What is Environment & Resource Services
Appropriate and timely development of Alberta's petroleum and mineral resources sometimes requires negotiation of surface access to Crown lands where those resources are located.
Exercised as addendums to tenure agreements for subsurface mineral rights on Crown lands, land access typically applies to areas where surface access may be 'significantly' affected because of an environmental or land use concern. Appropriate levels of surface access restrictions may be negotiated among several Crown agencies and departments with an interest in natural resources, including branches responsible for environmental protection and historical preservation.
The Department of Sustainable Resource Development administers all industrial surface access to natural resources, while negotiation for appropriate levels of surface access includes the Environment & Resource Services branch. One component of these negotiations is consideration of the value and opportunity cost of developing the resource, with reference to information provided by specialists in the Geology office of Environment & Resource Services.
Environment & Resource Services negotiates access restrictions with other Crown agencies and departments through integrated resource management principles and operational planning exercises. Advocating and negotiating for reasonable access on the behalf of companies leasing mineral rights, and on behalf of all Albertans who benefit from resource extraction, provides a measure of certainty about a company's ability to develop petroleum and mineral reserves. This degree of certainty is fundamental to business decision-making, and to the price companies are prepared to pay for resource development rights.
Other benefits of ensuring appropriate resource land access include effective management of the Crown's mineral resources, and provisions that the revenue received from resource development is fair and equitable.
Environment & Resource Services is the responsibility of the Environment & Resource Services Branch, a part of the Energy Policy & Research Division of Alberta Energy. The office consists of three distinct work units providing support for mineral rights disposition and management, including Integrated Resource & Environmental Policy, Geology & Engineering, and GIS Services.
The branch's principal responsibilities include proactive resource planning support to minimize conflicts related to mineral rights access, providing geological and engineering guidance and advice to support mineral rights management, a diverse range of mapping functions, and research.
