ARCHIVED – National Energy Board – 2017–18 Departmental Plan

Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond

Core Responsibilities

Energy Adjudication

Description

Making decisions or recommendations to the Governor in Council on applications, which include environmental assessments, using processes that are fair, transparent, timely and accessible. These applications pertain to pipelines and related facilities, international power lines, tolls and tariffs, energy exports and imports, and oil and gas exploration and drilling in certain northern and offshore areas of Canada.

Program: Infrastructure, Tolls and Export Applications

The National Energy Board (NEB) makes decisions and recommendations, which include environmental assessments, on applications to construct, operate, decommission, and abandon pipelines and international and designated interprovincial power lines. The NEB also makes decisions on applications for pipeline tolls and tariffs so that they are just and reasonable, applications related to oil and gas exploration and drilling activities and infrastructure in certain northern and offshore areas of Canada, and applications for the export of oil, natural gas liquids, electricity and the export and import of natural gas. Participants in program processes include the applicant, interveners and commenters, or in the case of formal complaints received by the NEB, all parties to the complaint.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Energy Adjudication include:

• The delivery of the public review process for the TransCanada Energy East and Eastern Mainline projects. The overall review is a comprehensive process that includes multiple streams of regulatory processes, engagement processes, and assessment of upstream greenhouse gas emissions. The projects comprise 4,500 kilometres of pipeline proposed to carry 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day, and has attracted significant national public interest and participation. The NEB will also adjudicate other pipeline facility applications, toll and tariff applications and complaints, and international power line applications, using both hearing and non-hearing processes.
• The adjudication of applications for energy export and import licenses and orders.
• Activities that directly support the participation of the public and Indigenous groups in public hearings, including ways to better support Indigenous participation.

Program: Participant Funding

The National Energy Board’s (NEB) Participant Funding Program provides funding to facilitate the participation of interveners in hearings with respect to new or abandonment projects for pipelines or power lines and Environmental Assessments of designated projects.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Energy Adjudication include

• The administration of the Participant Funding Program – a grants and contributions program that provides direct financial support to eligible participants (such as landowners and non-governmental environmental groups) in public hearings.

These initiatives and activities are guided by our focus on achieving results outlined in the DRF. The NEB seeks to ensure that adjudication processes are fair, timely, transparent, and accessible. As we are early in the implementation of our new program framework, for 2017–18, our focus is on tracking and analyzing performance information to ensure we deliver on the expected results.

The preceding planning highlights support the departmental results of fair, timely, transparent and accessible energy adjudication processes. Associated indicators, targets, and past results are reflected in the Planned Results table in this section.

The associated key risk that could have an impact on carrying out activities under the Energy Adjudication Core Responsibility is an action, conduct, threat or gesture that could cause harm to NEB staff, a Board Member or member of the public (for instance, in conducting lifecycle activities, during a hearing, or other engagement activity). This risk is reflected in the Key Risks section of this report.

Energy Adjudication Core Responsibility planned spending is $28.33 million and planned FTEs is 121.20 for the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Planned results

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

Information on the NEB’s Program Inventory is available in the TBS InfoBase.

Safety and Environment Oversight

Description

Setting and enforcing regulatory expectations for National Energy Board-regulated companies over the full lifecycle — construction, operation and abandonment — of energy-related activities. These activities pertain to pipelines and related facilities, international power lines, tolls and tariffs, energy exports and imports, and oil and gas exploration and drilling in certain northern and offshore areas of Canada.

Program: Company Performance

The National Energy Board (NEB) holds its regulated companies accountable for meeting regulatory requirements and project-specific conditions to prevent incidents and provide for the safety of Canadians and the protection of the environment during the construction, operation and abandonment phases of a project lifecycle. This includes requirements for companies to have adequate funds for abandonment. The NEB undertakes risk-based Compliance Verification Activities to determine company compliance with regulatory requirements in the technical areas of security, environmental protection, pipeline integrity, safety management, damage prevention, rights and interests, and financial regulation.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Safety and Environmental Oversight include

