Legal and regulatory challenges in the implementation of CO2 geological storage: An Alberta and Canadian perspective

Alberta is the province with the largest CO2 emissions in Canada, with approximately two-thirds of emissions originating from large stationary sources. Due to the fortuitous association of large CO2 sources with the storage capacity offered by the underlying Alberta basin, it is expected that large-scale CO2 geological storage in Canada will occur in Alberta first, and both levels of governments are contemplating measures to facilitate implementation. A review of the current provincial and federal legislation and regulations presented in this paper indicates that the existing legal and regulatory regime is reasonably sufficient, with some modifications, to accommodate the active injection phase of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) operations, and the early takers of this new technology. However, governments in Alberta and Canada, and likely everywhere, need to address several pressing issues dealing mainly with the CCS post-operational phase. These issues, reviewed in this paper from an Alberta and Canadian perspective, fall into several categories: jurisdictional, property (ownership), regulatory and liability. Because Alberta is a landlocked province, matters relating to CO2 storage under the seabed will not be addressed here except when discussing matters of jurisdiction and CO2 classification. Possible models for post-injection liability transfer to the state are also presented. Although this review is focused on western Canada conditions, the issues are broad enough to be of interest in other jurisdictions, which may also adopt parts of the legal and regulatory framework that is quite well developed in Alberta.