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November 19, 2010

Revised Edition of Directive 047: Waste Reporting Requirements for Oilfield Waste Management Facilities

This bulletin announces the revised edition of Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) Directive 047: Waste Reporting Requirements for Oilfield Waste Management Facilities, effective December 1, 2010. This edition replaces all previous editions of Directive 047.

In April 2009, the ERCB introduced an electronic reporting system through the Petroleum Registry of Alberta (Registry). Since that release a number of enhancements have been implemented to improve system functionalities, further standardize reporting requirements, and alleviate balancing and compliance issues. The November 2010 edition of Directive 047 details these reporting enhancements, which include the ability to

• review data submitted in either summary view or a more detailed facility activity view using the Query Waste Plant Submission monthly report,
   
• manually run the monthly Request Waste Plant Non-Compliance Error Report and receive the report automatically on two separate occasions prior to the reporting deadline date
   
• query the Waste Location Report to allow oilfield waste management approval holders the ability to review all generating waste locations it created from inception,
   
• query the Waste Plant Facility Activity Report to allow oilfield waste management approval holders the ability to run a report for single or multiple facilities for a specific time period, product group, activity, and generating/receiving location,
   
• validate data prior to submission of a monthly Waste Plant Report in an effort to reduce the number of amendments,
   
• report the transfer of specific product groups between waste plants and waste plants with custom treater, terminal, and pipeline,
   
• report out-of-province receipts of waste from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Yukon containing a recyclable component with the corresponding well identifier,
   
• verify the individual who submitted a Waste Plant Report through a lookup contact button,
   
• report more accurate information regarding surface oilfield waste management facilities and their associated oilfield waste caverns with the implementation of a new well status,
   
• select from additional oilfield waste codes, intended to better define oilfield waste, and waste location descriptors, and
   
• report the receipt of oilfield wastes from a suspended facility or an abandoned well linked to a reporting facility.

In addition, this revised edition of Directive 047 expands the waste plant balancing and missing data error messages from 5 to 12 (as well as sets out the associated penalty for each error) to allow for adjustments to individual product group tolerances, if necessary, and provide greater clarity regarding errors.

Directive 047 is available on the ERCB Web site www.ercb.ca under Industry Zone : Rules, Regulations, Requirements : Directives, and in paper format from ERCB Information Services, 10 Floor, 250 – 5 Street SW, Calgary, Alberta; telephone: 403-297-8311; fax: 403-297-7040; e-mail: infoservices@ercb.ca.

Questions regarding Directive 047 may be directed to the ERCB Waste and Storage Section at 403-297-2034.

<original signed by>

Kevin Parks, P.Geol., Ph.D.
Executive Manager
Geology, Environmental Science, and Economics Branch