Regulatory, Guidelines, Directives, Policies, & Criteria
The degree of conservatism current in some regulatory guidelines may be unnecessary. How can the development of accepted risk and science-based studies continue to protect the environment and reduce remediation costs?
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- Organics (PHC) Remediation
- Fate and transport mechanisms (e.g., GW based soil guidelines)
- Understand appropriate protection of various exposure pathways
- Clarity on AB Guideline assumptions (e.g., continuous source)
- Best management practices
2. Inorganics (salinity, metals) Remediation
- Fate and transport mechanisms (e.g., GW-based soil guidelines)
- Understanding background concentrations (including regional variations) of metals and salts
- Understand appropriate protection of various exposure pathways
- Clarity on Soil Contamination Assessment and Remediation Guidelines (SCARG) criteria (e.g., EC, SAR)
- Outcome-based soil quality guidelines for inorganics (surface/subsoil)
- Best management practices
3. Research to support future updates to forested wellsite reclamation criteria:
- Review of sites reclaimed post 2007. Examples of research questions:
- Are sites on a trajectory to achieve the offsite ecosite or ecosite phase?
- Growth curves for woody species on reclaimed sites to support earlier certification of non oil and gas activities.
- Woody species plant community trajectory/survival rates on clay pads reclaimed to after 2007.
- Addition of species diversity parameters and thresholds to the forested criteria. Examples of research ideas:
- Methods for assessing components of habitat for various species (e.g., caribou, mountain sheep, goats).
- Methods for determining plant communities indicative of specific ecosites/ecosite phases.· Undesirable species threshold for forested criteria.
- How much grass is too much to ensure reasonable growth over time in sensitive areas.
- Retrospective study on forested trajectories for reclaimed eco-sites with First Nations, Indigenous community representation to measure the success of forested BMP/treatments on wellsites post certification.
- Best management practices
4. Support the development and update of wetland reclamation closure policy and certification
- Site selection criteria and tools for selection when reclaiming wetlands for sites that were not previously wetlands.
- Review of species richness of reclaimed wetlands on large borrow pits within the combined zones of shallow open water, emergent, wet meadow zones and swamps (when present) across the boreal/parkland.
- Minimum species richness and cover required to verify a desired wetland plant community.
- Peatland shifts to other dominant forms of a local ecosystem.
- Peatland partial pad construction, options for establishing trees/shrubs to meet potential woody species requirements in caribou zones.
- Best management practices
5. Research to support restoration requirements outlined in subregional planning for Caribou region
6. Effectiveness of restoration/reclamation treatments:
- When is a disturbance (e.g., seismic line) no longer a disturbance?
- Ecological value of reclamation (function, habitat, and hydrology) of different reclamation treatments (e.g., natural recovery, progressive reclamation, mounding, full/partial pad removal) compared to pre-/un-disturbed habitats.
- Determining how to measure or assess if a reclaimed site (e.g., p/l, transmission lines, new seismic, OSE) or plant community is on a trajectory to achieve one indicative of a pre-disturbance eco-site phase for
7. Other
- Understand Phase I ESA calculations for Drilling Waste (link to soil/GW guidelines)
- Understand the appropriateness of using of regional/multi-site assessments and develop a set of expectations/requirements for use
- Develop expectations/requirement for the use of software tools/numerical modelling
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Risk Assessment
Identify areas for broad application of risk assessment strategies that protect the environment and reduce the required management/remediation efforts.
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- Understanding risk assessment of receptors
- Standardized approach of risk assessment based on residual mass vs numerical endpoints.
- Software tools to aid in the standardized application of Tier 2 guidelines using appropriate site-specific data.
- Comprehensive assessment versus assessment of individual contaminants
- Data gaps assessment
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Reclamation and remediation technology advancement
Technology improvements and finding new applications of existing and new technologies to reduce reclamation and remediation costs and timelines.
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- Petroleum hydrocarbon, salinity and metals effective remedial technologies and methods (including small volumes and longer timeframes), associated risks, assessment effectiveness and relevance to environmental risk
- Fractured bedrock
- Wetlands
- In-situ and ex-situ groundwater
2. Native Grassland Reclamation BMP development:
- Techniques for meeting infill requirements on problem sites.
- Managing Type 3 and 4 species on historical grassland sites constructed/reclaimed pre-2010).
- Techniques for management of crested wheatgrass
- Preventing problem native grassland reclamation sites – education tools.
3. Forested reclamation BMP Development
- Success of different reclamation treatments (e.g., natural recovery, progressive reclamation, mounding, planting) in establishing pre-disturbance ecosites.
- Weed trajectories in woody plant communities, influences of boreal community variables on longevity of common noxious weeds (shade, woody species diversity/abundance, peat/mineral mixes, soil type). How long and what conditions will individual noxious weeds become outcompeted by forested plant communities?
4. Use of remote sensing in reclamation to:
- reduce sampling intensity for field level data collection.
- verify plant communities indicative of the ecosite/ecosite phase.
- confirm or verify disturbances.
- informing wetland indicators/success of reclaimed borrows.
- Assess site variability (progressive reclamation, soil replacement, vegetation monitoring).
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