Why is the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) being Amended?
The Government of Alberta approved the Bistcho Lake and Cold Lake sub-regional plans in 2022 following public, stakeholder and Indigenous communities and organizations engagement on them. These approved plans guide proponents and decision-makers for development and operational decisions within the sub-region, including where industry and other activities are located, while also supporting conservation, Indigenous use and recreation.
Click below for the sub-regional plans:
Regulatory details have now been developed to implement the sub-regional plans' approved directions to provide the rules in legal language for enforcing policy direction. The Government of Alberta intends to implement the regulatory details by incorporating them into the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) as Parts 9 and 10.
The Bistcho Lake sub-region is located in the Lower Peace Region, and at this time does not have a regional plan. For this reason, the Government of Alberta proposes to incorporate the regulatory details of the Bistcho Lake Sub-Regional Plan in amendments to the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan as an interim step until the Lower Peace Regional Plan comes into effect and can incorporate the regulatory details. The Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) allows a regional plan to “manage an activity, effect, cause of an effect or person outside a planning region until a regional plan comes into force with respect to the matter or person."
This is an opportunity for Albertans to provide feedback on the amendments to the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan that enable implementation and enforcement of the Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake sub-regional plans, specifically:
The draft regulatory details for Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake sub-regional plans to be incorporated as parts 9 and 10 of LARP.
Amendments to LARP associated with implementing the sub-regional plans, such as designating Ministers responsible for sections of the regulatory details, establishing compliance declaration submission dates, and other clarifications.
The amendments to LARP solely consist of changes to enable implementation and enforcement of the sub-regional plans.
Consultation and engagement conducted in development of the approved Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake Sub-regional Plans will be considered as part of this LARP amendment consultation process.
The Alberta Land Stewardship Act establishes the legal basis for regional plans, and has a statutory requirement for consulting and engaging on amendments to the LARP. In developing or amending a regional plan, the Government of Alberta recognizes that section 35 consultation under the Constitution Act should take place on matters that impact treaty or constitutionally protected rights of First Nations in accordance with Alberta's policies and guidelines on consultation with First Nations, Metis Settlements and Credibly Asserted Metis Communities.
The Act also requires that holders of statutory consents expressly identified by proposed regulatory details are notified and provided the opportunity to propose alternate means to achieve the policy outcomes of the subregional plans rather than as provisions in LARP.
How did Albertans participate?
Albertans completed the online surveys on the Bistcho Lake Sub-regional Plan engagement and Cold Lake Sub-regional Plan engagement pages between May 8 and July 8, 2024 to inform the completion of the regulatory details of the Bistcho Lake and Cold Lake Sub-regional plans and amendments to the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan.
Albertans were also invited to attend virtual information sessions on May 15 and May 23, 2024 to learn about the regulatory details and Lower Athabasca Regional Plan amendments required to fully implement them.
Indigenous engagement: We worked directly with Indigenous communities and organizations throughout the Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake sub-regional plan areas to ensure their perspectives were heard and explored.
Stakeholder engagement: We informed stakeholders, including holders of expressly identified statutory consents, within the Cold Lake and Bistcho Lake sub-regional plan areas of opportunities to provide feedback.
If you have questions regarding the Bistcho Lake and Cold Lake Sub-regional Plan engagement:
Email SRPRegDetailsLARP@gov.ab.ca
Whats Next?
The engagement results are under review. Updates on the status of the amendments will be posted here, as well as to the engagement pages identified above.
