ESRD – AEMERA Transition Project

Objective of this meeting

• Ensure a shared understanding of IRMS

• Ensure a shared understanding of the role AEMERA will play in the future (to the extent that it is currently known)

• Review project glossary

• Ensure a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities for the team

• Discuss next steps for the team

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IRMS

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• The IRM System is the means by which Alberta will achieve responsible resource stewardship.

• The System is broadly defined, incorporating the management, conservation and wise use of all resources.

• It is founded upon principles of cumulative effects management:o Knowledge basedo Outcomes driveno Future focusedo Comprehensive implementationo Place based flexibilityo Collaborationo Adaptation and Continuous Improvement

Integrated Resource Management

Why pursue an IRMS? Continued economic and

population growth Need to manage cumulative

effects Heightened need for integration

and resource optimization Growing expectations of public

and stakeholders

Integrated Resource Management

Project-by-project regulation and allocation Management of incremental effects Focus on preventing adverse impact

Regulation and allocation considers overall capacity of air shed, watershed, land base Focus on achieving desired outcomes based on public input Establishment of limits for total impacts on water, air, land, wildlife

THENTHENTHENTHEN

NOWNOWNOWNOW

1970-90s

East Slope PolicyIRPs

Evolution of Approach

1993

LUFRegional

Strategies

EPEA

1999 2000 2008 2009

SREM

ALSA

PodsSystem

Approach

20112003

Integrated Resource Management

Clarifying Functions / Roles

AEMERA

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Drivers for Change and Creation of AEMERA

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Both the provincial and federal ministers of environment convened expert panels to assess current environmental monitoring in the oil sands region and develop recommendations on how such monitoring could be improved. Acting on the scientific and governance advice in these panel reports, former ESRD Minister McQueen directed a GoA policy response which included:

• Defining direction for creation of an arms-length entity responsible for ambient environmental monitoring (two Ministers Reports);

• Creating the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) (Bill 31); and

• Providing funding to AEMERA for operations in the oil sands region (regulation under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA)).

Protecting Alberta’s Environment Act defines the purpose of the Agency as follows:

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Role of ESRD once AEMERA is established

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Role of AEMERA

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For the purpose of this project….

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Ambient Environmental Monitoring is a term used to describe baseline and effects-based monitoring. It does not include compliance monitoring.

Baseline Monitoring describes the state of the environment and its natural variability. Baseline monitoring establishes the benchmark against which sites that are affected by development can be compared.

Effects or Effects-based Monitoring describes monitoring activities undertaken to determine the status or trend of specific environmental attributes or indicators that reflect the current state of the environment. It focuses on changes in the environment resulting from various anthropogenic activities but is also able to detect changes due to natural causes such as climate variation.

For the purpose of this project….

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Compliance Monitoring or Performance-based Monitoring describes monitoring activities undertaken to determine if a particular facility is complying with its operating approval(s) and related licencing or permitting conditions. Such monitoring focuses on understanding and managing pressures on the environment (e.g., end of pipe or top of stack emissions) but may include condition indicators for environmental media under the care and control of the operator (e.g., soil, groundwater).

Notes: Bio Group would like to spit Compliance from Performance into separate functions

For the purpose of this project….

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Monitoring is the repeated or continuous observation of an indicator or variable through time. ‒ Monitoring is normally undertaken to understand or

manage a process or system, so evaluation of the observations (i.e., data) and reporting must occur for understanding to increase or a management action to be formulated or taken.

Environmental Monitoring involves observations of indicators of environmental condition (e.g., river flow, abundance or health of living things, quality of air or water, nature and extent of habitat etc.) or pressures on the condition of the environment (e.g., rate of release of toxic substances to air, water or land, rate of conversion of land use, greenhouse gas emission rates etc.). ‒ Monitoring uses a variety of techniques to makes

observations including sampling and analysis of air, water, landscapes, soil, vegetation, fish and wildlife.

For the purpose of this project….

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Evaluation involves assessing the monitoring data to determine what is happening to the environment and why. ‒ This requires integration of scientific insight, statistical

analysis, treatment of uncertainty, and may involve process-based modeling.

‒ Evaluation seeks to determine the existence and significance or relationships between pressures on the environment and the impacts those pressures may be having on the environment.

Reporting is the dissemination and publication of monitoring data and evaluation results to a variety of audiences. ‒ A general objective of GoA and IRMS/AEMERA in particular

is to move to an open data concept where primary data and information are available to all for purposes both known and not yet defined.

‒ Nevertheless, a key objective of environmental monitoring reporting is to communicate information that supports policy development and informs environmental management decision making.

Criteria to use when working through the demarcation table:

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ESRD:•Sole purpose of survey/inventory required for allocation & compliance, or species recovery.•Response to stakeholder driven compliance concern (allocation)•Temporal and geographic scale narrow •Work requires very specific timelines involving high numbers (critical mass) of staff over short durations•Involves special skills in handling certain threatened/endangered species.

AEMERA:•Long-term trend information to monitor natural fluctuations•Purpose to evaluate trend data information on species groups such as indexing•Developmental agency to address needed monitoring requirements•Temporal and geographic scale broad

Testing Scale Assumptions

Provincial Scale

Land Use Region

Sub-Region

Allocation Basin

Site

Point Source

Known-Known: AEMERA provides authoritative knowledge and operates monitoring systems at this scale.

Known-Known: AEMERA does not conduct site focused monitoring for compliance assurance and response.

Known-Unknowns (GREY): What is AEMERA’s role at the scale that applies to management at the finer scale in conjunction with partners?

ESRD functional Demarcation March 20th

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What’s next?

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• Classify the media functions in a logical way

• Map processes to better understand the IRMS functions and organizational roles using data and information products

• Go through a table to make an objective assessment regarding each function

• Make a recommendation as to whether the function stays with ESRD or moves based on consistent criteria

What is our goal in the next few

weeks?

To catalog the existing ESRD monitoring functions

• Ambient Environmental Monitoring• Baseline Monitoring• Effects or Effects-based• Compliance Monitoring or Performance-based Monitoring

Steps after cataloging?

• Media teams will complete an Inventory sheet to help determine the transitional work.

• Which monitoring functions:– May be transitioned to aemera.org over time– Should aemera.org govern – May be shared between organizations

• Once candidates are selected a process mapping exercise will be performed

• After process mapping a final recommendation and risks will be delivered by the executive directors

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Process Mapping

Process Mapping

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Demarcation Table Headings

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Program/ Activity/ Function/ Data Type

Data Acquisition and Custodianship Evaluation and Reporting

Dedicated Funding

(Y/N)

Other assets required

Stakeholders and Purposes for Data:

Timing for UseRisks of moving

to AEMERA

Risks of not moving to AEMERA

Recommendation and rational

Discussion needed on following points:

ESRD keeps

(%)

To AEMER

A (%)Rationale for %'s

Work done by (OBA):

Specialized Training Required

FTE's attached (nearest .1)

Discussion needed on following points:

ESRD keeps

(%)

To AEMER

A (%)Rationale for %'s

Work done by (OBA):

FTE's attached (nearest .1)

Proprietary (Y,N) Policy PlanningOperational

Decision MakingMonitoring Science

Process Mapping

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MMT Group:

YesNo

Hydrological and Metrological Workflow Diagram

Approval of projects and allocation of capital funding - - - Expanded stakeholders (Water Survey of Canada & TransAlta)

Reporting ProcessEvaluation Process

Snow Pack Workflow

Monitoring Process

Met

rolo

gica

l Wor

kflow

Hydr

olog

ical

Wor

kflow

Proj. Plan Development:Determines capital costs & maintenance for construction and placement of monitoring system network expansion

Approval of Proj.MMT

Metrologistpublishes reports based of off Monitoring results

Records ManagementNo Defined Records Management process for the storage and retention of reports

Process EndReporting may lead to further monitoring actions

Planning:Identification of Monitoring: Response to policy, legal requirements, allocation or contractual agreements

Extended Stakeholder:Extended stakeholders may construct their own monitoring sites without MMT approval

Process EndProject held or Cancelled pending approval by MMT

Field Resource TeamsAllocation of staff, Scheduling, Install of monitoring stations

Near Real Time Data Collection: Data collection via Telemetry automatically entered into WISKI

WISKI - Temporary Space

Field staff Data Collection: Data collection & QA/QC as per sample design business rules. Data entered into WISKI

Data Management TeamTelemetry contact management between NOAA and USGS

Near Real Time Data Collection: Data collection via Telemetry automatically entered into WISKI

WISKI - Temporary Space Automated Data Validation occurs

River Forcasting Team:Performs manual data validation WISKI - Temp. Space

Field staff Data Collection: Site surveys, benchmark measurements, site maintainance. Field notes are legal docs and are housed in WISKI

WISKI - Temporary Space:Automated data Validation software & Records management for field notes

Field Technologis:Performs data validation

WISKI - Temp. Space

WISKI - Temp. Space

Environment of Canada: Metrological Service of CanadaEvaluates data used in the creation of Historical datasets

WISKI - Published Space

WISKI - Temp. Space

River Forcasting Team:Monitors and Evaluates Hydrological and Snow pack data to predict River flow & floods

Environment of Canada: Water Surveys of CanadaEvaluates data used in the creation of Historical datasets

WISKI - Published Space

WISKI - Published Space

Limnologistpublishes reports based of off Monitoring results

Records ManagementNo Defined Records Management process for the storage and retention of reports

Process EndReporting may lead to further monitoring actions

WISKI - Published Space