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| This Act is current to October 8, 2024 | |||
| See the Tables of Legislative Changes for this Act’s legislative history, including any changes not in force. |
"block" has the same meaning as defined under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act;
"board" means the board of the regulator continued under section 2 of the Energy Resource Activities Act;
"boundary" means a location's surface boundary and its vertical extension;
"commissioner" means the commissioner as defined in the Energy Resource Activities Act;
"development plan" means a plan for the drilling of the number of wells that are, in the opinion of the minister, sufficient to enable production of a geothermal resource underlying a lease to begin, including providing piping, equipment, reinjection wells and controls required to produce the geothermal resource, but does not include plans for the commercial utilization of the geothermal resource or for converting it into any other form of energy;
"division" means the Energy Resources Division of the ministry;
"division head" means the assistant deputy minister designated in writing by the minister as having charge of the division;
"facility" means any surface equipment required to produce geothermal resources or to inject water or other fluids produced in connection with a geothermal resource into subsurface strata, but does not include
(a) a pipeline as defined in the Energy Resource Activities Act, or
(b) equipment used in connection with the conversion of the geothermal resource into a commercial commodity;
"field" means
(a) the surface of land that is underlaid or appears to be underlaid by a geothermal resource, and
(b) the subsurface region vertically beneath that land surface
that is designated by the minister as a field;
"geothermal exploration" means investigation of the subsurface of land for the presence of a geothermal resource by means of
(a) seismic, gravimetric, magnetic, radiometric, electric, geological or geochemical operations,
(c) any other method approved by the regulator;
"geothermal resource" means the natural heat of the earth and all substances that derive an added value from it, including steam, water and water vapour heated by the natural heat of the earth and all substances dissolved in the steam, water or water vapour obtained from a well, but does not include
(a) water that has a temperature less than 80oC at the point where it reaches the surface, or
"geothermal well" means a well in which casing is run and that the minister considers is producing or capable of producing a geothermal resource from a geothermal resource bearing zone;
"holder of a location" means, in accordance with the context, a permittee or lessee;
"interest" means an undivided interest in a location;
"lease" means a disposition under section 8 of the right to produce, subject to this Act, a geothermal resource from a location;
"lessee" means a person in whose name a lease is recorded in the ministry records;
"location" means the area described in, and in respect of which rights are given by, a permit or lease;
"officer of the division" means a person employed in the division and authorized by the division head to give an approval under this Act;
"permit" means a permit issued under section 5;
"permittee" means the person in whose name a permit is recorded in the ministry records;
"produce" means extract or obtain from the earth;
"production plan" means a plan approved under section 4 (1);
"regulator" has the same meaning as in the Energy Resource Activities Act;
"unit" has the same meaning as defined under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act;
"unitized operation" means the development or production of geothermal resources or the implementing of a program for the conservation of geothermal resources or the coordinated management of interests in them in, on or under a location, part of a location or a number of locations combined for that purpose under a unitization agreement under this Act;
"well" means a hole in the ground
(a) made or being made by drilling, boring or any other method for the purpose of producing a geothermal resource or through which a geothermal resource is or can be produced,
(b) used, drilled or being drilled for the purpose of injecting any substance into subsurface strata to assist the production of a geothermal resource, or to dispose of water produced in connection with the production of a geothermal resource, or
(c) used, drilled or being drilled for the purpose of obtaining information about a geothermal resource.
(2) Parts 16 and 17 of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act apply in respect of entry onto and use of land for the purpose of exploring for and producing geothermal resources.
(4) If there is inconsistency between the Utilities Commission Act or Water Sustainability Act and this Act, the Utilities Commission Act or Water Sustainability Act prevails.
Part 2 — Ownership of Geothermal Resources and General Prohibitions
2 The right, title and interest in all geothermal resources in British Columbia are vested in and reserved to the government and the government may dispose of them only under this Act.
3 Despite Part 3, the minister may dispose of geothermal resources on terms approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
4 (1) No person may produce a geothermal resource other than for testing purposes unless
(a) the person does so in accordance with a plan for the production of the geothermal resources underlying the location of a lease,
(b) the plan is approved, with respect to matters of energy conservation and operational safety, by the regulator, and
(c) the person is the lessee of the location where the well that produces the geothermal resource is located.
