Under the Licensee Management Program (LMP), the results of the holistic licensee assessment are used to identify licensees that are—or are likely to be—at risk of not meeting their regulatory and liability obligations throughout the energy development life cycle. The AER will engage with the licensee and use appropriate regulatory tools or conduct compliance assurance activities to address the risk. The actions and pace of our decisions depend on the level of the risks posed. Actions can range from providing education or recommendations to follow industry best practices to initiating specific regulatory actions. Where we do not see licensees taking action to reduce identified risks, we will take additional steps as described in Manual 013.
The desired outcomes for the LMP are to help ensure licensees
- proactively conduct timely closure work and reduce liability;
- maintain infrastructure and site integrity; and
- manage infrastructure to minimize risk to the public and environment.
Together, the holistic licensee assessment and desired outcomes mentioned above will be used to guide the program and associated decisions.
Program Overview
- Licensees with similar characteristics are grouped into licensee profiles using the Licensee Capability Assessment (LCA) intelligence and other relevant factors. These licensee profiles are used to identify regulatory and liability risks.
- Licensees are assessed and prioritized for additional licensee review.
- The AER conducts a licensee review to better understand licensees’ circumstances, risks, and capabilities. Steps 1 – 3 make up the holistic licensee assessment.
- The AER uses a risk matrix approach to select suitable and consistent regulatory actions based on findings from the holistic licensee assessment.
- The AER implements and monitors the selected regulatory action from step 4 to ensure licensees are managing their regulatory and liability risk.
- Findings from the LMP are used to support AER decisions.
