CEPA Integrity First®

CEPA Integrity First® Program is a management system approach that enables CEPA members to strengthen the pipeline industry’s performance, communication and engagement by jointly developing and individually applying common practices and messages.

We have identified performance indicators that fall under three broad categories: safety, environment and socio-economic issues.

Safety

Environment

Socio-Economic
Employee Safety: training, risk management and mitigation

Pipeline Integrity: system reliability, design and monitoring, risk management and mitigation

Damage Prevention: all interference causing damage to pipelines

Emergency Management: preparedness, response and reclamation

 Land Management: short and long-term impacts to land

Air Emissions: releases from transmission systems and ambient air quality

Climate Change: emissions, adaptation and product impact

Water Impacts: watershed disruption, water crossings, and water quality

Wildlife: habitat disruption, impacts to species and mitigation

Noise: noise impacts of operations

 Land Use and Access: rights, land access, sites/routes, landowner relations

Economic Benefits: local business and employment, community investment, taxes paid, contribution to national and regional economies

Aboriginal Relations: legal and constitutional rights, agreements, and economic development

Workforce: attraction, recruitment, retention and competency

The intent of the program is to advance the performance of our industry in all three areas identified above. However, the initial focus of the program is on Pipeline Integrity and Emergency Management.

Pipeline Integrity involves practices and processes that pipeline operators undertake in order to ensure that crude oil and natural gas is transported safely and within the intended operating parameters.

Emergency Management is the ability for a pipeline operator to respond to an emergency situation using a comprehensive and systematic emergency response plan.  

In both these areas, CEPA will facilitate the collective review of our member companies’ integrity management programs and emergency response plans. Our intention is to define a common set of requirements that will be adhered to by our member companies on a consistent and ongoing basis. In doing so, it will provide increased transparency to the public through industry-wide performance tracking and reporting.

Guiding Principles of the Program

  • We will meet our goal by employing leading practices, sharing and implementing lessons learned and tracking and reporting on our industry’s performance.
  • We will engage our stakeholders to understand their interest and build credibility, confidence and trust in CEPA and its member companies.
  • We will build public understanding of the role and value of the industry and its performance to Canadians.
  • We will report publically on the progress of CEPA Integrity First®, the performance of our member companies and the adoption of improved management practices.

Our Governance Structure

The work involved in the CEPA Integrity First® program is governed by CEPA’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors sets the priorities of the program and communicates those priorities through the respective Standing Committees. The Standing Committee  provides direction to Work Groups, who are made up of subject-matter experts from our member companies. In addition, CEPA has created two task forces, Emergency Response and Pipeline Integrity. These task forces will provide support to the Board of Directors.

Governance structure map

What’s happening in 2012?

CEPA’s working groups are focused on  prevention and emergency response. More specifically, they will work on:

  • establishing CEPA policies for community safety, environmental performance and socio-economic costs/benefits to the industry
  • developing an industry-wide set of management practices to improve pipeline safety focussed on prevention and emergency response

CEPA’s task forces will be prioritizing and identifying initiatives, as quickly as possible, at the Board of Directors level  that support emergency response and pipeline integrity

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