(2) No person may drill or operate a well except within the boundaries of a location.
(4) A person may not drill or operate a well unless the regulator has issued to the person a well authorization for the well.
(6) No person may conduct geothermal exploration other than by way of well drilling unless the person has notified the regulator in writing in the form prescribed of the intention to do so.
5 (1) The minister may issue or refuse to issue a permit, whether or not the requirements of this Act have been complied with, and the refusal is final.
(2) A permit must define the boundaries of a location.
(3) A permittee must pay a prescribed rent for the permit.
(4) A permittee has the exclusive right, subject to section 13 (2) and the regulations, to apply for well authorizations for wells to be drilled within the boundaries of the permittee's location.
(5) The minister must not issue a permit
(a) except by public tender, and
(b) unless, at least 2 weeks before the day the permit is issued, a notice stating the terms on which the permit is available for disposition has been published in the Gazette.
(6) If the minister refuses to issue a permit, any fee and rent that accompanied the application must be refunded to the applicant out of the consolidated revenue fund.
(7) A permit expires on the first anniversary of the date of its issue or of its most recent renewal.
(8) Application for renewal of a permit must be made to the minister who may renew it, subject to the regulations.
(9) A permit must not be renewed more than 7 times except on the written authorization of the minister and subject to the rents, terms and conditions the minister imposes.
(10) If acting under subsection (9), the minister may authorize a renewal for a period of less than one year.
6 (1) The maximum size of a location for which a permit may be issued is a block.
(2) The boundaries of a location comprised in a permit must coincide with the boundaries of units unless the location is in an area provided for in subsection (3).
(3) In any area where the boundaries of units and blocks do not coincide with surveyed boundaries of sections, townships or another district lot system, the boundaries of a location comprised in a permit may, despite anything in this Act, be established to coincide with the surveyed boundaries of a section, a township or other district lot system.
7 (1) Each year in accordance with the regulations, a permittee must
(a) carry out in respect of the permittee's location geothermal exploration of a prescribed value, or
(b) make payments instead of the work.
(2) A permittee must record all work, including road construction giving access to the location, with the minister in the permit year in which it is done.
8 (1) If a geothermal well has been drilled on a location and the permittee submits a development plan for the location that the minister considers satisfactory, the minister may, in accordance with the regulations and on terms and conditions the minister considers desirable, issue a lease in respect of the whole or any part of the location.
(2) The minister must not issue a lease except to a person who holds a permit that includes the location of the lease.
(3) If the lease is issued the permit expires with respect to the location of the lease.
(4) A lessee must pay a prescribed rent for the lease.
(5) A lease expires on the 20th anniversary of the commencement of its term, and if renewed, expires
(a) on the fifth anniversary of its renewal, or
(b) if a production plan for its location has been approved, on the 20th anniversary of its renewal.
(6) Section 6 applies to the issue of a lease.
(7) If the minister is satisfied that a lessee is not in default of any of the lessee's obligations under this Act or under the lease, the minister must, on application by the lessee made within 90 days before the expiry of the lease, issue to the lessee a renewal of the lease.
(8) If part of the location of the lease is the subject of
(b) an agreement respecting royalty under section 17, or
(c) a unitization agreement under section 18,
the minister may confine the renewal of the lease to that part of the lease location.
9 (1) The minister must maintain a register in which must be recorded transfers and other instruments affecting the title to permits and leases.
(2) A transfer or other instrument must not be registered unless it complies with the regulations.
(3) On registration, a transfer or other instrument affecting the title to a permit or lease is registered and effective from the time that the minister receives the application to register it.
(4) Failure to register a transfer or other instrument affecting the title to a permit or lease does not invalidate it as between the parties to it, but subsection (3) governs its effectiveness for any other person.
(5) Holders of a permit or lease may transfer their permit or lease directly to themselves jointly with another person.
(6) If the permit or lease is held by more than one person, they may transfer it directly to one or more of their number either alone or jointly with another person.
(7) Trustees or personal representatives may transfer a permit or lease to themselves individually if the making of the transfer is otherwise within their power.
10 (1) If a permittee or lessee fails to comply with
(a) a provision of this Act or the regulations,
(b) a notice or an order under this Act, or
(c) a term, covenant or condition of that person's permit or lease,
the minister may give the person notice to comply.