• Improved Trending and Analysis of Safety and Environmental Data. We are focussing our trending and analysis in order to drive our regulatory oversight (inspections, audits, safety orders, etc.) to the root causes of incidents, near-miss trends, repeat non-compliances and poor company performance. This will enable a more proactive improvement of safety and environmental performance during both pipeline construction and operation. In support of these improvements, we will build procedures to continuously analyze this data, measure trends and feed those findings back into our safety and environmental oversight programs.
• Major projects construction compliance and enforcement oversight. With the recent approvals of some large scale pipeline projects including Enbridge Line 3 and the Trans Mountain Expansion, there will be increased focus on construction compliance oversight.
• Condition Compliance Enhancement Project. The NEB has completed improvements in conditions management by delivering on its Corrective Action Plan in response to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) Audit.^Footnote 1 This included enhancing public access to condition statuses and improving compliance tracking procedures. In addition, the NEB has identified enhancements to sustain and improve conditions management by implementing a new condition tracking system and through improvements in the conditions themselves. The improvements to conditions include ensuring they are measurable, standard where possible, and do not unnecessarily repeat regulation.

Program: Management System and Industry Performance

The performance of the regulated industry results in energy infrastructure that is systematically reliable and safe for people, the environment, and property. The National Energy Board (NEB) requires companies to continually evaluate and improve the effectiveness of their management system and to implement corrective actions to prevent incidents. Where required, the NEB investigates and enforces regulatory requirements to prevent harm and acts to compel learnings for further system improvements. The NEB requires companies to promote a positive safety culture to effectively manage threats to worker health and safety, and process safety. Information acquired from this work is used by the NEB to continually improve its regulations and practices.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Safety and Environmental Oversight include

• Taking a leadership role with industry and with regulators to facilitate the advancement of a robust safety culture. The NEB’s Framework for Safety Culture and Safety Culture indicators are the foundation of that leadership role. Our plans include a safety culture indicator pilot in some of our compliance verification activities to gain insights that we can share with industry.
• Strengthening the Management System Approach in industry. The NEB is improving its management system audits with a focus on areas identified through the risk process. The NEB will then be able to provide consistent, concise feedback to the audited companies on the application of their management system and will analyze and share those learnings with all of the regulated companies to improve the management system for everyone. The approach taken by the NEB will be more standardized, include adding more management system indicators to our data sets and allowing collection of additional data on management system weaknesses that can be used in trending and analysis.

Program: Emergency Management

Through its Emergency Management program, the National Energy Board (NEB) holds its regulated companies responsible for anticipating, preventing, managing and mitigating conditions during an emergency and for cleaning up and remediating contamination to NEB requirements and expectations. This also includes requirements for companies to have financial resources to pay for spill costs and damages. The NEB promotes the effectiveness of the broader response through mutual agreements and information sharing with all levels of government, including municipalities and First Responders.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Safety and Environmental Oversight include

• Remediation Tracking Project. The NEB currently tracks basic remediation information. However additional data, including costs associated with remediation, need to be tracked in order to determine whether spill clean-up and contamination remediation is conducted in an efficient and effective manner. Along with remediation progress, the process and system will track the monetary impacts incurred by companies as a result of specific types of incidents. This is a brand new data set that the NEB will track and report on in 2017–18.
• Strengthening the national and regional systems that manage pipeline emergencies. Work over the past year has been focused on increasing the transparency around company emergency procedures manuals and emergency management programs.^Footnote 2 Going forward, the NEB will directly assess company compliance to sections of the regulations that require that companies effectively interact with municipalities, first responders and other stakeholders. This effort will help the NEB to better understand and strengthen the linkages between the companies that operate the pipelines and the responders or other jurisdictional authorities who will respond to an emergency.

