Reinstatement Of The 1976 Coal Policy

On June 1, 2020, the Government of Alberta rescinded A Coal Development Policy for Alberta, which was also commonly known as the "1976 Coal Policy". The authors published Alberta to Rescind Coal Development Policy, on the implications of the Government of Alberta's decision to rescind the Policy and outlined the next steps for interested coal lease applicants.

It has been just over eight months since the 1976 Coal Policy was rescinded, and the decision continues to garner significant public attention. Several municipal governments and First Nations have adopted resolutions demanding reinstatement of the Policy, citing environmental and health concerns.

The 1976 Coal Policy reflected the premise that some lands were better suited for economic and energy development initiatives. As such, the Policy established a 4-category classification system which determined whether mining operations would be allowed on such lands. Simply put, the lower the category number, the