Regulating Activities
In April 2022, the Nova Scotia Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables and the Minister of Natural Resources Canada announced the extension of the Georges Bank Moratorium to December 31, 2032. To inform their decision, Ministers commissioned the Science and Socio-economic Review of the Georges Bank Prohibition Area 2020-2021. Feedback was also collected from key stakeholders.
Offshore Accord Act
An act to implement an agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia on offshore petroleum resource management and revenue sharing and to make related and consequential amendments.
The 2005 agreement enhances the benefits we receive from offshore development. The agreement provides an equalization offset payment to ensure revenues from oil and gas do not reduce equalization payments.
Without that understanding, the formulas for calculating federal transfers to the province would claw back much of what we earned offshore. The agreement forfeiture payments, and corporate income taxes from offshore profits. The agreement continues until 2020.
In 2008, the province reached an agreement with the federal government on another form of offshore revenue. It set forth a method for calculating what is known as the Crown Share Adjustment Payment. This adjustment compensates Nova Scotia for offshore rights lost when Ottawa cancelled the National Energy Program.
Amendments to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation (Nova Scotia) Act (also called the Accord Act) came-into-effect on February 26, 2016. These changes, developed jointly with the federal government, represent a significant update to the Act and strengthen environmental protection in the offshore. The changes focus on four key areas: prevention, response, accountability and transparency.
New regulations have been developed to implement these Act changes and include:
- Cost Recovery Regulations
- Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations
- Financial Requirement Regulations
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) is the independent joint agency of the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia responsible for the regulation of petroleum activities offshore Nova Scotia is an efficient, fair, and competent manner. The board’s responsibilities include
- health and safety for offshore workers
- protection of the environment during offshore petroleum activities
- management and conservation of offshore petroleum resources
- compliance with the provisions of the Nova Scotia Accord Acts that deal with Canada-Nova Scotia employment and industrial benefits
- issuance of licences for offshore exploration and development
- resource evaluation, data collection, curation, and distribution
Learn about codes of practice for liquified natural gas facilities and codes of practice for underground hydrocarbons here.