration of this Act;
"oil and gas activity" means any activity related to
(a) the search for petroleum, natural gas or both,
(b) the exploration and development of petroleum, natural gas or both, or
(c) the production, gathering, processing and storage of petroleum, natural gas or both,
and includes
(d) the reclamation of sites disturbed because of an activity within this definition, and
(e) the monitoring and long term protection, control and treatment of those sites;
"specified enactment" means
(a) any of the following provisions of the Forest Act, but only in relation to a licence to cut:
(i) section 51 (licence to cut);
(ii) section 54 (consent to transfer);
(iii) section 55 (cancellation for failure to obtain consent);
(iv) section 76 (suspension of rights);
(v) section 77 (cancellation);
(vi) section 81 (eligibility),
(b) section 117 of the Forest Act (road use permits for industrial use),
(c) section 21 (2) of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act (logging plans),
(d) section 12 of the Heritage Conservation Act (permit authorizing an action referred to in section 13 of that Act),
(e) any of the following provisions of the Land Act:
(i) section 11 to the extent that section 11 relates to a lease or grant described in section 11 (2) (b) to (d) (disposing of Crown land);
(ii) section 14 (temporary occupation of Crown land);
(iii) section 21 (limit on area of lease);
(iv) section 26 (1) (interest on deferred payments);
(v) section 30 (amendment of area under application);
(vi) section 32 (application procedure for dispositions);
(vii) section 33 (public notice), except in relation to a disposition by purchase;
(viii) section 35 (feasibility studies);
(ix) section 36 (security deposit);
(x) section 37 (affidavit);
(xi) section 38 (lease of Crown land);
(xii) section 39 (licence of occupation);
(xiii) section 40 (right of way and easement);
(xiv) section 41 (failure to complete survey);
(xv) section 42 (2) (date of disposition);
(xvi) section 43 (cancellation of disposition);
(xvii) section 44 (amendment and cancellation if approval of grant improper);
(xviii) sections 46 (2) (relief respecting cancelled disposition);
(xix) section 59 (trespass on Crown land);
(xx) section 63 (disputed applications);
(xxi) section 67 (1) (garbage on Crown land);
(xxii) section 96 (1) (occupational rental);
(xxiii) section 99 (2) to (4) (assignment of disposition);
(xxiv) section 107 (restricting lawsuits against public officials);
(xxv) section 109 (1) (execution of documents),
(f) any of the following provisions of the Waste Management Act:
(i) section 8 (special waste storage and disposal);
(ii) section 10 (permits);
(iii) section 11 (approvals);
(iv) section 13 (amendment of permits and approvals);
(v) section 14 (transfer of permits and approvals);
(vi) section 16 (abandonment), and
(g) any of the following provisions of the Water Act, but only in relation to an approval as defined in section 1 of the Water Act:
(i) section 8 (short term use of water);
(ii) section 9 (1) (a) (changes in and about a stream);
(iii) section 22 (records);
(iv) section 23 (suspension and cancellation of rights and licences);
(v) section 26 (permits over Crown land).
(2) Words and expressions used but not defined in this Act have the same meanings as in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act.
2 (1) A corporation, to be known as the Oil and Gas Commission, is established, consisting of a board of 2 directors appointed for a term not exceeding 5 years, by the Lieutenant Governor in Council who must designate one of the directors as the commissioner and the other as the deputy commissioner.
(2) A vacancy in the membership of the board or the incapacity of one of the directors does not impair the power of the remaining director to act.
(3) The commissioner is chair of the board.
(4) One director in office constitutes a quorum of the board, and, in the case of a tie vote of the directors, the chair has a second or casting vote.
(5) The commission is an agent of the government.
(6) A director or former director may be reappointed.
3 The purposes of the commission are to
(a) regulate oil and gas activities and pipelines in British Columbia in a manner that
(i) provides for the sound development of the oil and gas sector, by fostering a healthy environment, a sound economy and social well being,
(ii) conserves oil and gas resources in British Columbia,
(iii) ensures safe and efficient practices, and
(iv) assists owners of oil and gas resources to participate equitably in the production of shared pools of oil and gas,
(b) provide for effective and efficient processes for the review of applications related to oil and gas activities or pipelines, and to ensure that applications that are approved are in the public interest having regard to environmental, economic and social effects,
(c) encourage the participation of First Nations and aboriginal peoples in processes affecting them,
(d) participate in planning processes, and
(e) undertake programs of education and communication in order to advance safe and efficient practices and the other purposes of the commission.
