NEB considering upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions in project
On Sept. 8 the NEB suspended its review of the Energy East and Eastern Mainline projects for 30 days, following a request from proponent TransCanada, according to a press release.
During this period, the Board will not issue further decisions or take further process steps relating to the review of the projects.
In addition, the NEB’s expanded indigenous and public engagement activities will be suspended during this time period.
TransCanada filed for a 30 day suspension just two weeks after the NEB announced it would consider upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions in determining whether these projects are in the public interest.
TransCanada says the suspension would “allow time to conduct a careful review of recent changes announced by the NEB regarding the list of issues and environmental assessment factors of the projects while understanding how these changes impact the projects’ costs, schedules and viability.”
The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association pointed out a problem with the NEB considering GHG emissions: “CEPA firmly believes that broad public policy issues, such as climate change, should be addressed at the political level, and not through pipeline project reviews.”
Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd was also not seem happy with the decision. “We believe this would be a historic overreach and have concerns about what this means for energy development across Canada. Deciding the merits of a pipeline on downstream emissions is like judging transmission lines based on how its electricity will be used.”
“Apart from Energy East, we will continue to advance our $24 billion near-term capital program in addition to our longer-term opportunities,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.
The Hearing Panel also granted the company’s request to extend the deadline to file any available project updates from Sept. 15 to Oct. 27.
