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The Oil and Gas Commission (OGC), the regulating body for the oil and gas industry in British Columbia, is committed to establishing and maintaining a compliance management system that is compatible with the performance-based model; transparent; and appropriate to the resources available to the commission.  INTRODUCTION The Inspection and Compliance Operations Manual (ICM) has been created to assist both the OGC and industry operators to achieve a high standard of compliance requiring minimum enforcement, providing a level playing field for all operators, and maintaining consistency in day-to-day business as well as promoting public safety.
The ICM will help communicate the role of the OGC inspectors as well as the regulatory objectives of the OGC. It provides a synopsis of the legislation, regulations and standards that govern oil and gas production facilities in British Columbia. It is not, however, an exhaustive reproduction of legislation, regulations and standards. Where discrepancies exist between the manuals and actual legislation or regulations, the latter shall prevail.
The ICM is intended to ensure that oil and gas operations and activities are inspected by the OGC in a consistent and transparent manner throughout the oil and gas producing areas of British Columbia. In particular, the ICM will achieve this consistency and transparency by:
- Establishing clear criteria and expectations for thorough and consistent inspections by the OGC and producers alike;
- Providing a basis for synchronizing, where possible, the BC requirements with those applied in Alberta. The OGC believes that doing this will help unify BC and Alberta requirements, which should be beneficial to clients and stakeholders; and
- Presenting a framework for identifying and obtaining OGC authorization for variances from statutes and regulations.
The compliance management system reflected in the ICM encourages ongoing, proactive self-inspection and mitigation by industry. Compliance activities by companies are reinforced by a consistent, effective and performance-based approach to compliance inspections on the part of the OGC. Please note that the OGC will not be implementing the self-inspection system immediately but encourages industry clients to take the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the concept of self-inspections.
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