Public hearings on the proposed Trans Mountain expansion project are expected to begin early in the new year, but they won’t be a repeat of the Northern Gateway/Enbridge hearing process.
While the trigger remains the same — an application submitted to the National Energy Board by the proponent — other guidelines have changed due to federal legislation enacted last year.
“This is going to be quite different because we now have a legislated timeline,” said Sarah Kiley, NEB spokeswoman.
Kinder Morgan Canada proposes to twin the pipeline, which runs from Edmonton through Kamloops and Merritt to its Burnaby terminal, increasing the system capacity by 12 times. The company plans to file its project application for the expansion sometime in December. From that point, the NEB has 15 months to complete its regulatory review and make recommendations to Parliament.
In contrast, the Northern Gateway joint review panel received Enbridge’s application in May 2010 and hearings wrapped up in June 2013, more than three years later.
When the Trans Mountain pipeline was constructed in 1953, there were no public reviews of major energy projects and no NEB — the agency wasn’t created until 1959 — so the proposed expansion will be scrutinized to a degree not seen before in the southern Interior.
A preliminary phase is already underway in the form of online information sessions about the process, hosted by NEB staff. The public can participate through a computer or telephone.
As well, anyone wishing to participate in the hearings or obtain NEB funding to enable participation should not wait to apply. They cannot make submissions on the project to the NEB without applying in advance.
Funding is available to assist with travel to hearings or hiring of expertise, legal or otherwise. Participants can apply for commenter or full intervener status at the hearings.
“It’s always best to apply early,” Kiley said.
To sign up for email updates and learn more about participation, refer to the Major Applications tab at the website neb-one.gc.ca. For more information, contact Reny Chakkalakal, NEB hearing process adviser, at TransMountainPipeline.Hearing@neb-one.gc.ca or toll-free at 1-800-899-1265.
About 300 parties have registered so far for email updates as other preparations get underway.
“We’re expecting in the next couple of weeks to have a panel appointed by the board,” Kiley said. “Our board members have a very, very wide range of backgrounds.”
Trans Mountain expansion, Northern Gateway and the Keystone XL pipeline are generally considered as competing energy projects designed to export more oil sands production.
