An order from Alberta's Energy Minister has returned Alberta to its 1976 coal policy.
A Ministerial Order from January 16 rescinds three previous orders, including a 2022 order to refuse all new coal exploration applications and suspend all approvals.
Energy Minister Brian Jean's order to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which was released on Jan. 20, directs it to strip back restrictions on coal exploration and development to those specified in A Coal Development Policy for Alberta from 1976.
The 1976 policy divides Alberta land into four categories, each with different rules around what level of coal exploration is allowed.
The order directs the AER to apply the restrictions laid out in the 1976 policy "with consideration of the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative policy guidance," which was released in December of 2024.
According to the Province, the Alberta Coal Industry Modernization Initiative (CIMI) will ban new open-pit mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies, prohibit mountaintop removal coal mining, and guide responsible mining practices to keep selenium out of the water.
The CIMI received criticism from many critics of the Province's approach to coal, including NDP leader Naheed Nenshi.
"Just before Christmas [the UCP] announced a new coal policy, which sounds good, it sounds like they're looking after the environment, but the first line of that policy is 'We need to increase our royalties from coal,' in other words, 'We need to mine more coal.' There's a lot of coal in a lot of places of the world, there are not a lot of places like the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in the world," Nenshi said in a video released on Jan. 16.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) for Northern and Southern Alberta was quick to respond to the Ministerial Order, issuing a press release condemning the decision.
According to CPAWS, the order will reopen 188,000 hectares of coal leases on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies. Their concerns over coal mining on the Eastern Slopes include the amount of water used during mining processes, the potential destruction of habitats, and the risk of leaching contaminants into water sources.
The provincial government has yet to release a public statement on the order.