The Regulator assesses compliance with legislation and authorizations through compliance monitoring and verification activities.
Compliance is assessed against:
- the Accord Acts and regulations;
- commitments made as part of an application for a Development Plan Approval, Benefits Plan Approval, and Operations Authorization or other approval (e.g., Approval to Drill a Well);
- conditions associated with a Development Plan Approval, Benefits Plan Approval, Operations Authorization or other approval (e.g. Approval to Drill a Well);
- commitments made as part of an application for, or any requirements (e.g. conditions) of an applicable Regulatory Querry (RQ) or CSO Approval;
- any applicable order of the Regulator or an Officer;
- mitigation commitments made as part of an environmental assessment or impact assessment and any requirements arising from an applicable decision statement of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada; and
- the requirements of the Regulations Respecting Excluded Physical Activities (Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Exploratory Wells), if applicable.
Compliance Monitoring Activity
A compliance monitoring activity refers to the reviewing of information received in the normal course of regulatory oversight to verify the work or activity is being conducted in a manner that complies with legislative requirements. It includes the review of various reports submitted by the operator and other workplace parties, such as:
- Daily, weekly, monthly and annual reports
- Incident investigation reports
- Complaints
- Submission of data, samples and analysis from acquisition programs
- Workplace committee minutes
- Benefit Reports
Compliance Verification Activity
A compliance verification activity is a planned, systematic and documented process for assessing compliance with the requirements of the Accord Acts or regulations and commitments made as part of the application for an authorization or approval and any associated conditions made by the Regulator. Compliance verification activities may include a desktop review of documented information (e.g., procedures, records) offshore at a regulated party’s facility.
Non-Compliance
A failure to obey a law or failure to comply with an authorization or approval and includes any failure identified during the conduct of compliance verification or monitoring (CVM) activities that does not conform to the requirements of the Accord Acts or Regulations or to the commitments made by an applicant for an authorization or approval and any associated conditions or requirements imposed by the Regulator.
Both the Accord Acts and regulations require that measures be taken to correct and/or prevent future occurrences of any Non-Compliances that are identified.