Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Area Petroleum Operations Framework Regulations (SOR/2024-26)

Marginal note:Rescue boat — vessel

172 An operator must, in respect of any vessel that is used in a geoscientific program, geotechnical program, environmental program, diving project or construction activity, ensure that a rescue boat is available and ready for use in the event of an emergency.

Marginal note:Safety zone

• 173 (1) A support craft must not enter the safety zone around an installation or around a vessel that is engaged in a geoscientific program, geotechnical program, environmental program or diving project without the consent of the installation manager or the person in charge of the operations site.

• Marginal note:Notice to approaching aircraft or vessel

  (2) The operator must ensure that persons who are in charge of an aircraft or vessel that is approaching the safety zone are notified of the safety zone boundaries and of any hazards within that zone that relate to the operator’s installation or vessel.

• Marginal note:Boundaries — installation

  (3) The safety zone around an installation consists of the area within a line that encloses the installation and is drawn at a distance of 500 m from the outer edge of the installation or, if any component of the installation extends beyond that edge, from the outer limit of the component that extends furthest from that edge.

• Marginal note:Boundaries — vessel

  (4) The safety zone around a vessel referred to in subsection (1) consists of the area within a line that encloses the vessel and any of its attached equipment and is drawn at a distance that minimizes risks to safety, the environment and property located nearby, including fishing gear or fishing vessels.

Marginal note:Landing area

• 174 (1) An operator must ensure that the aircraft landing area on an installation or vessel and the equipment that is used in that area or that otherwise supports the take-off or landing of aircraft are designed to ensure safety and the protection of the environment and to prevent incidents or damage resulting from the use of aircraft.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (2) The operator must ensure that the landing area

  • (a) has an obstacle-free take-off and approach area and is oriented relative to prevailing winds;

  • (b) can withstand all functional loads imposed by aircraft;

  • (c) can accommodate aircraft of expected sizes;

  • (d) has emergency response and firefighting equipment;

  • (e) has conspicuous markings and signage;

  • (f) has adequate lighting, including in reduced visibility conditions;

  • (g) has monitoring and status light systems and communication and meteorological equipment;

  • (h) is readily and safely accessible, including from the accommodations areas and from any temporary safe refuge; and

  • (i) in the case of a landing area on an installation, is equipped with fuel storage tanks.

• Marginal note:Fuel storage tanks

  (3) The operator must ensure that any fuel storage tanks that are in proximity to a landing area are stored safely and protected from damage, impact and fire.

Marginal note:Procedures

175 The operator must ensure the establishment of procedures associated with the support of aircraft operations, including procedures for emergency response, and of a training program for personnel for those purposes.

Marginal note:Aircraft service provider

176 An operator must ensure that, before the start of any operations that require the use of an aircraft, the aircraft service provider has accepted in writing all conditions with respect to the use of the equipment in any landing area, the procedures associated with the support of aircraft operations, including the procedures for emergency response, and the training program for personnel in respect of those matters.

Marginal note:Classification

177 An operator must ensure that any support or construction vessel to be used in conjunction with an installation holds a valid certificate of class issued by a classification society according to the work or activity to be carried out by it.

PART 12Notice, Records, Reports and Other Information for Authorized Works and Activities

General

Marginal note:Definition of shotpoint

178 In this Part, shotpoint means the surface location of a seismic energy source.

Marginal note:Reportable incidents

• 179 (1) An operator must notify the Board of a reportable incident as soon as the circumstances permit, but not later than 24 hours after becoming aware of the incident.

• Marginal note:Investigation

  (2) The operator must ensure that

  • (a) any reportable incident is investigated;

  • (b) the person who conducts the investigation includes in their investigation report the root causes of the reportable incident, the contributing factors, measures to be implemented to prevent its recurrence and any other relevant information; and

  • (c) the investigation report is submitted to the Board not later than 14 days after the day on which the reportable incident occurred.

Marginal note:Accessibility of records

180 An operator must ensure that any records that are necessary to support operational requirements and the requirements of these Regulations are readily accessible to the Board for examination.

Marginal note:Critical information

• 181 (1) An operator must ensure that records are kept of all information — including the following — that is critical to safety, the protection of the environment or the prevention of waste:

  • (a) information on the location and movement of support craft;

  • (b) information on reportable incidents;

  • (c) information on emergency drills and exercises;

  • (d) information on the quantities of consumable substances at any operations site;

  • (e) data resulting from any required observation of wildlife;

  • (f) information on verification, inspection, monitoring, testing, maintenance and operating activities;

  • (g) information on the status of all systems and equipment identified in the safety plan as being critical to safety or in the environmental protection plan as being critical to the protection of the environment, including any test result indicating that the systems or equipment are not functioning as intended and information on any equipment failure that has led to an impairment of any of those systems; and

  • (h) information on the physical and environmental conditions observed and forecasted under section 42.

