National Energy Board

rdf:langString National Energy Board

rdf:langString The National Energy Board was an independent economic regulatory agency created in 1959 by the Government of Canada to oversee "international and inter-provincial aspects of the oil, gas and electric utility industries". Its head office was located in Calgary, Alberta. The NEB mainly regulated the construction and operation of oil and natural gas pipelines crossing provincial or international borders. The Board approved pipeline traffic, tolls and tariffs under the authority of the National Energy Board Act. It deals with approximately 750 applications annually, through written or oral proceedings. The National Energy Board also had jurisdiction over the construction and operation of international power lines, defined as lines built "for the purpose of transmitting electricity from or to a place in Canada from or to a place outside of Canada". The NEB authorized imports of natural gas, and exports of crude oil, natural gas, oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), refined petroleum products and electricity. The NEB also had jurisdiction over designated inter-provincial power lines, by determination of the federal Cabinet, but no such line has been designated, leaving the regulation of existing interties to provincial regulatory bodies. Recent NEB decisions in favour of petroleum-industry interests have led to increasing controversy. In February 2018, the government of Justin Trudeau superseded the NEB with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which would be better structured to assess health, Indigenous, and socioeconomic concerns in additional to the environmental impact of major Canadian projects. The NEB's regulatory tasks such as regulating pipelines and oil and gas transmission were taken up by a new Canadian Energy Regulator (CER).