On November 20, 2018, the Regulator issued Safety Plan Guidelines and Interpretation Notes and Environmental Protection Plan Guidelines and Interpretation Notes (the guidelines) under section 18 of the Oil and Gas Operations Act.  The Guidelines are effective January 1, 2019, and set out the Regulator’s expectations for the Safety Plans and Environmental Protection Plans submitted by applicants for an Operations Authorization.

The guidelines are based on the previous guidelines established by the National Energy Board, Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, which continued to be in effect after devolution. The new guidelines were reformatted and their content adjusted to reflect the legislation, regulations and other policies applicable in the jurisdiction of the GNWT Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations. No substantive changes were made to the content of the guidelines. Concordance tables comparing the previous and new guidelines are available.