In recent years, the province has enhanced regulatory systems to monitor and review pipeline construction and operations, with more stringent inspection, investigation, penalty and audit powers.
The new Act and regulations will expand regulatory oversight to include retroactive licensing of approximately 80,000 flowlines across the province over the next four years and more stringent scrutiny of applications at higher-risk locations, such as waterways. With these changes, the Ministry of Energy and Resources has fully addressed all outstanding issues raised by the Provincial Auditor regarding the integrity and safety of pipelines in Saskatchewan.
This is the first system of its kind in Canada to adopt an entirely electronic registry of pipeline licensing and administration. The Act establishes a new module in the Integrated Resource Information System (IRIS) for an Online license registry, similar to the Saskatchewan Land Titles Registry, which will issue and administer licenses for the oil, gas and mining sectors.
The new system will also streamline the review of applications and reduce the time required for routine approvals. In addition, the introduction of administrative penalties will complete the overall compliance framework tied to pipeline regulation. The Pipelines Administration and Licensing Regulations are now in effect, along with Directive PNG034: Saskatchewan Pipelines Code, which clarifies and enhances requirements set out in previous regulations.