New Canadian legislation aims to bolster rail safety, strengthen oversight

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New Canadian legislation aims to bolster rail safety, strengthen oversight

Rail News: Federal Legislation & Regulation
2/23/2015

In a move aimed at increasing accountability and safety among railroads in Canada, Canadian Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt on Friday introduced new amendments to the Canada Transportation and Railway Safety Acts.

The new legislation covers a wide swath of safety issues, ranging from insurance coverage for accidents to increased transparency in information sharing.

The proposed amendments would require railroads to obtain a minimum level of insurance, ranging from $25 million to $1 billion (in Canadian dollars), depending on the amount of hazardous materials they transport. The amendments would also require crude-oil shippers to pay an additional tax, which would be used to cover the costs of crude-related accidents that exceed minimum insurance requirements. The new liability and compensation regime is based on a "polluter pays" principle, making railroads and shippers responsible for accident costs.

In addition, Raitt’s amendments would provide Transport Canada more authority to enforce new Railway Safety Management Systems regulations that will be published in detail on Feb. 25. The regulatory changes would broaden the powers of inspectors to order railroads and others to take specified measures or stop any activity deemed necessary for safe rail operations, and create new regulation-making powers requiring railroads to share information with municipalities.