3.1 If there is a conflict or inconsistency between this Act and the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area Act, the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area Act prevails.
4 For greater certainty, the provisions of this Act are intended to respect aboriginal and treaty rights in a manner consistent with section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
5 (1) The board must manage the affairs of the commission or supervise the management of those affairs and may exercise the powers conferred on the board under this Act and the powers of the commission.
(2) The board may pass resolutions it considers necessary or advisable to manage and conduct the affairs of the commission and to exercise the board's powers and to perform its duties.
6 (1) For the purposes of this Act, the commission may
(a) acquire, hold and dispose of property,
(b) invest money, and, subject to the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, borrow money,
(c) negotiate and enter into agreements with the government, or with an official or agency of it, or with any person, including, subject to the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, with the government of Canada, the government of another province, First Nations or local governments, or with an official or agency of any of them,
(d) subject to the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, expend money for mitigation measures in relation to oil and gas activities and pipelines, and
(e) do other things that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.
(2) For the purpose of discharging the commission's responsibilities under a provision referred to in paragraph (e) of the definition of "specified enactment" in section 1 (1), an employee of the commission who has identification from the commission for the purpose, the commissioner and deputy commissioner have at reasonable times a right to enter Crown land and premises.
7 (1) The minister must establish an advisory committee to
(a) provide advice and make recommendations to the commission as to the fulfillment of the commission's purposes and its adherence to the responsibilities of the commission under section 17,
(b) fulfill that committee's role described in section 9,
(c) anticipate and identify environmental, economic and social issues arising out of the commission's operations,
(d) by June 30 of each year, review the commission's operating plans and audited financial statements for the fiscal year of the commission that ended on March 31 of that year, and
(e) assist the commission to develop short and long term operating plans.
(2) The commission may pay to an advisory committee member
(a) an allowance for reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily incurred in carrying out the responsibilities of the advisory committee, and
(b) if the advisory committee member is not a member of the Legislative Assembly or a public servant, remuneration at rates set by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
8 (1) The commission must encourage the use of consensual alternative dispute resolution methods for the purpose of resolving disputes relating to the commission's discretion, functions and duties under
(a) this Act in relation to a specified enactment, or
(b) the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act or the Pipeline Act in relation to a licence, permit, approval or other authorization under either of those Acts.
(2) The commission on its own initiative or at the request of an interested person may authorize one or more persons to facilitate settlement, by a process of consensual alternative dispute resolution, of a dispute relating to the carrying out of the commission's discretion, functions and duties under
(a) this Act in relation to a specified enactment, or
(b) the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act or the Pipeline Act in relation to a licence, permit, approval or other authorization under either of those Acts.
(3) The commission may ask the person or persons authorized under subsection (2), if unsuccessful in settling the dispute, to make recommendations that must be considered by the commission before deciding the disputed matter.
9 (1) The advisory committee, on application in the prescribed manner by an interested person, may request that the commission grant an authorization, referred to in section 8 (2), in respect of any decision of the commission other than a decision for which a right of appeal is provided under section 136 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act, section 44 of the Waste Management Act or section 40 of the Water Act.
(2) If the commission grants the authorization requested by the advisory committee,
(a) the effect of the commission's original decision is suspended pending the outcome of the reconsideration under paragraph (b), and
(b) following the consensual alternative dispute resolution process, and after taking into account the recommendations referred to in section 8 (3), if there are any, the commission must reconsider the original decision and redecide the matter in a manner the commission considers appropriate.
(3) The advisory committee must exercise its discretion to make a request under subsection (1) within the prescribed period after the decision that is the subject of the request.
(4) The commission must
(a) grant or refuse the request within the prescribed period after it receives the request, and
(b) redecide the matter that is the subject of the request within the prescribed period after granting the request.
10 (1) The commission may, and at the request of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, must, at the places, at the times and in a manner it considers advisable
(a) make inquiries and investigations and prepare studies and reports on any matter within the scope of this Act, and
(b) recommend to the Lieutenant Governor in Council any measures the commission considers necessary or advisable in the public interest related to oil and gas activities or pipelines.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a matter that is before the commission.
11 (1) A director or senior officer of the commission must not, directly or indirectly,
(a) hold, acquire or have a beneficial interest in a share, or other security of a corporation or other person subject to regulation under this Act, or
(b) have a significant beneficial interest in a device, appliance, machine, article, patent or patented process, or a part of it, that is required or used by a corporation or other person referred to in paragraph (a) for the purpose of its equipment or service.
