Eligible oil and gas service companies can apply for grant funding to complete abandonment and reclamation work on oil and gas sites in Alberta.
The Government of Alberta has announced that the Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP) is now accepting applications. The SRP will provide grants to oilfield service contractors to perform well, pipeline, and oil and gas site closure and reclamation work. The program goals are to:
- immediately get Alberta’s specialized oil and gas labour force back to work;
- accelerate site abandonment and reclamation efforts; and
- quickly complete a high volume of environmentally significant work.
The SRP will distribute up to $1 billion in funding from the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for eligible abandonment and reclamation projects. Grant funding will be available in $100 million increments with targeted priorities, application criteria, and timelines. The contractor will receive a greater percentage of the grant amount in the first payment if municipal taxes due are paid for all the sites identified in the application for the SRP grant.
The first increment of funding will be from May 1 to 31 and grant applications will be accepted for:
- Oil and gas sites needing abandonment or reclamation across Alberta
- Projects that require 100% government funding
- Contracts of up to $30,000 (per application, per closure activity)
The second increment of funding will be from May 15 to June 15 and grant applications will be accepted for:
- Oil and gas sites on land where government is paying compensation to landowners as required under Section 36 of the Surface Rights Act
- Projects that require 100% government funding
- Contracts of up to $30,000 (per application, per closure activity)
The criteria for the third and later increments of funding will be posted as they are developed. Future increments may focus on larger projects with larger contract values.
Contractors will have until December 31, 2022 to complete their work.
Eligibility Requirements
- All oil and gas sites must be located in Alberta and put Albertans to work.
- All laws, regulations, directives, and environmental and occupational health and safety standards, including social distancing and COVID-19 related health guidelines must be followed in carrying out the work.
- Oil field service contractors must get a valid contract with an Alberta oil and gas licensee.
You can view a list of eligible and ineligible activities and costs on page 2 of the Site Rehabilitation Program Overview Fact Sheet.
Program Details & Municipal Taxes
The grant payments will be disbursed according to a specific structure, which specifies higher amounts paid to licensees who have paid municipal taxes in full for sites, and lesser grant amounts to those that have municipal taxes in arrears for sites.
If the licensee has paid the municipal taxes for all sites for the current tax year, the receipts from the municipality must be provided to obtain the initial payment of 30%. If the receipts are not provided, the initial payment will equal 10% of grant amount upon approval for SRP grant application and electronic receipt of the signed SRP grant agreement.
How to Apply
- Read the program guidelines to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria and funding increment requirements in the Site Rehabilitation Program Guidelines.
- Create your Site Rehabilitation Program user account login and password by visiting the Electronic Transfer System.
- Apply Online. Make sure you review the requirements needed in your application on page 6 of the Site Rehabilitation Program Overview Fact Sheet.
Landowners will be able to nominate an inactive site on their land for clean up, starting in mid May. More details on this process will be announced soon.
Any questions can be directed to the Site Rehabilitation Program, Program Design Implementation and Monitoring Section:
Phone: 780.641.9083
Toll free: 1.833.680.9083
Email: Energy.SRP@gov.ab.ca
For enquiries, please contact:
Alex Mochid
Policy Advisor
alex@RMAlberta.com
Tasha Blumenthal
Director of External Relations & Advocacy
tasha@RMAlberta.com