Cleanup of wind and solar sites won't land at Alberta farmers' feet

With a growing number of wind and solar developments studding Alberta's landscape, the province has enshrined new rules that ensure operators not landowners are ultimately responsible for cleaning them up.

The province has had renewable energy development for overtwo decades, but landowner advocates have more recently grumbled aboutinsufficient rules. For one, farmers and landowners wanted to make sure their property is returned to its priorstate whenrenewable facilitiesexpired.

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The oil and gas industry has had such regulationfor years.

Now,Alberta Environment has issuedrules that explicitly stateoperators have a duty to conserve and reclaim the land after they have finished using it. It also sets standardsfor the industry to follow during the process standards that willhave to be met before the province could certify that it was done properly.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said the rules filla legislative gap that stretches back more than 20 years.

"As hundreds of millions in new investments flow into Alberta's renewable energy industry, we are ensuringAlbertanscan feel confident in entering renewable energy agreements on their land," Phillips said in an email statement.

The new directive stops short of creatingan "orphan" fund forrenewable projects similar to the one for oil and gas wells that will pay to clean up renewable energy sites if a company goes bankrupt.

ButDaryl Bennett, a director withAction Surface Rights Association in southern Alberta, still welcomed the government's initiative.

"It's quite an improvement," said Bennett. "This just puts some standards in place so all the companiesare expected to reclaim in a similar fashion."

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Alberta is experiencing a renewable energy boom as the province wants to add up to 5,000 megawattsof renewable energy through private sector investment of about $10 billion by 2030. The province has becomeone of thehottest markets for the renewable energy sector in Canada.

But the growthalso spurred farmers andlandowners to raise their concerns, leadingthe government to host a series of feedback sessionsthis spring and summer.

The meetingsresulted ina 50-pagedirective from Alberta Environment that sets out planningrequirementsforeverything from weed management to soil mapping at project sites. Of note, it outlines an operator's "obligation" to reclaim specified land to equivalent land capability once they are finished using it.

Alberta Environmental officials say the directivestill provides landowners with the flexibility to enter into agreements with private companies to mutual benefit, including ensuring proper financial security.

The new rules werepublished last month.

In Alberta,landowners are not obligated to accept a wind, solar or geothermal project on their land. Contracts are negotiated bilaterally between the landowner and the renewable energy developer.

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Bennett participated in the discussions with government this year. He said some landowners signed contracts with companies they simply shouldn't have, but this new directive codifies the expectations for land reclamation.

For one, Bennett says it sets minimum depth levels to remove concrete bases, which could have significant, long-term impacts on the land if done poorly.

"I currently have some windmills going into hearings and I'll be asking the [Alberta Utilities Commission]to consider some of the things that are in that document even though it hasn't come into full force in effect yet," Bennett said.

The directive takes full effect inJanuary, 2020.

Some landownershad hoped the province wouldcreatean "orphan" fund that wouldpay to clean up renewable energy sites if a company goes bankrupt.

The new directive doesn't do that, but it's becoming more common in contracts between landowners and operators for the company to agree to post some kind of financial security.

A representative of the wind power industry said the sector was supportive of the initiativeoverall.

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Evan Wilson, spokesman fortheCanada Wind Energy Association (CanWEA),said the government's initiative will introduce some specific costs to the pre-construction, constructionand operations cycle of a project.But he said the directive offers clarity to all sides.

"Not only does it provide predictability for our members," Wilsonsaid, "but it's our expectation that it will provide comfort for landowners and communities to know that there is a standard that industry can point to, that government can point to, that will allow landowners to know what is being done on their land at the end of life of the project."