(2) A director or senior officer of the commission, in whom a beneficial interest referred to in subsection (1) (a) or (b) is or becomes vested, must divest himself or herself of the beneficial interest within 3 months after becoming a director or senior officer or after acquisition of the property, as the case may be.
(3) The use or purchase for personal or domestic purposes, of gas or petroleum products or service from a person subject to regulation under this Act is not a contravention of this section, and does not disqualify a director or senior officer from acting in any matter affecting that person.
12 (1) The commissioner may appoint officers and employees necessary to carry on the business and operations of the commission and may define their duties and determine their remuneration.
(2) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act apply to the commission and to its officers and employees, except that the references in section 22 of the Public Service Act to the commissioner under that Act and to a deputy minister must be read as references to the commissioner under this Act.
13 (1) The board must establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
(2) Whenever required by the minister, the board must provide detailed accounts of its revenues and expenditures for the period or to the date the minister designates.
(3) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records are at all times open for inspection by the minister or a person designated by the minister.
(4) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to Treasury Board on any or all of the financial and accounting operations of the commission.
(5) The fiscal year of the commission is a period of 12 months beginning on April 1 in each year and ending on March 31 in the next year.
(6) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations is the fiscal agent of the commission.
14 At least once for each fiscal year, the accounts of the commission must be audited and reported on to the Executive Council through the minister and to the commission by an auditor appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the costs of the audit must be paid by the commission.
15 (1) The commission must prepare and deliver to the Executive Council through the minister, within 2 months after the end of the fiscal year of the commission,
(a) a report of the commission on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and
(b) a financial statement in the form required by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations showing the revenues, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the commission at the end of the preceding fiscal year.
(2) The financial statement delivered under subsection (1) must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(3) The minister must promptly lay the report before the Legislative Assembly if it is in session and, if the Legislative Assembly is not in session, the report must be filed with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.
16 (1) The commission may place with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations investment money the commission receives but does not immediately require for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Money placed with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations under this section is to be treated for all purposes as money placed with that minister under section 40 (5) of the Financial Administration Act.
17 (1) For the regulation of oil and gas activities and pipelines, the commission, instead of the official named in a specified enactment,
(a) has all the powers relating to a discretion, function or duty referred to in the specified enactment, and
(b) is charged with the all the responsibilities pertaining to that discretion, function or duty.
(2) The exercise of the powers conferred on the commission by subsection (1), the carrying out of each discretion, function and duty referred to in a specified enactment and the responsibilities with which the commission is charged under this section remain subject in all respects to the Act that contains the specified enactment, and that Act continues to apply.
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the commission must not grant or refuse a road use permit under section 117 of the Forest Act without first consulting with the district manager under that Act.
(4) Despite subsections (1) and (2), but subject to subsection (5), the commission and the appropriate officials under the various Acts that contain the specified enactments are each responsible for enforcing the provisions of those Acts in relation to the matters described in the specified enactments.
(5) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the appropriate officials under the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, and not the commission, continue to be responsible for enforcing the provisions of that Act in relation to logging plans.
(6) Despite subsections (1) and (2), section 143 of the Forest Act does not apply to a determination, order or decision of the commission under section 76 or 77 of the Forest Act.
(7) The production of an approval as defined in section 1 of the Water Act, or a copy of an approval so defined, certified to be a copy by the commission or an employee of the commission authorized by it to certify copies, is without further proof evidence in a court of the matters and things set out in the approval.
18 (1) If directly related to an oil and gas activity or a pipeline,
(a) an approval, licence, permit or other authorization referred to in a specified enactment listed in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of the definition of "special enactment" in section 1 (1), and
(b) an instrument referred to in paragraph (e) of that definition,
that has been issued under the Act that contains the specified enactment before the date this section comes into force, and that is in effect immediately before that date, is deemed to be an approval, licence, permit, other authorization or instrument issued by the commission under this Act.
(2) If doubt exists as to whether an approval, licence, permit, other authorization or instrument referred to in subsection (1) is directly related to an oil and gas activity or holder, the commissioner by order may resolve the doubt.
19 (1) On application by an interested party, the commission, after a hearing, and with the approval of the minister, by order, to be effective on the date of the application or on another date determined by the commission, may declare a person to be a common carrier with respect to the operation of a pipeline for the transportation of one or more of crude oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids.
(2) The commission may require the applicant to notify all persons whom the commission determines to be affected by the application.
