Regulation For Offshore Drilling Creates Welcome Efficiencies Under The Impact Assessment Act

On June 3, 2020, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the Minister) issued the Regulation Respecting Excluded Physical Activities (Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Exploratory Wells) (the Regulation) pursuant to the Impact Assessment Act [PDF] (the IAA). The Regulation exempts proposed exploratory drilling operations occurring offshore Newfoundland and Labrador from the requirement to undergo a project-specific federal impact assessment. The Regulation came into effect June 4, 2020.

This exemption is a welcome effort at creating a more efficient regulatory process, consistent with “smart regulation,” the principle that the degree of regulatory oversight for any activity should reflect the level of environmental risk posed by that activity. Not only does the Regulation draw upon past studies to significantly reduce the regulatory burden on new drilling projects, it also provides a model for how regional assessments can be used to achieve efficiencies