Safety and Lifecycle Regulation

Lifecycle of an NEB regulated pipeline

While most Canadians only hear about the NEB’s involvement at the beginning of a project, we actually regulate Canada’s federal energy infrastructure throughout its entire lifecycle. We do not simply make a decision on a project and walk away. When approved projects are being built and operated, we inspect and audit them. When a pipeline has reached the end of its usefulness, we hold a hearing to ensure that it is abandoned in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.

In other words, the NEB regulates from “start to finish”, which can span the course of many decades. And we hold pipeline companies responsible for the full lifecycle of the pipelines they operate.

Regulatory Snapshot: CER’s full lifecycle oversight

Video: The Lifecycle Approach

Here is the lifecycle of a regulated facility, showing the NEB’s involvement at each phase:

View larger PDF version [PDF 6815 KB]

How does the NEB monitor pipeline safety?

The NEB uses Compliance Verification Activities to observe and gather information about the state of compliance in a specific area of a company’s operations, or to investigate whether companies are taking the appropriate preventive or corrective actions. Compliance Verification Activities include:

• inspections (of facilities under construction or in operation)
• emergency exercise evaluations
• emergency procedures manuals reviews
• formal compliance meetings (to check the progress of programs or corrective actions)
• management system audits
• reviews of post-construction monitoring reports

These activities are designed to determine if legislation and expectations are being followed, to assess if enforcement is required, and to provide feedback to a company. If our staff see something that is not in compliance with our regulations, they follow-up to make sure that corrective actions have been put in place and apply appropriate enforcement actions if necessary.

Each year the NEB conducts more than 250 Compliance Verification Activities of regulated companies. These tools are effective in allowing the Board to proactively detect and correct non-compliances before they become issues.

What compliance and enforcement activities has the NEB carried out for the Line 3 Pipeline?

In 2011, the NEB began proactively posting information on our compliance and enforcement activities. You can find information on the different types of compliance and enforcement activities on our website. You can also search by company under each activity type to see the results of our compliance and enforcement activities.

Please be aware that the information you find regarding the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline that is dated 2016 or earlier, relates to the pipeline that is being decommissioned and replaced, not the new pipeline under construction.

Here are the Inspection Reports for the Line 3 Replacement Program:

Inspection Reports for the Line 3 Replacement Program

Date	Inspection Type	Location	Inspection Report
October 15 – 18, 2018	Safety Management	Manitoba	CV1819-086
October 10 – 12, 2018	Integrity Management	Manitoba	CV1819-094
October 10 – 12, 2018	Integrity Management	Saskatchewan	CV1819-092
October 2 – 5,  2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1819-063
September 17 – 19, 2018	Integrity Management	Manitoba	CV1819-095
September 17 – 18, 2018	Safety Management	Manitoba	CV1819-088
September 11 – 13, 2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1819-066
September 11, 2018	Environmental Protection	Manitoba	CV1819-498
September 10 – 14, 2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1819-064
August 27 – 30, 2018	Environmental Protection	Manitoba	CV1819-070
August 21 – 24, 2018	Environmental Protection	Manitoba	CV1819-068
August 21 – 23, 2018	Environmental Protection	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV1819-075
August 14 – 16, 2018	Environmental Protection	Manitoba	CV1819-072
August 14 – 16, 2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1819-062
July 23 – 25, 2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1819-076
July 9 – 12, 2018	Safety Management	Saskatchewan	CV1819-089
May 7 – 10, 2018	Environmental Protection	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV1819-074
March 26, 2018	Integrity Management	Alberta	CV1718-399
February 5 – 6, 2018	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1718-394
January 16 – 18, 2018	Safety Management	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV1718-361
November 27 – 30, 2017	Safety Management	Saskatchewan	CV1718-254
November 27 – 30, 2017	Integrity Management	Saskatchewan	CV1718-300
November 6 – 9, 2017	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1718-356
November 6 – 9, 2017	Environmental Protection	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV1718-341
October 16 – 19, 2017	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV 1718-340
October 11 – 12, 2017	Safety Management	Alberta	CV1718-255
October 2 – 5, 2017	Safety Management	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV 1718-252
October 2 – 5, 2017	Integrity Management	Saskatchewan	CV 1718-298
September 26 – 27, 2017	Integrity Management	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV 1718-297
September 25 – 28, 2017	Safety Management	Saskatchewan	CV1718-253
September 25 – 28, 2017	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV 1718-318
September 18 – 21, 2017	Environmental Protection	Alberta, Saskatchewan	CV 1718-317
August 21, 2017	Environmental Protection	Saskatchewan	CV1718-304

Enbridge’s operation and maintenance activities

As part of ongoing oversight of pipelines, companies are required to submit Operations and Maintenance Notifications, if they meet certain criteria (such as working near bodies of water). Operations and Maintenance Notifications, filed by Enbridge for all of its pipelines, can be found on our website.

Contact Information

For questions about the NEB’s role as the regulator of the Line 3 Replacement Program, please contact:

Heather Dodds
Operations Project Manager
Email: Line3Replacement@cer-rec.gc.ca
Telephone (toll free): 1-800-899-1265

For media inquiries, please contact:

NEB Media Relations
E-mail: media@cer-rec.gc.ca