(3) A common carrier must not unreasonably discriminate
(a) between itself and persons who apply to transport crude oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids in the common carrier's pipeline, or
(b) among the persons who so apply.
20 (1) On application by an interested party, the commission after a hearing, and with the approval of the minister, by order, to be effective on the date of the application or on another date determined by the commission, may declare, subject to subsection (2), a person, who purchases or otherwise acquires, from a pool designated by the commission, crude oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids, to be a common purchaser of the crude oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids.
(2) The commission must not require a common purchaser to purchase natural gas from a pool
(a) in a greater total amount, or
(b) at a greater rate of production,
than the common purchaser was obligated to purchase from that pool under the gas purchase contracts existing immediately before an order was made under this section.
(3) The commission may require the applicant to notify all persons whom the commission determines to be affected by the application.
(4) A common purchaser must not unreasonably discriminate
(a) between itself and persons who apply for the services offered by the common purchaser, or
(b) among the persons who so apply.
21 (1) On application by an interested party, the commission, after a hearing, and with the approval of the minister, by order, to be effective on the date of the application or on another date determined by the commission, may declare a person that owns or operates a plant for processing natural gas to be a common processor of the natural gas.
(2) The commission may require the applicant to notify all persons whom the commission determines to be affected by the application.
(3) A common processor must not unreasonably discriminate
(a) between itself and persons who apply for the services offered by the common processor, or
(b) among the persons who so apply.
22 (1) In this section, "producer" means
(a) a holder of a location who markets or otherwise disposes of petroleum, natural gas or both, produced by
(i) the holder of the location, or
(ii) a person authorized to produce the petroleum, natural gas or both by the holder of the location, and
(b) a person authorized by a holder of a location to produce and market or otherwise dispose of, on the holder's behalf, petroleum, natural gas or both.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting policies and procedures to be followed by the commission in conducting its affairs, exercising its powers, carrying out its discretion, functions and duties and discharging its responsibilities,
(b) respecting applications to the commission,
(c) prescribing time limits within which specified steps in the application process must be taken, and
(d) defining words and expressions used but not defined in this Act.
(4) A regulation under subsection (3) (a) to (c) respecting any matter
(a) under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act, is subject to that Act and the regulations under that Act,
(b) under the Pipeline Act, is subject to that Act and the regulations under that Act, and
(c) referred to in a specified enactment, is subject to the Act that contains the specified enactment and to the regulations under that Act.
(5) Without limiting subsection (2), the Lieutenant Governor in Council, for the purpose of recovering expenses arising out of the administration of this Act in a fiscal year, may make regulations as follows:
(a) requiring producers to pay a levy to the government;
(b) establishing the amount, or the method of determining the amount, of the levy;
(c) designating an employee of the government as the collector of the levy for payment under section 23 to the commission and providing for its collection;
(d) providing for imposition of penalties to enforce payment of the levy, including cancellation of a permit, licence or lease granted under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act.
(6) A regulation under subsection (5) may
(a) classify producers for the purpose of the regulation according to
(i) whether they produce petroleum or natural gas or both,
(ii) the date on which production commences or commenced, or
(iii) any other basis the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers appropriate, and
(b) provide differently for different classes of producers.
23 The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, out of the consolidated revenue fund, must pay to the commission
(a) the levies authorized under section 22 (5), and
(b) the revenue derived from fees in relation to
(i) applications for and issuance of approvals, licences, permits and other authorizations issued by the commission under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act and the Pipeline Act, and
(ii) annual fees prescribed under section 133 (2) (q) of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act and under section 35 (2) (d) of the Pipeline Act.
24 (1) The commission may require forms for applications referred to in section 22 (3) (b) or for other purposes, including but not limited to forms by which applicants may apply under one or more of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act, the Pipeline Act and the specified enactments for an approval, licence, permit, other authorization, the issuance of an instrument or the exercise of a discretion of the commission or for any combination of those things.
(2) A form required under subsection (1) must be consistent with this Act and with each other Act, if any, that is applicable to the subject matter of the form.
[Note: See Table of Legislative Changes for the status of these provisions.]
|
Section(s) |
Affected Act |
|
25 |
Financial Information Act |
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26 |
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act |
|
27 - 58 |
Petroleum and Natural Gas Act |
|
59 - 69 |
Pipeline Act |
|
70 - 72 |
Utilities Commission Act |
73 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
Copyright (c) 2001: Queen’s Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada