When the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel issues its report in the coming days or weeks, it's expected to include a number of conditions the company must meet in order to proceed with the project.
In April the panel listed 199 potential conditions it could impose on the project. The company and various intervener groups then commented on the appropriateness of the conditions in final oral and written arguments in June.
The potential conditions were grouped by when the need to be accomplished: prior to construction, during construction but prior to commencing operations and during opertations.
Many, if not all, of the conditions the panel will eventually recommend be imposed on the company will come from the draft document.
Some of the potential conditions are incredibly straightforward - the first one calls on the company to abide by all conditions unless directed otherwise by the National Energy Board - and others are much more complex.
The potential conditions cover everything from technical items like the requirements for fracture toughness and leak detection systems to the impact on wildlife - eleven conditions alone deal with caribou.
Many of the conditions stem from the Northern Gateway application itself. For instance, potential condition five says no tanker will be allowed to load or unload at the Kitimat terminal unless all the voluntary safety commitments the company has made like having purpose-built tugboats and adequate training are in place.
If the federal cabinet signs off on the conditions, it will be up to Northern Gateway to abide by them and the responsibility of the National Energy Board to monitor compliance.
