Even though it’s been nearly 6 years since the debacle on new coal mining in the Eastern Slopes started – the shadow of coal over the region in Alberta has not gone away.
See below for CPAWS Northern Alberta’s abbreviated on new coal exploration and development in Alberta.
2020
May 15 2020
On Friday afternoon of the May long weekend, the Minister of Environment and Parks announced that the Government of Alberta was rescinding the 1976 Coal Policy, with no public consultation, effective June 1st.
June 1 2020
The 1976 Coal Policy is officially terminated, opening 1.5 million hectares of sensitive lands within the headwaters of Alberta’s major watersheds for potential coal exploration and development. No land-use management plan is put in its place.
July 15 – September 15 2020
Applications are approved and leases are granted for 240,000 hectares of sensitive, former Category 2 lands on the Eastern Slopes. Over 100,000 ha of lease applications are granted in Clearwater County (specifically in the Bighorn Backcountry) where the source waters for the City of Edmonton, and much of central Alberta and Saskatchewan come from.
December 2020
New leases are issued adjacent to the popular recreation destinations of Goldeye Lake, Fish Lake, and Crescent Falls. Eleven new leases are sold to Montem Resources and Benga Mining Ltd.
2021
January 18 2021
The Government of Alberta pauses sales in former Category 2 lands and cancels the 11 recent coal leases from the December 2020 auction – however, these leases account for only 0.2% of the area that had already been leased.
February 8 2021
The policy is reinstated, but the damage is done. The 1976 Coal policy is reinstated, but all leases issued since June 1, 2020, remain in place (other than the 11 cancelled in January). Category 3 and 4 lands of the Eastern Slopes remain open for coal exploration and development.
March 2021
CPAWS launches a letter campaign and over 11 000 letters were sent. CPAWS and others call for a complete halt to ALL coal exploration in the region until Albertans decide the future of these landscapes. CPAWS creates a letter-writing tool to help others demand a complete stop as well.
March – April 2021
The Government of Alberta appoints the Coal Policy Committee and launches a consultation. CPAWS Survey reveals that 76% of Albertans are in favour of more protections for nature and recreation in the Eastern Slopes. The Government of Alberta launches an online survey for public engagement on the next steps of coal development. The survey reveals that 90% of the nearly 25 000 respondents feel there are areas that are NOT appropriate for coal exploration and development.
A Coal Policy Committee is formed by the Government of Alberta to lead a consultation process. CPAWS, among others, is invited to present to the committee and prepare a formal submission.
December 2021
The Coal Policy Committee recommendation reports are delayed. The Coal Policy Committee was tasked with preparing two reports: one would summarize what they heard from stakeholders and the other, their recommendations on how to proceed with coal in the province to the Government of Alberta. The anticipated deadline for these reports was December 2021 but was delayed until 2022.
2022
March 2022
Reports from the Coal Policy Committee are released and we have a temporary win for coal. The Government of Alberta releases the reports from the Coal Policy Committee. Most of the feedback to the committee is firmly against new coal mine development. The committee’s recommendations include the development of a new modernized coal policy that considers cumulative effects, that all leases issued after the rescission of the 1976 coal policy (June 2020) be revoked, and that no new coal mine exploration or development be allowed on lands without a land use plan. (Spoiler: there are no land use plans in Alberta’s eastern slopes that address coal)
As a result of these recommendations, Albertans got temporary relief from the threat of coal. The Minister of Energy announced a moratorium on all coal exploration and development across the Eastern Slopes in all four coal categories, including categories that were previously open to coal development in the 1976 Coal Policy, until the completion of regional land use planning.
Four ‘advanced’ proposals – Grassy Mountain, Tent Mountain, Vista Expansion and Mine 14 were exempted from these restrictions. Meaning, there are avenues through which coal could proceed in the province
September 2022 – December 2022
Environment and Climate Change Canada started the process of developing coal mining effluent regulations (CMER) that would manage the effluent — liquid industrial waste — for all existing and future coal mines in Canada. The last draft of these regulations set effluent limits based on industry’s technical and economic feasibility rather than what is safe for freshwater ecosystems – placing further doubt on the future of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
Over 3000 letters were sent urging for regulations and effluent release standards that would be based on what was environmentally safe and not based on what companies could achieve.
2023
July 2023
Summit Coal Inc. hosts an open house for its Mine 14 Project located near Grande Cache. Locals are concerned about environmental impacts and risks to a budding tourism industry in the region.
August 2023
Controversial Grassy Mountain project receives an exemption from the Alberta Energy Regulator despite the fact it was rejected in 2021.
2024
December 2024
The Government of Alberta announces it would be developing the Coal Industry Modenization Initiative (CIMI) to be led by industry. The 1976 Coal Policy would remain in place until the initiative is finalized.
2025
January 2025
The Alberta Minister of Energy and Minerals directs the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to remove the moratorium on coal mine development and exploration that has been in place since early 2022.
Nearly 188,000 hectares of leases could see exploration and development as early as spring 2025. Protests are seen across Alberta.
April 2025
CPAWS Northern Alberta, among other groups, are granted full participation in an upcoming Alberta Energy Regulator hearing on Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14 project.
June 2025
The Government of Alberta hosts a town hall in Fort Macleod, Alberta packed with Albertans opposed to coal development.
CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta polling reveals that only 10% of Albertans support the Government of Alberta’s choice to go back on protections against coal development in the face of legal challenges.
July 2025
Alberta taxpayers are on the hook for a $143 million settlement with Atrum Coal Inc. The company sued the Government of Alberta in response to the coal moratorium set in 2022.
More unecessary payments are anticipated, for the government’s flip flopping on restrictions, as other legal disputes are resolved.
August 2025
The CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator cancelled the public hearing for Mine 14, an underground metallurgical coal mine near Grande Cache, proposed by Summit Coal Inc.
September 2025
CPAWS Northern Alberta and Alberta Wilderness Association seek permission from the Alberta Court of Appeal to challenge CEO Rob Morgan’s unprecedented and unilateral decision to cancel a public hearing for Summit Coal Inc’s proposed Mine 14.
The Regulatory Applications branch of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) issues approvals for Summit Coal’s Mine 14 Applications.
November 6, 2025
CPAWS Northern Alberta and Alberta Wilderness Association are in court (Alberta Court of Appeal) to request permission for their appeal to proceed.
November 19, 2025
Country Artist Corb Lund submits an application for a citizen-led petition to prohibit coal mining in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.
November 25, 2025
Permission to appeal was granted on all grounds presented by AWA and CPAWS Northern Alberta, which argued that the CEO of the AER acted unlawfully.
The next step will be an official hearing to prove there has been an error of law, where the court will hear arguments and review the evidence provided.
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