• Marginal note:Retention periods

  (2) The operator must retain the records referred to in subsection (1) for the following periods:

  • (a) in the case of the records referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (e) to (g) and those referred to in paragraph (1)(h) regarding forecasted conditions, five years after the day on which the record is created;

  • (b) in the case of the records referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (c),

    • (i) five years after the day on which the drill or exercise is carried out, and

    • (ii) 10 years after the day on which the reportable incident is reported;

  • (c) in the case of the records referred to in paragraph (1)(d), for as long as the consumable substance is at the operations site; and

  • (d) in the case of the records referred to in paragraph (1)(h) regarding conditions observed, for the duration of the authorized work or activity.

Marginal note:Safety report

• 182 (1) An operator must ensure that a safety report that relates to an authorized work or activity conducted in a given calendar year is submitted to the Board within 90 days after the day on which the work or activity is concluded or suspended or, in the case of a work or activity that will continue into the following calendar year, that a safety report that relates to the work or activity conducted in the preceding calendar year is submitted to the Board not later than March 31 of that following calendar year.

• Marginal note:Requirements

  (2) The safety report must contain

  • (a) a description and analysis of the efforts undertaken to improve safety;

  • (b) a summary of the operator’s safety performance during the applicable calendar year, including with respect to the objective of reducing safety risks;

  • (c) a summary of the safety measures and actions taken to mitigate the effects of any reportable incident, as well as of their effectiveness and any adjustments made for their continued improvement; and

  • (d) a summary of any emergency response drills and exercises relating to safety that were completed.

Marginal note:Annual reports

183 An operator must ensure that the Board is made aware, at least once a year, of any report containing relevant information regarding applied research work or studies that the operator has participated in, funded or commissioned concerning the operator’s authorized works and activities in relation to safety, the protection of the environment or resource management and must ensure that a copy of the report is submitted to the Board on request.

Geoscientific, Geotechnical and Environmental Programs

Marginal note:Notice — key dates

184 When any geoscientific program, geotechnical program or environmental program is commenced, concluded, suspended or cancelled by an operator, the operator must, without delay, notify the Board in writing of the date of the commencement, conclusion, suspension or cancellation of the program.

Marginal note:Weekly status reports

• 185 (1) An operator must ensure that weekly reports are submitted to the Board on the status of field work carried out in relation to any geoscientific program, geotechnical program or environmental program from the commencement of the program until its conclusion, suspension or cancellation.

• Marginal note:Content of reports

  (2) The weekly status reports must contain the following documents and information:

  • (a) the program number assigned by the Board;

  • (b) information identifying, and indicating the current location and status of, all operations sites and support craft used in the program;

  • (c) key dates of the works and activities under the program, in particular their commencement, suspension and completion dates,

  • (d) a description of the works and activities carried out during the preceding week, including

    • (i) the quantity of data collected, broken down by data acquisition technique,

    • (ii) information identifying and indicating the location of data collection points, lines or areas,

    • (iii) a schedule indicating each type of work or activity carried out under the program, as well as any period in which data acquisition was delayed or interrupted, along with a summary of the causes of that delay or interruption, and

    • (iv) a description of any failure to comply with a condition of the authorization;

  • (e) maps illustrating, in relation to the proposed data acquisition plan referred to in subparagraph 8(i)(iii), the portion of the data acquisition that has been completed, the portion that was completed in the preceding week and the portion that remains to be carried out;

  • (f) an indication of the total number of persons involved in the program who, during the preceding week, were at, or transferred to or from, the operations sites and, if applicable, the means by which they were transferred;

  • (g) a summary of any communications or interactions that occurred during the preceding week concerning program activities between persons associated with the program and persons associated with fishing activities;

  • (h) a summary of emergency drills and exercises that were completed and reportable incidents that occurred during the preceding week;

  • (i) an indication of the quantities of consumable substances that are critical to safety that are currently at each operations site;

  • (j) all wildlife observation data from the preceding week that were required to be recorded under paragraph 181(1)(e);

  • (k) a summary of the verification, inspection, monitoring, testing, maintenance and operating activities that are critical to safety that were carried out during the preceding week; and

  • (l) a description of any measures taken during the preceding week to avoid disturbing wildlife or interfering with fishing activities or any other uses of the sea.

Marginal note:Environmental report — programs

186 An operator must ensure that an environmental report that contains the following documents and information is submitted to the Board within 90 days after the day on which a geoscientific program, geotechnical program or environmental program is concluded or suspended:

• (a) a description of the general physical and environmental conditions under which the program was conducted and, if applicable, a description of ice management activities and non-productive time caused by meteorological or ice conditions;

• (b) a summary of program performance in relation to the environment, including with respect to the objective of reducing environmental risks;

• (c) a summary of environmental protection measures and actions that were taken to mitigate the effects of any reportable incident, as well as of their effectiveness and any adjustments made for their continued improvement;

• (d) a summary of any emergency response drills and exercises for the protection of the environment that were completed; and

• (e) all wildlife observation data that were required to be recorded under paragraph 181(1)(e).