(2) If the holder fails to comply within 60 days after the date the notice is received by the person, the minister may, in writing, declare the permit or lease to be cancelled, and at the end of the day specified in the minister's declaration, the permit or lease terminates.
11 Despite anything in this Act, if a lessee fails to pay the rent payable under that person's lease, the lease expires on the 60th day after the date the rent was payable unless before the 60 days have elapsed the lessee pays
(b) for each 30 day period or part of it that the lessee is in default a sum equal to 2% of the yearly rent.
Part 4 — Operation and Conservation
12 (1) Subject to the regulations, the regulator may issue, subject to conditions, restrictions and stipulations considered necessary or desirable, or may refuse to issue, a well authorization.
(3) In subsections (4) and (6), "operator" means a person to whom a well authorization is issued.
(4) An operator must deposit with the regulator
(b) government of Canada and government of British Columbia direct or guaranteed securities having a maturity of not longer than 3 years, or
(c) chartered banks', trust companies' or credit unions' certificates of deposit if supported by an appropriate letter giving direction concerning payment of the funds to the Minister of Finance,
in an amount prescribed by the regulations as security for the proper completion of the well in compliance with the Act and regulations.
(5) If the application for a well authorization is not approved, the deposit must be returned to the applicant in accordance with any directive under section 22 (3) of the Financial Administration Act.
(6) The deposit or part of it may be refunded to the operator on completion of the drilling of the well in accordance with the Act and regulations to the satisfaction of the regulator.
13 (1) No well authorization may be issued except to
(b) a person who has made an agreement with a permittee or lessee for the drilling or operation of the well.
(2) A person referred to in subsection (1) (b) may apply for a well authorization.
14 (1) At any reasonable time, persons authorized in writing by the regulator or the minister have the right, with respect to a geothermal resource,
(a) to enter on and inspect any well or place at which geothermal resources are handled, processed or treated, and any place used or occupied for those purposes,
(b) to inspect all equipment, plant and records relating to the resource, and
(c) to take samples or particulars or carry out tests or examinations.
(2) If records required by the regulations to be kept are kept at a place other than a place referred to in subsection (1) (a), persons employed by the regulator and authorized in writing by the regulator have the right, during normal business hours and after giving reasonable notice to the persons affected, to inspect the records, and for that purpose to enter the place where the records are kept.
(3) A person authorized to exercise any of the powers in subsection (1) or (2) must produce on demand the person's identification card issued by the regulator or authorization issued by the ministry.
15 A person who has failed to comply with
(a) this Act or the regulations,
(b) a notice given or order made under this Act, or
(c) a term, covenant or condition of that person's permit or lease,
must not
(e) allow equipment to be removed
from a location or former location without permission in writing from the regulator.
16 (1) A person holding a permit or lease must keep all machinery, equipment, wells and other facilities on the location in a safe condition.
(2) The duty imposed by subsection (1) continues after the expiry or other termination of the lease or permit, until the regulator issues a certificate of restoration certifying that
(a) all equipment, machinery, wells and other facilities on the location of the lease or permit have been removed, plugged or are otherwise in safe condition in accordance with prescribed standards, and
(b) the land surface of the location has been restored to a satisfactory condition in accordance with the regulations.
(3) The minister may refuse to accept a surrender of a permit or lease until the regulator has issued a certificate of restoration.
(4) If, after inspection of a location or well, the regulator considers that a method or practice being employed in connection with the location or well constitutes or may constitute a hazard to the health or safety of any person, or of the public, the regulator may give notice of it in writing to
(a) the permittee or lessee of the location,
(b) the holder of a well authorization, or
(c) the agent or representative of a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b),
setting out the remedial measures the regulator requires be taken.
(5) If the regulator considers that delay in implementation of the remedial measures would constitute a danger to any person or to the public, the regulator may, in the same notice or subsequently, order in writing that
(a) the method or practice be discontinued, or
(b) all operations in the location or in connection with the well cease
until the matter is remedied to the regulator's satisfaction.
(6) No person, knowing that an order has been made under subsection (5), may continue a method, practice or operation contrary to the order.
