Alberta’s vitality regulator says it is going to settle for an software and open hearings right into a controversial open-pit coal mine on the southern slopes of the province’s Rocky Mountains.
In a letter dated Thursday, the Alberta Power Regulator says it has determined the Grassy Mountain proposal needs to be thought-about a complicated mission and be exempt from a ministerial order banning coal improvement alongside the province’s japanese slopes.
The letter says the regulator reached the choice after receiving a observe from Power Minister Brian Jean suggesting the mission falls into the exempt class.
It says the applying will go earlier than a public listening to, though it doesn’t set out the principles for that listening to or who will likely be eligible to look earlier than it.
The Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal mission close to Crowsnest Move has been earlier than regulators for years and was denied permits by each the Alberta and federal governments in 2021 after a prolonged environmental evaluation.
Proponent Benga Mining, now named Northback, misplaced an enchantment of that call in Alberta’s prime court docket and the Supreme Courtroom of Canada declined to rethink it.
Northback has utilized for exploration and water diversion licences.
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