Introduction to oil sands monitoring annual report 2013 to 2014
1. Introduction
In February 2012, the governments of Canada and Alberta announced the Joint Canada/Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring (“Implementation Plan”), which outlines a three-year commitment to implement a single, government-led monitoring program for the oil sands (see Appendix A). The Implementation Plan recognizes the importance of the oil sands as a key natural resource and driver of economic development for Canada, and also acknowledges that the expansion of industrial development in the oil sands region necessitates a better understanding of cumulative environmental impacts. In the Implementation Plan, both governments committed to a scientifically rigorous, comprehensive, integrated and transparent ambient environmental monitoring program of the cumulative environmental effects of oil sands development.
Key commitments of the plan:
- Funding;
- Accountable administration and review;
- Adoptive management; and
- Transparent and accessible results.
The Implementation Plan builds on a foundation of existing environmental monitoring, with enhancements phased in over three years (April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2015). The phased approach helps to ensure an orderly installation of the necessary infrastructure, incremental enhancement of activities, the inclusion of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and the appropriate integration of existing monitoring activities in the region.
The overarching commitment is establishing a single, government-led monitoring program for the oil sands, which includes the following key commitments: funding; accountable administration and review; adaptive management; and, transparent and accessible results. These key commitments help achieve a world class monitoring program that fulfills the following objectives:
- Support sound decision-making by governments, as well as stakeholders;
- Ensure transparency through accessible, comparable and quality-assured data;
- Enhance science-based monitoring for improved characterization of the state of the environment and collect the information necessary to understand cumulative effects;
- Improve analysis of existing monitoring data to develop a better understanding of historical baselines and changes, and;
- Reflect the trans-boundary nature of the issue and promote collaboration with the Governments of Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
At the conclusion of the three-year Implementation Plan, monitoring of the impacts of development on the ambient environment will be more comprehensive, with more compounds sampled at more sites, with greater frequency, using consistent scientific standards and protocols. The results will help characterize the condition of the environment in the oil sands area, and provide an enhanced understanding of cumulative environmental effects as well as environmental change due to oil sands development activities.
Reporting annually on the progress made in achieving these objectives is a commitment made by the governments of Canada and Alberta to ensure transparency of the work. The 2013 to 2014 reporting is divided into two parts. This first part presents a summary of the status of implementation of year two (2013 to 2014) activities under the Implementation Plan. The second part, to be released later this year, will present the technical and scientific results of 2013 to 2014 monitoring work.