Part 5 — Royalty and Unitization
17 (1) A lessee who produces a geothermal resource for purposes other than testing must pay to the government
(a) a royalty established by agreement under this section,
(b) an amount agreed under this section to be paid instead of royalty, or
(c) if no royalty or amount has been agreed under this section, the prescribed royalty.
(2) The minister may enter into an agreement approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council
(a) establishing the rate of royalty and the method of calculating it, or
(b) by which the government receives, instead of royalty, a share of the income revenue or profit generated from the production of a geothermal resource.
(b) an amount agreed to be paid instead of royalty
when it is due must pay interest on the unpaid amount at the prescribed rate calculated from the time the unpaid amount becomes due until payment is made.
18 (1) On behalf of the government, the minister may enter into a unitization agreement for the unitized operation of a field or a part of it.
(2) Section 9 does not apply to an agreement entered into under this section.
19 (1) On receipt of an application for a unitization order from a lessee or group of lessees who hold locations that comprise at least 2/3 of the area proposed to be operated under the unitization agreement and who have agreed in writing to a proposed unitized operation, the minister may invite interested persons to make, within a time the minister specifies, submissions respecting the advisability of or necessity for a unitization agreement.
(2) After reviewing the submissions or on expiry of the time specified under subsection (1), the minister may reject the application or make a unitization order requiring that the plan of unitized operations proposed by the applicant be applicable to the whole of the proposed unitized area, or to any area in the same field that the minister determines, and the order is binding on all owners of interests in the area ordered by the minister to be subject to the plan of unitized operations.
19.1 (1) In this section, "revenue" includes interest but does not include penalties.
(2) The Minister of Finance, out of the consolidated revenue fund, must pay to the regulator the gross revenue received from fees in relation to applications for and issuance of approvals and other authorizations issued by the regulator.
19.2 (1) The commissioner may delegate the exercise of any power or performance of any duty conferred or imposed on the regulator under this Act, other than a power expressly given to the board under this Act, to an employee or official of the regulator or another public officer.
(2) A delegation under subsection (1) may be made by name or by designation of the office.
20 (1) The register maintained under section 9 (1) must be open to public inspection during normal office hours.
(2) If the ministry or regulator receives
(a) a geothermal exploration report, or
(b) records or data respecting a well,
the report, records or data must not be disclosed to any person except as authorized by the regulations.
(3) The ministry and the regulator may disclose reports, records or data to the public in accordance with the regulations.
21 An affidavit required under the regulations may be made before
(a) a person authorized under the Evidence Act, or
22 (1) A person commits an offence who contravenes section 4, 15 or 16 (6) or any regulation creating an offence.
(2) A person who commits an offence is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $500 or not more than $5 000.
(2.1) If a contravention of a section referred to in subsection (1) continues for more than one day, the offender is liable to a separate penalty, without notice and without a separate count being laid, for each day that the contravention occurs.
(3) Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to
23 (1) The board may make regulations of general application, or may make an order related to a specific location or well, governing the drilling of wells and the production and conservation of geothermal resources, including regulations and orders for the following purposes and respecting the following matters:
(a) prohibiting the drilling of a well at any place within a prescribed distance of any boundary, roadway, road allowance, right of way, building of any specified type or any specified work;
(b) requiring the holder of a well authorization to submit an application and obtain the approval of the regulator before
(i) deepening a well beyond the formation from which production is being taken or has been taken,
(ii) recompletion of a well by perforating any casing with a view to producing a geothermal resource from any formation other than that from which production is being taken or has been taken,
(iv) ceasing normal producing operations,
(v) resuming drilling after a previous completion, suspension or abandonment of a well,
(vi) resuming production after production stops,
(vii) reworking a well to alter its producing characteristics, or
(c) prescribing the conditions under which drilling may be carried out in water covered areas, and any special measures to be taken;
(d) prescribing the measures to be adopted to confine geothermal resources water encountered during drilling to its original stratum, and to protect the contents of the stratum from infiltration, inundation and migration;
(e) prescribing the minimum standard of tools, casing, equipment and materials that may be used for drilling, development and production of geothermal resources;
