Alan Harvie

Senior Partner, Canadian Head of Environmental Law
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP


Biography

Alan Harvie has practised energy and environmental/regulatory law since 1989 and regularly deals with commercial, operational, environmental and regulatory issues, especially for the upstream and midstream oil and gas, conventional energy, renewable energy, waste disposal and chemical industries. He is the Canadian head of our environmental law practice and a member of our energy and environmental departments.

Alan also has significant legal experience acting for the oil and gas industry in commercial transactions and regulatory matters, including enforcement proceedings, common carrier and processor applications, forced poolings, downspacings and holdings, rateable take, and contested facility, well and pipeline applications. He has also dealt extensively with commercial, environmental and regulatory issues concerning thermal and renewable power plants, electrical transmission and distribution lines, tourism and recreation projects, forestry, mining, agriculture, commercial real estate, industrial facilities, sewage plants, hazardous waste landfills and treatment facilities, transportation of dangerous goods and water storage reservoirs.

He regularly advises clients about environmental assessments and permitting, spill response, enforcement proceedings, contaminated site remediation, facility decommissioning and reclamation, chemical compliance (DSL, NDSL, MSDS and HMIRC), nuclear licensing, crude-by-rail projects and product recycling and stewardship requirements.

Alan has appeared before the Alberta Courts, the Alberta Energy Regulator, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Natural Resources Conservation Board, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board, the Municipal Government Board and various other environmental, regulatory and municipal bodies. He assisted the government of British Columbia in reforming the regulation of oil and gas activities in the province, and advised regulatory authorities in Colombia on developing rules for the exploration and development of coal bed methane resources.

He has led environmental and regulatory legal due diligence teams on a significant number of merger and acquisition, commercial, securities and financing projects involving large natural resource industry players. Alan has a comprehensive understanding of regulatory and tenure systems governing the development of Canada's vast oil sands deposits.

He has significant practical experience in carbon capture and storage, and worked on a number of carbon emission reduction and credit trading projects, including methane reduction, landfill gas capture, energy efficiency and agricultural and forestry offset projects.

Alan has been involved with regulatory and policy issues concerning water rights in Alberta for over 30 years. He has successfully completed projects involving the trading of water rights, worked with ecological and hydrological experts on instream flow assessments and participated in major irrigation and hydropower projects. He has a deep understanding of water resources laws and Fisheries Act issues, including enforcement proceedings.


Professional experience

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LL.B., University of Wales, 1988
B.A., University of Alberta, 1984

  • Alberta 1989

Matters in which Alan has recently acted include:

  • Environmental counsel to NorthRiver Midstream, a unit of Brookfield Infrastructure, in the $4.3 billion purchase of Enbridge's Canadian natural gas gathering and processing business consisting of 19 sweet and sour gas processing plants and liquids handling facilities and 3,550 km of gas-gathering pipelines.
  • Environmental counsel to Enbridge Income Fund in the $30.4 billion acquisition of the Enbridge Mainline, Athabasca System, associated terminals and Blackspring Ridge wind project from Enbridge Inc.
  • Counsel to a special committee of the trustees of Enbridge Commercial Trust on a C$1.16 billion acquisition of crude oil storage and renewable power generation assets from Enbridge Inc. and a C$1.76 billion acquisition of international natural gas and diluents pipelines from Enbridge Inc.

 

  • Best Lawyers in Canada: Environmental Law, 2006-2025; Energy, 2015-2025 
  • Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2011-2024: recommended in Environmental Law; 2023-2024: recommended in Energy (Oil & Gas)
  • Chambers Canada, Nationwide: Environment, Chambers and Partners, 2016-2023 
  • Chambers Global, Canada: Environment, Chambers and Partners, 2016-2023
  • Acritas Stars 2019-2021 – Designated as an "Independently rated lawyer"
  • Who's Who Legal: Canada - Climate Change, Environment 2011-2020, 2024
  • The International Who's Who of Environment Lawyers, 2011-2013, 2017-2019
  • Acritas Stars 2018 Designated as a "Star" lawyer by a panel of over 4,300 clients
  • The Legal 500 Canada, 2016: Environment
  • LC Which Lawyer? 2011 (Canada) in the area of Environment
  • Canadian Bar Association – Alberta branch
  • Alberta Regional Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada – Governance Committee
  • Law Society of Alberta
  • Member & past chair, Canadian Bar Association Environmental Law Subsection
  • Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation 
  • International Emissions Trading Association
  • Petroleum Joint Venture Association
  • Founding director, Western Sky Land Trust Society
  • Former president, Trout Unlimited Canada