Program: Regulatory Framework

The National Energy Board’s (NEB) regulatory framework applies to all core responsibilities and is comprised of applicable Acts, regulations, guidance materials, documents, as well as certificates, orders and other regulatory instruments used to regulate the industry. The NEB develops and communicates regulations, guidance materials, and related processes to regulated companies and the public. The NEB adopts a continual improvement approach and updates elements of its framework based on policy shifts, best practices, and input from stakeholders.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Safety and Environmental Oversight include

• Continually improving the regulatory framework based on policy direction, best practices and input from stakeholders. The NEB uses a regulatory management system that takes a proactive and comprehensive approach for identifying required improvements and systematically adjusting the regulatory framework to support outcomes for safety, security and protection of the environment. The NEB will continue implementation of the Pipeline Safety Act, including the development of cost recovery regulations for designated companies and supporting Natural Resources Canada in the development of pipeline financial requirements regulations. Pending the outcome of the government's review of environmental and regulatory processes, the regulatory framework will be updated to address regulatory changes as required.

The preceding planning highlights support the departmental result of preventing harm to people or the environment, throughout the lifecycle of energy-related activities. Associated indicators, targets, and past results are reflected in the Planned Results table in this section.

The associated key risks that could have an impact on carrying out activities under the Safety and Environment Oversight Core Responsibility are: an incident involving NEB-regulated infrastructure resulting in a serious injury, fatality or significant environmental damage; incomplete data and information due to differing and/or outdated business systems, business rules and processes; and, an action, conduct, threat or gesture that could cause harm to NEB staff, a Board Member or member of the public (for instance, in conducting lifecycle activities, during a hearing, or other engagement activity). These risks are reflected in the Key Risks section of this report.

Safety and Environment Oversight Core Responsibility planned spending is $22.81 million and planned FTEs are 141.20 for the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Planned results

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

Information on the NEB’s Program Inventory is available in the TBS InfoBase.

Energy Information

Description

Collecting, monitoring, analyzing and publishing information on energy markets and supply, sources of energy, and the safety and security of pipelines and international power lines.

Program: Energy System Information

The National Energy Board (NEB) studies energy systems to inform its regulatory decisions and share energy market information with the public. The scope of NEB energy market reporting is diverse and includes traditional oil, gas and electricity information, as well as renewable energy, the role of emerging technologies, and the links between energy, economic, social, and environmental issues.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Energy Information include

• Collecting, reconciling, and publishing regulatory compliance and enforcement data^Footnote 3 on the NEB website.
• Drafting and publication of timely studies and analyses, including long-term outlooks^Footnote 4, geographically-based resource assessments,^Footnote 5 market snapshots, and topical reports.^Footnote 6
• Providing analysis to support decisions on regulatory applications before the Board.

Program: Pipeline Information

The National Energy Board (NEB) provides Canadians with information on pipelines including safety and environment issues in which the public is interested.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Energy Information include

• Collecting, reconciling, and publishing pipeline statistics.^Footnote 7
• Publishing pipeline-related information, including interactive maps,^Footnote 8 regulatory compliance and enforcement information^Footnote 9, and topical explanations.^Footnote 10

To enhance the effectiveness and reach of its energy information, the NEB is increasing its use of tools such as social media and data visualization.^Footnote 11 Adoption of the DRF performance indicators will facilitate additional analysis and consultation that will allow the NEB’s approach to Energy Information to become even more innovative, comprehensive, and systematic.

The preceding planning highlights support the departmental results: Canadians access and use energy information for knowledge, research or decision-making; Canadians have access to community-specific National Energy Board-regulated infrastructure information; and, Canadians have opportunities to collaborate and provide feedback on National Energy Board information products. Associated indicators, targets, and past results are reflected in the Planned Results table in this section.

The associated key risks that could have an impact on carrying out activities under the Energy Information Core Responsibility are: incomplete data and information due to differing and/or outdated business systems, business rules and processes, which could result in a compromised ability to conduct analysis, deliver on regulatory initiatives, or provide accurate information to the public; and, accidental or intentional disclosure of sensitive information that could impact financial markets, pose a breach of the Government of Canada Policy on Government Security, or lead to a loss of public trust. These risks are reflected in the Key Risks section of this report.

Energy Information Core Responsibility planned spending is $7.29 million and planned FTEs are 41.42 for the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Planned results

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

Information on the NEB’s Program Inventory is available in the TBS InfoBase.

Engagement

Description

Engaging with stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples on topics within the National Energy Board’s mandate and role, beyond engagement on specific projects.

