Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Installations Regulations (SOR/95-191)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Installations Regulations.

Interpretation

• 2 (1) In these Regulations,

  accidental event

  accidental event means an unplanned or unexpected event or circumstance or series of events or circumstances that may lead to loss of life or damage to the environment; (événement accidentel)

  accommodation area

  accommodation area means dependent personnel accommodation or an accommodation installation (secteur d’habitation)

  accommodation installation

  accommodation installation means an installation that is used to accommodate persons at a production site or drill site and that functions independently of a production installation, drilling installation or diving installation, and includes any associated dependent diving system; (installation d’habitation)

  Act

  Act means the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act; (Loi)

  certificate of fitness

  certificate of fitness means a certificate, in the form fixed by the Board, issued by a certifying authority in accordance with section 4 of the Nova Scotia Offshore Certificate of Fitness Regulations; (certificat de conformité)

  certifying authority

  certifying authority has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Nova Scotia Offshore Certificate of Fitness Regulations; (autorité)

  Chief

  Chief means the Chief Safety Officer; (délégué)

  classification society

  classification society means an independent organization whose purpose is to supervise the construction, ongoing maintenance and any modifications of a platform in accordance with the society’s rules for classing platforms and includes the American Bureau of Shipping, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, Det norske Veritas Classification A/S and Bureau Veritas; (société de classification)

  contingency plan

  contingency plan means a plan that addresses abnormal conditions or emergencies that can reasonably be anticipated; (plan d’urgence)

  control point

  control point means a work area other than a control station from which systems and equipment critical to the safety of the installation can be monitored and controlled; (poste de commande)

  control station

  control station means a continuously manned work area from which process and export equipment, wellhead manifold and christmas trees, main and emergency power, fire and gas detection, fire control, communications equipment, emergency shutdown systems, ballast control system, dynamic positioning systems and other systems and equipment critical to the safety of the installation are remotely controlled or monitored; (salle de commande)

  damaged condition

  damaged condition means, with respect to a floating platform, the condition of the platform after it has suffered damage to the extent described in the Code referred to in subsection 56(9); (condition avariée)

  dependent diving system

  dependent diving system means a diving system that is associated with an installation other than a diving installation and that does not function independently of the installation; (système de plongée non autonome)

  dependent personnel accommodation

  dependent personnel accommodation means personnel accommodation that is associated with an installation other than an accommodation installation and that does not function independently of the installation; (logement du personnel connexe)

  development plan

  development plan means a development plan relating to the development of a pool or field that is referred to in section 143 of the Act; (plan de mise en valeur)

  development plan approval

  development plan approval means the approval of a development plan pursuant to section 143 of the Act; (approbation de plan de mise en valeur)

  diving installation

  diving installation means a diving system and any associated vessel that function independently of an accommodation installation, production installation or drilling installation; (installation de plongée)

  Diving Program Authorization

  Diving Program Authorization means an authorization to conduct a diving program that is issued to an operator by the Board pursuant to paragraph 142(1)(b) of the Act; (autorisation de programme de plongée)

  diving system

  diving system means the plant or equipment used in or in connection with a diving operation, and includes the plant and equipment that are essential to a diver or to a pilot of a manned submersible; (système de plongée)

  drilling base

  drilling base means the stable foundation on which a drilling rig is installed, and includes the ground surface, an artificial island, an ice platform, a platform fixed to the ground or seafloor and any other foundation specially constructed for drilling operations; (base de forage)

  drilling installation

  drilling installation means a drilling unit or a drilling rig and its associated drilling base, and includes any associated dependent diving system; (installation de forage)

  Drilling Program Authorization

  Drilling Program Authorization means an authorization to conduct a drilling program that is issued to a person by the Board pursuant to paragraph 142(1)(b) of the Act; (autorisation de programme de forage)

  drilling rig

  drilling rig means the plant used to make a well by boring or other means, and includes a derrick, draw-works, rotary table, mud pump, blowout preventer, accumulator, choke manifold, dependent personnel accommodation and other associated equipment, including power, control and monitoring systems; (appareil de forage)

  drilling unit

  drilling unit means a drillship, submersible, semi-submersible, barge, jack-up or other vessel that is used in a drilling program and is fitted with a drilling rig, and includes other facilities related to drilling and marine activities that are installed on a vessel or platform; (unité de forage)

  drill site

  drill site means a location where a drilling rig is or is proposed to be installed; (emplacement de forage)

  environmental load

  environmental load means a load imposed by waves, currents, tides, wind, ice, sea ice, snow, an earthquake or any other naturally occurring phenomenon, or by any combination of those phenomena; (charge environnementale)

  floating platform

  floating platform means a column-stabilized mobile platform or a surface mobile platform; (plate-forme flottante)

  flowline

  flowline means a pipeline that is used to transport fluids from a well to a production facility or vice versa, and includes intrafield export and all gathering lines; (conduite d’écoulement)

  gastight door

  gastight door means a solid, close-fitting door designed to resist the passage of gas under normal operating conditions; (porte étanche aux gaz)

