Is AEMERA involved with monitoring, evaluation and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions?
At this time, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions remains the accountability of the department of Environment and Parks. Monitoring, evaluation and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is related to the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation; therefore it is considered regulatory monitoring.
Will groundwater monitoring fall under AEMERA’s responsibility?
Regional groundwater will be part of AEMERA’s monitoring program. Currently, AEMERA is conducting an independent assessment of proposed regional groundwater monitoring in the oil sands areas and will then assess how best to move the program forward.
How aligned will AEMERA be with monitoring related to emerging policy issues?
AEMERA will align monitoring to support government needs with respect to regional plans and regulatory requirements. The Agency has taken over commitments related to reporting on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan air and surface water frameworks and for the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan frameworks for the 2014 monitoring year and beyond.
How will on-going project specific monitoring be integrated into the regional monitoring being conducted by AEMERA?
All monitoring conducted by AEMERA is developed through analysis of pressures and stressors exerted on the regional ambient environment and assessing what monitoring is required to determine environmental changes. The monitoring also aligns with policy/planning/regulatory requirements and we expect that in the future such requirements will also be informed by AEMERA monitoring data.