Today, we published revised editions of Directive 071: Emergency Preparedness and Response and Manual 026: Emergency Preparedness and Response Guide, along with three new forms. These revised editions are not yet in effect, as the associated rule amendments required to enable these editions are not yet complete.
The February 2023 editions of Directive 071 and Manual 026 remain in effect until the revised editions come into force.
Training and information sessions will be offered to support the implementation of the revised directive, manual, and forms. Information about these sessions will be provided in the coming weeks.
Directive 071 sets out the requirements for emergency preparedness and response. The scope of the revised edition of Directive 071 has been expanded to include operations regulated under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, Oil Sands Conservation Act, Pipeline Act, Coal Conservation Act, Geothermal Resource Development Act, and Mineral Resources Development Act.
Key revisions to Directive 071 are as follows, including input from public comments received from July to November 2024 (see Bulletin 2024-20) and from stakeholder engagement. (A summary of the public comments received and our response is available in the What We Heard document on the Directive 071 landing page.):
- Incorporated elements of clauses four to seven of CSA Group standard CSA Z246.2 Emergency Preparedness and Response for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry Systems to reflect best practice.
- All approval holders (as defined in Directive 071) must have an emergency management program and use the incident command system.
- All approval holders must identify potential emergency scenarios (as specified in Directive 071) associated with their operations through hazard identification and consequence analysis.
- Revised the incident classification assessment matrix to improve consistency in communication and response.
Manual 026 provides information to support an approval holder in meeting the requirements of Directive 071. The revised edition of Manual 026 reflects the revisions to the directive.
We have introduced the following new forms:
- “Emergency Management Program Declaration Form” to convey an approval holder’s commitment and accountability for the emergency management program (EMP).
- “Emergency Management Program Self-Assessment Reporting Form” to measure EMP performance and promote continual EMP improvement.
- “Professional Declaration for Hazard Identification and Consequence Analysis” form to verify accountability for the hazard identification and consequence analysis by having a licensed professional sign off.
The revised edition of the directive is available on the Directive 071 landing page and Manual 026 on the manuals page. The forms are available on the directive forms webpage.
If you have questions about Directive 071, Manual 026, and the forms, email D071UpdateProject@aer.ca.
