Senate Committee report calls for major arm’s length review
of the country’s railway systems to enhance safe transport
of dangerous goods
Ottawa – (Aug 22 2013) In its latest report, the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources is calling on the federal government to initiate a major arm’s-length review of the country’s railway regulatory framework, standards and industry practices to meaningfully advance the safe transportation of dangerous goods by rail in Canada. The report entitled Moving Energy Safely: A Study of the Safe Transport of Hydrocarbons by Pipelines, Tankers and Railcars in Canada provides 13 recommendations related to energy transport by transmission pipelines, tankers and railcars.
“The goal of our study was to examine the current state of emergency and spill prevention, preparedness and response frameworks under federal authority and to make recommendations to improve public safety and the protection of the environment,” said Senator Richard Neufeld, chair of the committee. “We’ve been working on these issues for the last nine months and the shocking Lac-Mégantic rail disaster has only intensified the need to address hydrocarbon transportation safety. In the years ahead, hydrocarbon production will continue to grow and so will transport capacity. That’s why we believe Canadians need to know more about what the federal government has in place to protect citizens and the environment, and what more can be done to enhance current practices.”
The report calls on Transport Canada to implement all the recommendations from the December 2011 report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development related to the transport of dangerous goods. Additionally it recommends Transport Canada, in cooperation with its U.S regulatory counterpart to find ways to accelerate the phase-out of the CTC-111A and DOT-111 tank cars. Finally the report calls on Transport Canada to apply minimum liability coverage thresholds to rail companies to ensure they have the financial capacity to cover damages caused by a major accident.
Five recommendations in the report relate to marine spill response, including a proposal that the federal government provide umbrella responder immunity protection to Canadian marine response organizations for all non-ship source spills including marine spills from pipelines, trains and trucks.
“Transportation systems operate within a highly regulated environment. There are extensive regulatory frameworks, management systems, standards and practices all serving to promote safety,” said Senator Grant Mitchell, deputy chair of the committee. “We heard a lot of testimony which should give Canadians confidence, but the reality is that the transportation of hydrocarbons can never be completely without risk. It is my hope that at the very least, Lac-Mégantic can invoke an Exxon Valdez response, where we carefully and thoroughly examine what went wrong so that any improvements that need to be made, can be made quickly."
The committee launched its study November 28, 2012 and during the course of its work, held 18 hearings and heard from 51 witnesses consisting of government officials, industry representatives, spill response organizations, environmental organizations, landowners and other stakeholders. Committee members conducted site visits in Calgary, Sarnia, Hamilton, Saint John, Point Tupper, Dartmouth, Vancouver; Blaine and Seattle, Washington, and Valdez and Anchorage, Alaska, to learn first-hand about the existing transportation safety frameworks applied in those regions.
Follow the committee on Twitter: @SenateCA and use the hashtag #ENEV