(f) to regulate the drilling of multizone wells, prohibit completion of a well as a multizone well without the permission of the regulator, prohibit the use of a well for the production from or injection to more than one zone without the approval of the regulator and authorize the regulator to grant permission or approval subject to conditions the regulator considers necessary;
(g) prescribing measures for the protection of petroleum and natural gas deposits, coal seams, mineral deposits and any workings in them;
(h) requiring the provision of adequate well casing and proper anchorage and cementation;
(i) requiring and prescribing samples, tests, analyses, surveys, logs, records, other information respecting a geothermal resource or operation, the method of taking samples and submission of records and information to the regulator;
(j) prescribing the measures to be taken before drilling begins and during drilling and production to conserve geothermal resources and water;
(k) prescribing or limiting the methods of operation to be used during drilling and in the subsequent management of a well and the conduct of an operation for any purpose, including
(i) the prevention and extinguishing of fires, and
(ii) the prevention of wells flowing out of control;
(l) regulating the location and equipping of production facilities;
(m) regulating the conditioning or reconditioning of wells by mechanical, chemical or explosive means;
(n) requiring the inspection of wells both during and after drilling;
(o) requiring the capping or closing in of wells for the purpose of preventing waste;
(p) requiring the cleaning out of a well;
(r) the naming of wells and production facilities;
(s) measures to contain and eliminate spillage;
(t) regulating production from a geothermal well;
(u) the general conservation of geothermal resources, their waste or improvident disposition, and any matter incidental to the development, drilling, operation and production of geothermal resources;
(v) the methods and units to be used for the measurement of geothermal resources, and the standard conditions to which the measurements are to be converted;
(w) the revocation and suspension of well authorizations;
(x) the imposition and form of security required for the development, drilling or operation of or production from a well, and the amount or method of calculation of that security;
(y) subject to the approval of Treasury Board, respecting fees;
(z) conditions that may be imposed on well authorizations, including conditions respecting their expiry.
(2) A regulation or order made under subsection (1) may provide that the regulator may, by order, in relation to a particular location or well and subject to conditions the regulator specifies, exempt a person from the application of all or part of the regulation or order.
24 (1) For the purposes of this Act, or respecting geothermal resources the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for the following purposes and respecting the following matters:
(a) establishing the conditions under which persons are eligible to apply for the issue and renewal of permits, leases, registrations, recordings and other rights, privileges and services under this Act, and the procedures to be followed and the fees to be paid by them;
(b) the revocation and suspension of permits and leases by the minister in circumstances specified in the regulations, and the powers to be exercisable by the minister for those purposes;
(c) the application, with or without modification, of regulations made under the Energy Resource Activities Act respecting geophysical exploration, to exploration for geothermal resources;
(d) requiring persons holding leases to submit plans for any work that they propose and prohibiting the carrying out of that work without approval;
(e) establishing the conditions under which permits and leases may be transferred;
(f) royalties and the amount or rate of a royalty that must be paid in cases where there is no agreement under section 17;
(g) prescribing the rent payable in respect of leases;
(i) establishing the amount and kind of work to be performed by permittees and lessees on their locations and the time within which the work is required to be done, providing for grouping, unitization, payments instead of work and related matters, and authorizing, in circumstances specified in the regulation, the extension of time within which work required to be done on a location may be done if the permittee or lessee has been prevented from doing work by extraordinary physical conditions that are beyond the person's control and could not be foreseen by the person;
(j) requiring lessees to provide surveys of their locations at their expense and setting standards for the surveys;
(k) establishing procedures for recording transfers and other instruments affecting the title to permits and leases;
(l) the granting, in respect of a test hole or well drilled or in operation before this Act came into force, of exemptions from provisions of this Act other than section 2;
(m) to meet any difficulties that may arise by reason of the repeal of the Geothermal Resource Act and the substitution of this Act;
(n) requiring persons drilling for or producing geothermal resources to keep records, and prescribing the information to be recorded in those records;
(o) requiring persons drilling for or producing geothermal resources to
(ii) disclose geological information respecting the resources
obtained by them in the course of the drilling and production;
(p) the application, with or without modification, of regulations made under section 103 or 104 of the Energy Resource Activities Act to a permittee or lessee;
(q) the unitization of a field for the purposes of drilling for or producing a geothermal resource;
(r) the disclosure of records, reports and data required to be kept under this Act.
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