REVIEW OF THE CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION SAFETY REGIME: TRANSPORTATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Larry Miller Chair MARCH 2015 41st PARLIAMENT, SECOND SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca REVIEW OF THE CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION SAFETY REGIME: TRANSPORTATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Larry Miller Chair MARCH 2015 41st PARLIAMENT, SECOND SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITIES CHAIR Larry Miller VICE-CHAIRS Hoang Mai David J. McGuinty MEMBERS Peter Braid Jeff Watson Ed Komarnicki Wai Young Isabelle Morin David Yurdiga Mike Sullivan OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Hon. Diane Ablonczy Hon. Laurie Hawn Dan Albas Hélène Laverdière Harold Albecht Pierre Lemieux Stella Ambler Chungsen Leung Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet Colin Mayes Denis Blanchette Massimo Pacetti Tarik Brahmi Pat Perkins Olivia Chow Jinny Jogindera Sims Rob Clarke Andrew Saxton Jean Crowder Peter Stoffer Anne-Marie Day Lawrence Toet Ted Falk Dave Van Kesteren Jonathan Genest-Jourdain John Weston Dan Harris Bob Zimmer iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Philippe Grenier-Michaud LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Zachary Alaoui, Analyst Allison Padova, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITIES has the honour to present its FOURTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied the Canadian transportation safety regime: transportation of dangerous goods and safety management systems and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 TRANSPORTATION OF DANGEROUS GOODS ........................................................... 1 A. Multi-modal legislative framework, enforcement and emergency response ........... 2 B. Rail transportation .................................................................................................. 3 1. Legislative framework ........................................................................................ 4 2. Means of containment ........................................................................................ 7 3. Route planning ................................................................................................... 9 4. Train speed ........................................................................................................ 9 5. Liability regime ................................................................................................. 10 6. Other issues related to the transportation of dangerous goods by rail ............. 13 C. Air Transportation ................................................................................................ 14 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 14 2. Consolidation of exempted dangerous goods .................................................. 14 3. Self-declaration and screening in the North ..................................................... 15 D. Marine Transportation .......................................................................................... 15 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 16 2. Liability regime ................................................................................................. 17 3. Memberships with response organizations ...................................................... 17 4. National risk-based response planning and exercise regime ........................... 18 5. Arctic navigation charts .................................................................................... 18 6. Clarity of regulations ........................................................................................ 19 7. Voluntary declarations ..................................................................................... 19 E. Transportation of Dangerous Goods by Truck ..................................................... 19 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 19 2. Driver training .................................................................................................. 20 3. Electronic logbooks and other technology ....................................................... 20 4. Shipper responsibility ....................................................................................... 21 SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ............................................................................ 22 A. Rail Transportation ............................................................................................... 22 vii 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 23 2. Oversight and enforcement .............................................................................. 24 3. Safety culture ................................................................................................... 27 4. On-board voice and video recordings .............................................................. 28 5. Grade Crossings .............................................................................................. 28 B. Air Transportation ................................................................................................. 29 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 29 2. Oversight and enforcement .............................................................................. 32 3. Safety culture ................................................................................................... 36 4. Flight attendant ratio ........................................................................................ 36 C. Marine Transportation .......................................................................................... 37 1. Legislative framework ...................................................................................... 37 2. Oversight and enforcement .............................................................................. 38 D. Road Transportation ............................................................................................ 40 1. Legislative framework and enforcement .......................................................... 40 2. Trucking industry initiatives .............................................................................. 41 3. Other risk management tools ........................................................................... 42 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................. 43 END NOTES ................................................................................................................. 45 APPENDIX A: RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 2013 FALL REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL OF CANADA – CHAPTER 7 – OVERSIGHT OF RAIL SAFETY – TRANSPORT CANADA .............................................................................. 57 APPENDIX B: LIST OF WITNESSES ........................................................................... 59 APPENDIX C: LIST OF BRIEFS ................................................................................... 65 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............................................................. 67 SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ... 69 viii INTRODUCTION In Canada, the transportation system is generally considered to be very safe. Even for shipments of toxic or flammable products,