As part of its Core Responsibilities, the NEB plans to engage actively and effectively with Canadians and Indigenous Peoples throughout the lifecycle of energy infrastructure projects. A stakeholder engagement program and an Indigenous engagement program are being developed for this purpose. As a result of the activities undertaken through these programs, the NEB and its stakeholders will be better informed about issues relevant to the NEB and its mandate.

Specifically, Canadians and Indigenous Peoples will:

• Have a better understanding of the NEB’s mandate, roles, processes, programs as a full life cycle regulator;
• Be aware of NEB actions taken to ensure and improve public safety and environmental protection with respect to regulated infrastructure; and
• Participate in NEB processes and programs that provide them with the opportunity to share their perspectives and provide feedback regarding the NEB and NEB-regulated activities.

Program: Stakeholder Engagement

The National Energy Board (NEB) uses a regional and community approach to engage with stakeholders to build awareness, confidence and responsiveness in the NEB and NEB regulatory processes. The NEB engages with landowners, municipalities and other orders of government, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others. The views and insights gained inform improvements to NEB regulatory practices, processes, and information materials.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Engagement include

• Developing an Engagement Strategy and Policy.
• Developing and implementing a centralized data base to facilitate data capture and reporting on engagement-related activities.
• Identifying and documenting core engagement processes and procedures.

Program: Indigenous Engagement

The National Energy Board (NEB) uses a cooperative and respectful approach to engage with Indigenous Peoples to build and enhance relationships, build NEB knowledge in Indigenous communities and of Indigenous matters, and improve NEB regulatory practices, processes, and information materials.

Planning highlights

Key initiatives, activities and actions the NEB plans to take in support of Engagement include

• To address specific interests identified by Indigenous groups in both the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and the Line 3 Replacement Project, the NEB will support the establishment of Indigenous Monitoring Advisory Committees^Footnote 12, as announced by the Government of Canada. This includes developing terms of reference and involvement in training and liaison activities over the long term.

The preceding planning highlights support the departmental results: Stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples share their perspectives and provide feedback regarding the National Energy Board mandate and role; and, National Energy Board engagement activities with stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples are meaningful. Associated indicators, targets, and past results are reflected in the Planned Results table in this section.

The associated key risk that could have an impact on carrying out activities in support of the Engagement Core Responsibility is ineffective strategies to strengthen diverse stakeholder relationships (with Indigenous Peoples, landowners, regional interests, industry, Canadians). This risk is reflected in the Key Risks section of this report.

Engagement Core Responsibility planned spending is $2.53 million and planned FTEs are 15.45 for the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Planned results

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

Information on the NEB’s Program Inventory is available in the TBS InfoBase.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

Planning highlights

In support of the NEB’s Core Responsibilities, Internal Services will continue to undertake and deliver strategic initiatives aimed at augmenting and enhancing operational efforts toward improving effectiveness, efficiency and overall productivity. The following key internal services activities will support the Core Responsibility programs in 2017–18:

• Implement an Internal Services Results Framework.
• Monitor the implementation of the NEB’s DRF, including integrating the framework into our planning and budgeting process and financial systems.
• Continue to support and implement the NEB Management System.
• Continue to align NEB’s Enterprise Resource Planning, financial management and procurement processes and systems with Government of Canada-wide standards established by Treasury Board (e.g. Phoenix pay system, MyGCHR, SAP, Green Procurement, and Integrity Regime).
• Develop and implement a comprehensive Data Management Framework.
• Provide consistent identification, evaluation, and treatment of security risks across the NEB.
• Strengthen the NEB security awareness program and security management and governance processes to maintain organizational resilience.

The associated key risks that could have an impact on carrying out Internal Services activities are: an action, conduct, threat or gesture that could cause harm to NEB staff, a Board Member or member of the public (for instance, in conducting lifecycle activities, during a hearing, or other engagement activity); and, accidental or intentional disclosure of sensitive information that could impact financial markets, pose a breach of the Government of Canada Policy on Government Security, or lead to a loss of public trust. These risks are reflected in the Key Risks section of this report.

Internal Services planned spending is $18.88 million and planned FTEs are 133.58 for the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

Date modified:

2023-11-27