Here’s what you need to know about the B.C. oil tanker moratorium
CBC
For years, oil tanker traffic has been prohibited off the waters of northern British Columbia in order to protect environmentally sensitive coastlines from disaster.
But the federal government is now open to the idea of changing its moratorium.
The debate over the future of the tanker ban arose from Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November that lays out the steps for a potential pipeline to carry oil from the Alberta to the Pacific coast.
Here’s what you need to know about the oil tanker moratorium and the area it’s meant to protect.
The federal government first imposed an oil tanker moratorium back in 1972 but it wasn't legislated, as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, until 2019.
The ban covers an area that stretches from the northern tip off Vancouver Island to the B.C.-Alaska border.
The act prohibits oil tankers from stopping, loading or unloading in any port in the designated area.
It applies to vessels carrying a cargo of more than 12,500 metric tons of crude oil or persistent oil products, such as bitumen and Bunker C fuel, which dissipate slowly and can linger in the environment.
The moratorium does not apply to refined oil products, like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Penalties for violating the Tanker Moratorium Act can include fines up to $5 million for each instance of non-compliance.
The federal government established the voluntary tanker exclusion zone in the late 1980s. It offers a larger buffer zone between tankers and much of B.C.'s coast.
That boundary extends further off shore, about 100 km west of Haida Gwaii and roughly 40 km off Vancouver Island.
It's aimed at U.S. tankers transporting oil between the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System marine terminal in Valdez, Alaska and refineries in Washington state.
"The size of the area was based on calculating the worst possible drift of a disabled tanker with a cargo, versus the time required for help to arrive," Transport Canada explains on its website.
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