Want to know what safety standards apply to the pipelines through your property? - The new CSA standard is yours for only $765!

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is releasing its updated Z662 Standard for Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems.  The National Energy Board (NEB) incorporates these standards by reference into its regulations, meaning that the CSA standards are the rules by which federally-regulated pipeline companies must operate.  The catch is that the standards themselves are protected by copyright.  The NEB doesn't reproduce the standards in its regulations.  If a landowner wants to know exactly what the rules are that apply to the pipelines on his or her land, it's a matter of purchasing the Standard directly from CSA at a cost of $765. 

The NEB sent a letter out to the pipeline industry on July 14, 2011 putting it on notice of the coming changes.  Of course, the information bulletin enclosed with the letter advises that the CSA changes took place as of July 8, 2011 - "the date of publication and release to the general public".  The NEB must have meant "release to the general public at a cost of $765".