Prohibition — construction or ground disturbance

Prohibition — construction or ground disturbance

335 (1) It is prohibited for any person to construct a facility across, on, along or under a pipeline or engage in an activity that causes a ground disturbance within the prescribed area unless the construction or activity is authorized or required by the orders made under subsection (3) or (4) or regulations made under subsections (5) or (6) and done in accordance with them. (2) It is prohibited for any person to operate a vehicle or mobile equipment across a pipeline unless (a) that operation is authorized or required by orders made under subsection (3) or (4) or regulations made under subsections (5) or (6) and done in accordance with them; or (b) the vehicle or equipment is operated within the travelled portion of a highway or public road. (3) The Commission may, by order, direct the owner of a facility constructed across, on, along or under a pipeline in contravention of this Act or the Commission’s orders or regulations to do any things that the Commission considers necessary for the safety or security of the pipeline and, if the Commission considers that the facility may impair the safety or security of the operation of the pipeline, direct the owner to reconstruct, alter or remove the facility. (4) The Commission may, by order, give directions (a) governing the design, construction, operation and abandonment of facilities constructed across, on, along or under pipelines; (b) prescribing the area for the purposes of subsection (1); (c) authorizing the construction of facilities across, on, along or under pipelines; (d) authorizing ground disturbances within the prescribed area; (e) governing the measures to be taken in relation to (i) the construction of facilities across, on, along or under pipelines, (ii) the construction of pipelines across, on, along or under facilities, other than railways, and (iii) ground disturbances within the prescribed area; (f) authorizing the operation of vehicles or mobile equipment across a pipeline and governing the measures to be taken in relation to that operation; (g) governing the apportionment of costs directly incurred as a result of the construction or disturbance authorized under this section; (h) specifying activities for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the definition ground disturbance in section 2 in respect of pipelines; and (i) authorizing a company to give the authorization referred to in paragraph (c), (d) or (f) on any conditions that the company considers appropriate. (5) The Regulator may make regulations respecting any matter referred to in paragraphs (4)(a) to (f) and (h). (6) The Regulator may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations (a) governing the apportionment of costs directly incurred as a result of the construction or disturbance authorized under this section; and (b) authorizing a company to give the authorization referred to in paragraph (4)(c), (d) or (f), subject to any conditions that the company considers appropriate. (7) Orders made under subsection (4) and regulations made under subsection (5) may provide for the prohibition of ground disturbances in an area that is situated in the vicinity of a pipeline and that may extend beyond the prescribed area during the period that starts when a request is made to a pipeline company to locate its pipeline and ends (a) at the end of the third working day after the day on which the request is made; or (b) at any later time that is agreed to between the pipeline company and the person making the request. (8) The Commission may, by order made subject to any conditions that the Commission considers appropriate, exempt any person from the application of an order made under subsection (4) or a regulation made under subsection (5) or (6). (9) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2), an order made under subsection (3) or (4) or a regulation made under subsection (5) or (6) is guilty of an offence and liable (a) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $1,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years or to both; or (b) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year or to both. (10) Subsections 379(2) to (6) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to an offence under subsection (9).