  hazardous area

  hazardous area means an area classified as hazardous in the Recommended Practice referred to in subsection (2); (zone dangereuse)

  installation

  installation means a diving installation, a drilling installation, a production installation or an accommodation installation; (installation)

  intact condition

  intact condition means, with respect to a floating platform, that the platform is not in a damaged condition; (condition intacte)

  machinery space

  machinery space means a space on an installation where equipment incorporating rotating or reciprocating mechanical equipment in the form of an internal combustion engine, a gas turbine, an electric motor, a generator, a pump or a compressor is located; (zone des machines)

  major damage

  major damage means damage that results in uncontrolled pollution or loss of or serious threat to life; (dommage majeur)

  manned installation

  manned installation means an installation on which persons are normally present; (installation habitée)

  marine activities

  marine activities means activities related to position keeping and collision avoidance of mobile platforms, including mooring, dynamic positioning and ballasting; (activité maritime)

  mobile platform

  mobile platform means a platform that is designed to operate in a floating or buoyant mode or that can be moved from place to place without major dismantling or modification, whether or not it has its own motive power; (plate-forme mobile)

  new installation

  new installation means an installation that is constructed after the coming into force of these Regulations; (nouvelle installation)

  non-combustible material

  non-combustible material means material that does not burn or give off flammable vapours in sufficient quantity for self- ignition when heated to 750°C; (matériau incombustible)

  operating condition

  operating condition, with respect to a mobile platform, means the condition of operating at the operating draft; (condition d’exploitation)

  operating draft

  operating draft, with respect to a mobile platform, means the vertical distance in metres from the moulded base line to the assigned waterline, where the platform is operating under combined environmental and operational loads that are within the limits for which the platform was designed to operate; (tirant d’eau d’exploitation)

  operations manual

  operations manual means the manual referred to in section 63; (manuel d’exploitation)

  operator

  operator means a person who has applied for or has been granted a production operations authorization, a Drilling Program Authorization or a Diving Program Authorization; (exploitant)

  platform

  platform means a platform associated with an installation; (plate-forme)

  production facility

  production facility means equipment for the production of oil or gas located at a production site, including separation, treating and processing facilities, equipment and facilities used in support of production operations, landing areas, heliports, storage areas or tanks and dependent personnel accommodations, but not including any associated platform, artificial island, subsea production system, drilling equipment or diving system; (matériel de production)

  production installation

  production installation means a production facility and any associated platform, artificial island, subsea production system, offshore loading system, drilling equipment, facilities related to marine activities and dependent diving system; (installation de production)

  production operation

  production operation means an operation that is related to the production of oil or gas from a pool or field; (travaux de production)

  production operations authorization

  production operations authorization means an authorization to conduct production operations issued to an operator by the Board pursuant to paragraph 142(1)(b) of the Act; (autorisation d’exécuter des travaux de production)

  production site

  production site means a location where a production installation is or is proposed to be installed; (emplacement de production)

  subsea production system

  subsea production system means equipment and structures that are located on or below or buried in the seafloor for the production of oil or gas from, or for the injection of fluids into, a field under a production site, and includes production risers, flow lines and associated production control systems; (système de production sous-marin)

  survival condition

  survival condition, with respect to a mobile platform, means the condition of the platform when it is subjected to the most severe environmental conditions determined pursuant to section 44; (condition de survie)

  survival draft

  survival draft, with respect to a mobile platform, means the vertical distance in metres from the moulded baseline to the assigned waterline, where the platform is subjected to the most severe environmental conditions determined pursuant to section 44; (tirant d’eau de survie)

  transit draft

  transit draft, with respect to a mobile platform, means the vertical distance in metres from the moulded base line to the assigned waterline, when the platform is moving from one geographical location to another; (tirant d’eau de transit)

  unmanned installation

  unmanned installation means an installation on which persons are not normally present and in those instances when persons are present on the installation, their presence is for the purpose of performing operational duties, maintenance or inspections that will not necessitate an overnight stay; (installation inhabitée)

  watertight

  watertight means designed and constructed to withstand a static head of water without any leakage; (étanche à l’eau)

  working area

  working area means any area of an installation that a person may occupy during the normal course of duties, and includes a control room, workshop, machinery space, storage area and paint locker. (zone de travail)

• (2) Subject to subsection 9(2), for the purposes of sections 10, 11, 13, 14, 19 and 33, the classification of hazardous areas with respect to hazards caused by combustible gases on an installation shall be made in accordance with American Petroleum Institute RP 500, Recommended Practice for Classification of Locations for Electrical Installations at Petroleum Facilities.

• (3) A reference to a standard or specification shall be considered to be a reference to that standard or specification as amended from time to time.

PART IGeneral Requirements

General

3 For the purpose of ensuring the safety of an installation, no operator shall use the installation unless the equipment on the installation is arranged in accordance with these Regulations to

• (a) provide for the safety of personnel;

• (b) minimize damage to the environment; and

• (c) enable easy access to the equipment.