NIGERIA’S MINING ACTS - A Case Study for Mining Reform
On 19 September, the Commission announced its third legislative package aimed at liberalising the EU’s electricity and gas markets ...
In recent years, Romania witnessed a continuously growing real estate market, along with a sustained rush of investors, including many foreign ones, eager to secure prime locations for their future development projects.On such a rapidly expanding market, it has been difficult at times to implement sophisticated real estate projects, as the country’s legal framework in the area of real estate did not change overnight, despite Romania’s recent accession to the EU ...
In his September address to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the Premier announced that the Western Climate Initiative is working collaboratively to develop a cap and trade system by next August. British Columbia will also require hard caps on GHG emissions from all heavy emitters in B.C. All ministries and Crown agencies will be legally required to be carbon neutral by 2010 – “no ifs, ands or buts” ...
Prior to 1987, natural gas was supplied to end use customers in British Columbia by monopoly service providers only on a bundled basis. In 1987, Inland Natural Gas Ltd., a predecessor company to Terasen Gas Inc. (“TGI”), pioneered open access in this province by applying to establish transportation service rates for its industrial and large commercial customers. Open access was made available to those customers commencing in 1987 ...
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently granted Atco Gas and Pipelines Ltd.’s (ATCO) application for leave to appeal AEUB Decisions 2005-63 and 2007-005 and Interim Order U2005-133. In those decisions the AEUB required ATCO to maintain certain natural gas reservoir storage assets (the “Carbon Facilities”) in rate base ...
On October 25, 2007 the Alberta Government announced a new royalty regime that will see a 20% increase in royalties for the development of the province’s non-renewable energy resources. Starting in 2009, oil and gas companies are expected to be paying roughly $1.4 billion more a year in royalties ...
On March 15, 2007 BC Hydro filed its first general rate design application in 16 years (after a lengthy government imposed rate freeze that ended in 2003, an enquiry into the allocation of the benefits of BC Hydro’s low-cost Heritage Resources, two revenue requirements proceedings and its first comprehensive longterm resource planning review in this year) ...
On September 30, 2007, on its own motion and without notice, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) issued a decision voiding its approvals of both the Alberta Electric System Operator’s (AESO) need assessment and general routing selection and AltaLink Management Ltd.’s (AltaLink) subsequent facilities application related to the proposed 500kV transmission reinforcement between Edmonton and Calgary ...
In September, 2007 the AESO removed the 900MW threshold on wind power generation. In response to concerns about the Alberta system’s ability to absorb significant volumes of intermittent resources, in 2006 the AESO had capped wind facility interconnection to the Alberta system at 900MW until such time as appropriate mitigation measures were established to ensure wind power did not jeopardize system reliability ...
In this long running case, the Court of Appeal has granted Dwr Cymru (on 26 July) leave to appeal the Competition Appeal Tribunal's (the CAT) finding that Dwr Cymru had abused its dominant position by setting an access charge that resulted in a margin squeeze on Albion Water (Albion). The Court of Appeal is due to hear the case later this year ...
DEALING WITH MINING LEGACY – SOME CANADIAN APPROACHES(1)1. INTRODUCTIONIn this paper we discuss approaches that have been used in Canada to identify and foster private sector, public and aboriginal participation in dealing with mining environmental liabilities and orphan sites(2) ...
The Current Mineral Licensing Regime in Nigeria
The European Commission has published its report outlining its proposed changes to the European energy market.In order to open the continent's gas and electricity markets up to greater competition, the Commission has proposed the separation of energy suppliers and producers, a move which would see the break up of firms such as E.ON and Electricite de France ...
The global biofuels industry needs to be better regulated to ensure it does not harm the environment, the UK's climate change minister has stated.Speaking at a recent conference organised by Britain's Renewable Eneregy Association, Phil Woolas MP cited several studies which have shown that biofuel production has led to deforestation and increased house prices in some areas of the world, most notably across Asia ...
Ofgem announced last week that it is delaying its decision on proposals relating to transmission losses. The gas and electricity market regulator's previous statement that it favours one of several proposals before it on this subject has caused considerable consternation among commentators in Scotland ...
In response to certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court held that unintended construction defects are an occurrence and that allegations of loss of use or damage to a home may constitute property damage under a commercial general liability (CGL) contract. Lamar Homes, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., No. 05-0832 (Tex. Aug. 31, 2007) ...
It is a given that any human endeavor will have effects that we do not expect. Robert Burns identified the problem with the best-laid schemes of mice and men, and investors in the mortgage banking industry are learning that lesson now. In recent years, many borrowers entered into adjustable-rate mortgages with low initial rates, trusting that rates would stay low or that they could refinance or sell a property before larger payments came due ...
The Federal Court of Canada recently released its decision in Ahousaht First Nation v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans)(1). The case considered an application by 14 First Nations represented by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (“NTC”) for judicial review of a decision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans regarding the implementation of a commercial groundfish pilot plan on the British Columbia coast (the “Pilot Plan”) ...
On 16 March 2007, the National People’s Congress issued the Property Law of the People’s Republic of China. Effective on 1 October 2007, the Law defines the scope of property and property-related rights, such as use and possession, and sets out the protections afforded to State, collective and private property owners.BackgroundWork on the Property Law first began in 1993 ...
On 31 December 2006, the State Property Management Commission of the State Council and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Notice Regarding Relevant Matters in the Assignment of the State-owned Property Rights of Enterprises to further clarify issues arising from the implementation of the Provisional Measures for the Administration of the Assignment of State-owned Property Rights of Enterprises and the Notice on Relevant Issues in the Assignment of State-owned Property
On 22 January 2007, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Regulations for the Administration of Construction Project Service Enterprises with Foreign Investment. Effective 26 March 2007, the Regulations outline the approval process for construction project service enterprises with foreign investment and set out the permissible types of business for these enterprises ...
Some things change, others never change. The choice of procurement route is still governed by three main factors:· Time· Cost· Quality It is hard, if not impossible to achieve the best of all these three but when choosing a procurement route consideration must be given to the list of priorities so that people's expectations are properly managed ...
Several of the currently producing oil fields in the United States have been producing for approximately one hundred years while many other fields have long since ceased production having reached the end of their economic life. As the domestic oil and gas industry matures and many of the once productive fields become depleted, the industry faces what is arguably its most significant challenge ...
In this article, the authors address state-level law on water use and its possible effect on land use decisions. They then examine how federal water-related laws are increasingly impacting land use. Land use regulation, particularly zoning, has traditionally been considered a matter to be handled not by state or federal government but by local government— towns and counties ...
