Strategic Environmental Assessment: Perspectives from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board

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Strategic Environmental Assessment Perspectives
from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum
Board Eric Theriault Canada Nova
Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board
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Outline

• Mandate of the CNSOPB
• Environmental Protection
• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
• SEA Case Study

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Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board
(CNSOPB)

• Established 1990 by federal and provincial
  governments
• Independent Board to manage petroleum resources
  and activities offshore Nova Scotia

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Canadian Regulatory Regimes
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CNSOPB Mandate

• protection of the environment
• health and safety of offshore workers
• resource conservation
• Canada Nova Scotia benefits

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Environmental Protection
Legislation, Regulations and Guidelines
Industrys Environmental Management Plan
Research and Development
Environmental Assessment
Monitoring
Generic EAs
Strategic EA
Project-Specific EA
Follow-up Programs
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SEA CNSOPB Perspectives

• SEAs are an important tool for supporting the
  environmental protection mandate of the CNSOPB.
• Identification of environmental issues prior to
  opening areas for offshore petroleum activity.

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SEA CNSOPB Perspectives

• SEAs are conducted on broader geographic areas
  before specific projects are proposed.
• Provide an ecological overview of an area.
• SEAs consider the scope and nature of
  environmental effects likely to result from
  future petroleum activities in an area.

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SEA CNSOPB Perspectives

• Provide a forum for public input regarding
  offshore areas that may have activity.
• Allows for long-term planning and for regional
  environmental concerns to be considered.

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SEA CNSOPB Perspectives

• .

SEAs inform project proponents
SEAs support environmentally sustainable
policy-making
Improved environmental protection and decision
making
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SEA Methodology

• a Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC) approach to
  SEA is used.
• VEC examples
• fish and invertebrates of commercial importance
• spawning areas
• marine mammals
• marine birds
• benthic communities
• species at risk
• special areas

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Other Important Components

• cumulative effects
• primary biological productivity
• plankton
• sensitive coastal areas
• potential effects on commercial fisheries and
  other
• ocean users

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SEA Structure

• Ecological overview
• Identification of VECs
• Assessment of potential environmental effects
• Findings and recommendations

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A Recent SEA Misaine Bank

• Current geoscience knowledge and comparison to
  similar geological structures around the world
  suggest oil and gas reserves may be found in the
  Misaine Bank area.
• Therefore, the CNSOPB decided to conduct an SEA
  of the area.

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Misaine Bank SEA Area
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Misaine Bank SEAContent

• provides an ecological overview of the area
• discusses the potential environmental effects
  associated with offshore petroleum exploration
  activities
• makes recommendations for mitigation and
  planning in the area

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Misaine Bank SEAFindings

• The area is not more sensitive to the potential
  effects of oil and gas exploration than other
  areas of the Scotian Shelf.
• The area is less affected by past human
  activities, particularly bottom trawling, than
  many other areas previously opened to oil and gas
  exploration.
• The area has uncommon topography and may support
  unusual benthic communities in the numerous deep
  holes of cold water, such as the Louisbourg Hole.
  

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Misaine Bank SEA Findings

• Fisheries for snow crab and northern shrimp
  within the Misaine SEA area are highly lucrative.
  
• The Laurentian Channel, on the eastern edge of
  the area, is an important migration route for
  marine mammals.
• Numerous coastal sites along eastern Cape Breton
  
• are sensitive to potential accidental spills of
  hydrocarbons. 

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Misaine Bank SEA Recommendations

• consideration of the findings in future
  project-specific EAs
• the Louisbourg Hole should be treated as a
  special area and be included in future
  project-specific EAs
• the study area could be opened to oil and gas
  exploration

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Conclusions

• The CNSOPB conducts SEAs to assist in
  identifying environmental issues prior to opening
  areas for petroleum exploration.
• May result in the CNSOPB not opening a
  particular area to exploration.
• Issues identified in SEAs may be addressed
  through project-specific environmental
  assessments.
• All subsequent projects in a SEA study area
  still require project-specific environmental
  assessments.

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Conclusions

• SEAs completed by the CNSOPB thus far have been
  useful tools for
• providing an overview of existing environmental
  conditions
• identifying potential environmental effects
  associated with future offshore petroleum
  activities
• identifying general mitigative measures that
  should be considered for application to
  exploration activities

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Thank You
For more information www.cnsopb.ns.ca