Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board

The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act specifies that the Chief Safety Officer and/or the Chief Conservation Officer may authorize the use of equipment, methods, measures or standards in lieu of any required by regulations, where those Officers are satisfied that the use of that other equipment and those other methods, measures or standards would provide a level of safety, protection of the environment and conservation equivalent to that provided by compliance with regulations. They may also grant an exemption from any regulatory requirement in respect of equipment, methods, measures or standards, where those Officers are satisfied with the level of safety, protection of the environment and conservation that will be achieved without compliance with that requirement. To document and process such requests from industry, along with requests to clarify the application of specific regulations in specific cases, the Board has developed a "regulatory query process", which the Operations/Health Safety & Environment Department administers.

If an Operator or installation owner requires clarification on, equivalency for or exemption from a regulatory requirement, the applicant must submit a Regulatory Query Form (RQF) outlining its proposal. For regulations related to the Certificate of Fitness, the proposal must be submitted to the Certifying Authority for their concurrence with the proposal.

Following Certifying Authority concurrence with the proposal where required, CNSOPB staff will review the proposal. If CNSOPB staff are satisfied that the applicant's proposal provides for an equivalent or acceptable level of safety, they will make a recommendation to the Chief Safety Officer and/or the Chief Conservation Officer regarding the approval of the proposal. The Chief Safety Officer and/or the Chief Conservation Officer makes the decision. A decision may have conditions.