Latest Updates on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project – Archives

May 15, 2020 – TMEP oversight work continuing during the pandemic:

The Commission of the CER has issued 20 condition compliance and operations decisions in the two months since the COVID-19 global pandemic. These include letter reports, information requests and other non-routing variances and general decisions. These filings can be found on the CER’s condition compliance page.

During the same time period, in regards to detailed route matters, the Commission has issued 28 documents, including 12 procedural directives, five letters setting out comment processes, three informative letters, two detailed route hearing decision documents (covering three hearings), three information requests, one Hearing Order, one decision and one PPBoR approval. The CER’s website provides more information on the detailed route process.

Aligned with advice from federal and provincial authorities aimed at protecting public health, CER staff are continuing compliance verification activities during the pandemic and will verify that Trans Mountain has a plan that protects workers and communities. As construction activities change, the CER will adjust its compliance oversight to ensure public safety and environmental protection. More information can be found on the CER’s pandemic response page.

April 24, 2020 – CER’s regulatory oversight of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project during the COVID-19 pandemic

At the CER, we work with all of our regulated companies, including Trans Mountain, to ensure they are keeping people safe through the use of enhanced and additional health and safety practices at all times.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, this includes having a plan that protects people while maintaining oversight activities. We do this by deferring non-essential activities and carrying out work in ways that limit physical interactions.

Trans Mountain is proceeding with construction of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, with active construction at the Westridge and Burnaby terminals. Pipeline construction in Alberta is largely paused for spring thaw and break up, and there is no active pipeline construction in British Columbia at this time.

The company is also not currently housing workers in large scale construction camps. As construction activities change, the CER will adjust its compliance oversight to ensure public safety and environmental protection.

During the pandemic, the CER is finding innovative ways to perform our Compliance Verification Activity role effectively while being mindful of safety. This includes a number of compliance activities underway that are being conducted remotely, allowing us to collect the information we need to make sure the rules are being followed. We will also continue performing in-field inspections, and are adapting our procedures and processes to ensure those inspections can be done safely, consistent with public and occupational health requirements.

As with before the pandemic, the CER will not hesitate to take action to enforce compliance with our regulations. In the unlikely event of an emergency, the CER continues to be prepared to respond.

Our collaborative work with the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee (IAMC) is integral to our oversight of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project during the pandemic, as this partnership is critical to our understanding of the issues and interests of many Indigenous communities along the route. We are committed to performing compliance verification activities and in-field inspections jointly with Indigenous monitors, as part of the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee (IAMC) work. This work will be done with the utmost regard to safety, so our inspectors, Indigenous monitors, workers and communities are protected.

We are actively reviewing how Trans Mountain is complying with all federal, provincial and municipal requirements to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at its construction sites and in surrounding communities. The company also released a detailed public statement on March 30 about its precautionary measures in light of the pandemic.

On April 21, 2020, the Commission of the CER announced several procedural changes to the remaining detailed route hearings for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project in light of the ongoing pandemic and advice from federal and provincial authorities aimed at protecting public health. This includes replacing the oral portions of all detailed route hearings with alternate formats not requiring in-person attendance. The changes will allow detailed route hearings to proceed in a fair and transparent manner, while respecting the physical distance requirements for participants.

Learn more about the CER’s response to COVID-19:

• Keeping energy moving safely during a pandemic
• Ready to Respond: CER Emergency Preparedness in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

February 19, 2020 – Update to detailed route hearings

Following landowner withdrawals in each of the detailed route hearings announced by the Commission of the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) along Segments 1-4 of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, there are currently no hearings scheduled to take place in those segments. Segments 1-4 stretches from Edmonton to Darfield, B.C. just north of Kamloops.

There are now 30 detailed route hearings remaining for Segments 5-7, stretching from just north of Kamloops through to Burnaby, B.C. Oral portions of these hearings are scheduled to begin in April. The Commission will announce details of these hearings once they are known.

Please see the 'status of detailed route hearings' chart for more information on the detailed route approval process.

January 31, 2020 – Detailed route hearings and approvals

Detailed route hearings for the western portion of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, stretching from south of Kamloops, B.C. through to Burnaby B.C. (segments 5 through 7) have been set out and the oral portions are anticipated to be held through the spring and summer of 2020.

In a series of Hearing Orders and other correspondence released today, the Commission of the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) outlined how it plans to proceed with these hearings.

The Commission has decided to consider STSA’s and Coldwater’s opposition to the detailed route in phases, in order to properly consider evidence filed by multiple interested parties related to the same lands, and to evaluate outstanding condition filings related to those lands.

The Commission will provide specific details of when and where the oral portions of these detailed route hearings will be held as soon as the information is finalized.

Detailed route hearings are held where an objection to the detailed route exists. In the hearings, the Commission will determine whether the proposed location of the pipeline is the best possible route, and whether the proposed methods and timing of construction are the most appropriate. Landowners whose lands would be crossed by the pipeline, as well as Indigenous peoples and other persons whose lands may be adversely affected were able to object to Trans Mountain’s proposed detailed route.

Procedural Direction – Organization of all 5, 6, and 7 hearings [Filing C04458]

Ruling to Trans Mountain regarding the design of the Coldwater Indian Band (Coldwater) hearing [Filing C04453]

Procedural Direction regarding the design of the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance (STSA) hearing [Filing C04456]

Hearing Order – Hearings that overlap with the STSA only [Filing C04475]

Hearing Order – Langley area hearings [Filing C04465]

Hearing Order – Chilliwack area hearings [Filing C04466]

Hearing Order – STSA Phase 1 hearing [Filing C04468]

Hearing Order – Coldwater Phase 1 hearing [Filing C04472]

December 20, 2019 – Detailed route hearings in B.C.