Marginal note:Final reports

• 187 (1) An operator must ensure that a final operations report, final data processing report and final interpretation report are submitted to the Board with the acquired data referred to in subsection (5), as applicable, within 12 months after the day on which any geoscientific program, geotechnical program or environmental program is concluded, unless a longer period has been agreed to in writing by the Board.

• Marginal note:Content of final operations report

  (2) The final operations report must contain the following documents and information:

  • (a) the program number assigned by the Board;

  • (b) the title, author and date of the report;

  • (c) an executive summary and table of contents;

  • (d) the names of the operator, contractors and any interest owner, as defined in section 49 of the Act;

  • (e) a description of all operation sites and any support craft used for the program;

  • (f) a description of the program, including

    • (i) key dates, in particular its commencement, suspension and completion dates,

    • (ii) the equipment used,

    • (iii) the operational methods employed,

    • (iv) the number of persons who were involved in the program, and

    • (v) the quantity of data collected, broken down by data acquisition technique;

  • (g) location maps illustrating details of the data acquisition activities carried out under the program, including the identification and location of data collection points, lines or areas and the type of data acquired;

  • (h) location maps illustrating the boundaries of each area covered by the program and any portion of those areas that is subject to an interest, as defined in section 49 of the Act, as well as the identification number of each such interest;

  • (i) a schedule that specifies the type and duration of all program activities and includes any period in which data acquisition was delayed or interrupted;

  • (j) an indication as to the accuracy of the navigation system and of the positioning and survey systems, as well as the parameters and configuration of both the energy source and recording system; and

  • (k) shotpoint maps, track plots, flight lines with numbered fiducial points, gravity station maps, location maps for any samples or core holes, copies of any photographs and a list of any videos.

• Marginal note:Content of final data processing report

  (3) The final data processing report must contain the following documents and information:

  • (a) the documents and information referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) to (d), (g) and (k);

  • (b) a description of the program, including the quantity of data collected, broken down by data acquisition technique; and

  • (c) a description of the geoscientific data acquired, including the data processing sequence and parameters.

• Marginal note:Content of final interpretation report

  (4) The final interpretation report must contain the following documents and information, as applicable:

  • (a) the documents and information referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) to (e);

  • (b) bathymetric or topographic maps compiled from the data collected;

  • (c) a description and interpretive maps of the acquired data, including

    • (i) time and depth structure and isopach maps, velocity and residual velocity maps and seismic attribute maps,

    • (ii) final Bouguer gravity maps and any residual or other processed gravity maps,

    • (iii) final total magnetic intensity contour maps and any residual, gradient or other processed magnetic maps,

    • (iv) final controlled-source electromagnetic resistivity maps,

    • (v) surficial maps generated from any seabed, geohazard or pipeline route survey, and

    • (vi) any geological maps;

  • (d) a description and analysis of the interpretation of the data with respect to

    • (i) geological and geophysical correlations,

    • (ii) correlations between gravity, magnetic, seismic and controlled-source electromagnetic data, including correlations to any data acquired during previous surveys,

    • (iii) in the case of seabed surveys, the geophysical correlation between shallow seismic data and data from cores and geotechnical boreholes,

    • (iv) corrections or adjustments that were applied to the data during processing or compilation,

    • (v) the velocity information that the operator used in a time-to-depth conversion,

    • (vi) cores and samples,

    • (vii) other geoscientific and geotechnical analyses, and

    • (viii) geohazards; and

  • (e) a description of

    • (i) synthetic seismograms,

    • (ii) seismic modelling studies that use synthetic seismograms,

    • (iii) vertical seismic profiles at wells that were used in the interpretation of the data,

    • (iv) amplitude versus offset studies,

    • (v) seismic inversion studies, if any, and

    • (vi) any other seismic studies related to the program.

• Marginal note:Acquired data

  (5) The following acquired data must accompany the final reports, as applicable:

  • (a) time-stamped track plot, shotpoint and sample location data;

  • (b) bathymetric data;

  • (c) all final processed seismic data for each 2-D seismic line in time and depth;

  • (d) all final processed 3-D volumes and each line generated from that volume in time and depth;

  • (e) any vertical seismic profiles, synthetic seismograms, amplitude versus offset data and seismic inversion data;

  • (f) in the case of any seabed, geohazard or pipeline route survey,

    • (i) processed high-resolution data for each line,

    • (ii) digital location maps for any samples,

    • (iii) any photographs and videos, and

    • (iv) sub-bottom profiler and side-scan sonar data;

  • (g) in the case of an environmental program, any photograph, video or other graphic information that is relevant and contributes to the interpretation of the final data and the drafting of the final report;

  • (h) in the case of a gravity or magnetic survey, a series of gravity and magnetic profiles across all gravity and magnetic surveys; and

  • (i) in the case of controlled-source electromagnetic data, final processed cross-sections on all receiver lines, curves from all receivers and all 2-D and 3-D final models generated.

• Marginal note:Incorporation of previous data

  (6) The operator must incorporate into any map referred to in paragraph (4)(b) that is included in a final interpretation report any data previously collected by the operator that are related to the area covered by the map and that are of a type similar to the data from which the map was produced.