Quebec to ban shale gas fracking, tighten rules for oil and gas drilling

The Quebec government is banningfracking for shale gas provincewide.

PierreMoreau, the minister of energy and natural resources, announced a series of new measuresto regulate oil and gas explorationWednesday afternoon in Quebec City.

The ban on fracking for shale gas, he said,would protect the low-lying Lower St. Lawrence region in particular.

Under the new measures, which will amend Quebec'sPetroleum Resources Act, passed in 2016, the government would also ban drilling for oil and gas in 13 waterways across the province.

That includes the Lake of Two Mountains, Lake MemphremagogandtheSt. Lawrence River, Moreausaid.

"The story of the energy transition is being written, and these rules on hydrocarbons are part of that," Moreau said.

He said the government is approaching the issue with "caution."

Larger protection zone around schools, hospitals, homes

In urban areas where oil and gas exploration is already prohibited, the government plans to now extend that ban to a one-kilometre zonearound those municipalities.

"This regulatory measure means that any exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons will be strictly banned on the entire surface of the island of Montreal and the island of Laval," Moreau said.

Outside these urban areasand the additional one-kilometre zones, the government also plans to increase the allowable distance between an oil well or gas drilling siteand what Moreau called "sensitive" areas.

Wells will now need to be at least 300 metres from a private residence, at least 550 metres from a school, hospital or public building, and 200 metres from an ecotourismsite, Moreau said.

The measures come after a previous set of amendments to thePetroleum Resources Actwere strongly criticized by environmentalists and mayors as failing to protect water sources in the province.

Those earlier rules, proposed last year, were less strict on the distance between oil wells or gas drilling sites and hospitals or schools (275 metres), residential neighbourhoods (175 metres) and private homes (150 metres).

The government said it will take public comments on the new rulesoverthe next 45 days.

Environmental groups express concern

Some environment groups are already responding, with Nature Qubec saying in a statement the government is "on the wrong track."

"The new rules still put at risk water and natural environments located near the next drilling sites to be authorized,"said Nature Qubec's executive director,Christian Simard.

Simard called on the Liberal government not to pass any new regulations before the Oct. 1provincial election, "to allow Quebecers to speak out on this important issue."

Steven Guilbeault, quiterre's senior director, said today's announcement appears to make it easier for municipalities to protect their citizens and water sources from the development of oil and gas resourcestoo close to them.

However, he told CBC News it will take a few days to read the amendments carefully, and it remains "unclear whether or not, in the fine details, it will do that."

The Quebec government, Guilbeaultstressed, is "not shutting the door on hydrocarbon development."