National Energy Board orders pipeline firms to post emergency manuals online

Canada's energy watchdog is ordering pipeline companies to post their emergency response plans on websites.

The National Energy Board believes it's the first regulator in North America to have that requirement.

Emergency procedures manuals must be available online by the end of September.

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Some information may be excluded, such as personal information and details that may jeopardize security or harm traditional indigenous sites or at-risk species.

Board chairman Peter Watson has been travelling the country discussing the role of a regulator that at one time flew under the radar of most Canadians.

But Watson says the public is demanding more transparency as the debate intensifies over pipelines and the development of the oil and gas they carry.