Who is “directly affected”?

The NEB has specific definitions for who they consider to be "directly affected" by proposed pipelines and tanker plans. If you believe that you will be impacted by the project in some way, submit an application!

What follows is information about the criteria that the NEB will use to decide who gets to participate in a federal pipelin review. The NEB must hear from any person who is directly affected by the granting or refusing of a project application. The NEB considers applications individually and a key consideration is the degree to which your interest is “specific and detailed”, rather than a general public interest. Examples include: commercial, property or other financial interest, (e.g. your place of employment, your house or lands that you own). "Directly affected" can also mean that you personally use or occupy land and resources that could be affected, or you use affected land and resources for traditional Aboriginal purposes.

Personal use has not been well defined and could include:

• Recreational use, e.g. fishing, birdwatching, accessing clean water

• Your children’s school lies close to the pipeline (specify how close)

• The pipeline could affect your local water supply (specify where this is in relation to the pipeline)

• The pipeline could affect the aesthetic value of the place you live or a nearby park

• The presence of the pipeline or associated oil tankers could affect your property value

The NEB will consider whether their decision on the project directly affects the interest you have described. In your application, explain how connected the project is to your interests (e.g. how close is an affected watercourse like the Red or Assinaboine River?). You must link yourself to what could be affected, such as a business or the environment, and then connect the potential effect to the project.

The likelihood and severity of harm that you are exposed to is important. Examples could include the chance of injury or death from pipeline spills, the chance of a pipeline rupture affecting your business operation, and disturbance to your right of way, view or land. How will the project affect you during the construction phase and when completed? The existing pipeline has already had ruptures and explosions.

The NEB will also consider how often you use the area near the project, and for how long (frequency and duration of your use). Be specific – for instance, specify that you fish in River A, x times per year, for y hours each time. Or specify that your entire agricultural land is within x km of the proposed pipeline.

What counts as “relevant knowledge and expertise”?

The issues under review are limited in scope (e.g. the NEB is refusing to consider climate change). However, if you believe your knowledge or expertise is relevant, submit an application! Outline your experience, studies or qualifications, your local or cultural knowledge and how this knowledge or expertise is relevant to the project. Explain how your knowledge and expertise is unique and how it will help the NEB make the best decision in the public interest.

General knowledge and expertise, available to the NEB from other sources, are unlikely to be accepted. Specific knowledge about a relevant area – including its natural history, or knowledge of Aboriginal use not in the public domain – is more likely to be classed as relevant. Your local knowledge is important.

Written for: Sierra Club BC, Pipe Up Network, Raincoast, ForestEthics Advocacy, Georgia Strait Alliance, the Wilderness Committee.