Noia hopes renewed Atlantic Accord will shorten environmental assessments

There's a phrase in the pages of the new Atlantic Accord deal that has caught the attention of Newfoundland and Labrador's oil and gas association.

Noia which represents companies in theindustry is hoping strengthening "regulatory efficiency" and "regulator modernization"translates to more jobs in the supply chainand an easier path to new developments off the coast of Newfoundland.

"For me it's about protection and progress, not process," said Noia CEO Charlene Johnson."Just because it's a lengthier process, doesn't mean there's more protection and there's certainly no more progress."

Johnson also hopes the new agreement willshorten the environmental assessmentprocess for exploration wells.

"We track them, and some of them are now approaching 900 days to do what's essentially a 60-90 [-day] activity," she said of the assessments.

Noia has contracted consultant groupWood MacKenzieto compare the process in this province to other oil-producing regions around the world. Johnson said the study isn't complete yet, but the results so far show the process in Newfoundland and Labrador takes about four or five times longer.

"Early indications are that we are completely out of step," she said."And these are countries that the world refers to as leaders when it comes to environmental protection and environmental initiatives. We're looking at Norway, the U.K., Australia. The timelines there are far less than they are here."

Johnson said she is having a technical briefing with provincial officialsnext week to discuss how the new deal will affect the offshore industry.

Don't open the purse, says BoTleader

At the St. John's Board of Trade, CEO Nancy Healey was excited to see a "renewed commitment to the Atlantic Accord."

The deal signed Monday will see the feds transfer $2.5 billion to Newfoundland and Labrador over the next 37 years.

Healey said any influx of money to the province at this point is a good deal, as long as its dealt with responsibly.

"This is not a licence to open up the public purse and start spending money," she told CBCNews on Wednesday."We continue to have a huge spending problem in this province. In fact, we spend more per capita by far than any province in the country."

Indeed, Newfoundland and Labrador spends more than anyone else in the country. As a province, it also takes in more revenue than any other province per capita.

Keeping that revenue while reining in the spending should be the No. 1 priority with the money received from the Atlantic Accord, Healey said.

While some like former premier Brian Peckford criticized the length of the fixed term, Healey said it's all gravy considering the federal government didn't owe the province anything.

"The deal is something the feds did not have to negotiate with us. There was no real obligation to do so. So the fact we were able to negotiate some sort of payment scheme from the province and get it front end loaded when we do need cash, we do have heavy debt, that was important. But we just can't take our eye off the need to curtail our spending and pay down our debt."

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