Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 149, Number 26: Regulations Amending the Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (Grade Crossings Regulations)

June 27, 2015

Statutory authority

Railway Safety Act

Sponsoring department

Department of Transport

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (AMPs Regulations), which came into force on April 1, 2015, do not contain designated provisions for the recently published Grade Crossings Regulations (GCRs). Amendments are required to close the current enforcement gap, and would complement the existing railway safety oversight regime by providing a full set of compliance and enforcement tools to the Minister of Transport to effectively deal with safety enforcement.

Background

The AMPs Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on October 22, 2014, and included designated provisions for the Railway Safety Act, the 2001 Railway Safety Management System Regulations, the Mining Near Lines of Railways Regulations and the Railway Prevention of Electric Sparks Regulations.

Subsequent amendments to the AMPs Regulations were made following the coming into force of new Railway Safety Act provisions in January 2015 and the coming into force of the Railway Safety Management System Regulations, 2015 in April 2015.

Objectives

The objective of the proposed amendments is to provide the Minister of Transport with the necessary compliance and enforcement tools by expanding the scope of the existing administrative monetary penalties regime to encompass the recently published GCRs.

Description

The proposed amendments would modify Schedule 1 of the AMPs Regulations by adding a new Part 5 that would include the designated provisions for the recently published GCRs.

The schedules prescribe the maximum payable amount for an individual and a company for each violation of a designated provision. There are three distinct maximum payable amounts reflecting the level of significance of each designated provision measured by the seriousness of the consequences or potential consequences of the contravention. The three maximum payable amounts reflect low-risk violations of administrative-type provisions, medium-risk safety violations, and major safety violations that pose the highest risk to safety.

The maximum payable amounts for a violation are as follows:
Column 1
Level of Risk
Column 2
Maximum Payable Amount ($)
Individual
Column 3
Maximum Payable Amount ($)
Corporation
Category A
If violation is low-level risk
5,000 25,000
Category B
If violation is medium-level risk
25,000 125,000
Category C
If violation is high-level risk
50,000 250,000

Examples of designated provisions of the Grade Crossings Regulations and the maximum payable amounts prescribed are as follows:

Under the Act, any person served with a notice of violation may request from the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada (TATC) a review of an alleged violation or the amount of the penalty. The Minister or the person served with a notice of violation may appeal the results of the determination to the TATC for final determination. As the TATC is a quasi-judicial body, its review process is less formal than court proceedings. Thus, an AMP regime is relatively inexpensive to administer within an existing compliance and enforcement program, and it normally results in more timely and effective enforcement than prosecution.

Consultation

Industry has been aware of Transport Canada's intentions to introduce an administrative monetary penalties regime to the Rail Safety Program since the 2007 recommendation of the Railway Safety Act Review Panel Final Report. In October 2014, the initial AMPs Regulations were introduced and subsequently published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on October 22, 2014.

Stakeholders were also informed of the Department's intentions to continually amend the AMPs Regulations to reflect new regulatory requirements at the May 28, 2014, meeting of the Advisory Council on Railway Safety. During February and March 2015, Transport Canada consulted with the following stakeholders on the proposed amendments to the Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations:

As a result of the consultations, Transport Canada received one letter from a municipality that was outside the scope of this regulatory amendment. The municipality acknowledged the overall objective of providing an enforcement tool to improve rail safety. The stakeholder requested that Transport Canada establish a reasonable cost-sharing mechanism to mitigate the additional financial burden of complying with the Grade Crossings Regulations.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative burden.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as no incremental costs will be imposed on small businesses that comply with the Act and its related instruments.

Rationale

The amendments to the AMPs Regulations would address existing gaps in the current AMPs regime by capturing the Grade Crossings Regulations. These amendments complement the existing railway safety oversight regime by providing a full set of compliance and enforcement tools to the Minister of Transport to effectively deal with safety enforcement.

The amendments to the AMPs Regulations benefit the Canadian public by allowing Transport Canada to enforce requirements with respect to the GCRs using an administrative process rather than resorting to prosecution in the courts. Criminal proceedings often result in considerable costs to the federal government and to the individual and/or corporation involved.

All government departments, and more specifically Transport Canada, have adopted what is termed a progressive or graduated approach to the compliance or enforcement activities under their authority. Where AMPs are proposed, they are invariably suggested as a complement or supplement to other compliance and enforcement tools. These amendments expand the application of the Minister of Transport's compliance and enforcement tools, thereby increasing rail safety and public confidence.

The objectives of the Act include the promotion and provision of safety and security to the public and personnel, and the protection of property and the environment, in railway operations; the recognition of the responsibility of companies to demonstrate that they continuously manage risks related to safety matters; and the facilitation of a modern, flexible and efficient regulatory scheme that will ensure the continuing enhancement of railway safety and security.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The proposed Regulations would modify the existing Schedule 1 by adding Part 5 for the designated provisions for the new GCRs, which came into force on November 28, 2014.

To ensure that AMPs with respect to the new Regulations are applied in a fair, impartial, predictable and nationally consistent manner, guidance materials will be developed to align with Rail Safety's existing compliance and enforcement regime. Training will be provided to Rail Safety officials within existing programs. Adding these guidance materials to the existing training program will ensure that departmental officials take a standard approach in similar circumstances to achieve consistent results.

Contact

Any questions related to the amendments to the Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations should be directed to

Susan Archer
Director
Regulatory Affairs
Transport Canada
Telephone: 613-990-8690
Email: susan.archer@tc.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 40.1 (see footnote a) of the Railway Safety Act (see footnote b), proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (Grade Crossings Regulations).

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must be in writing and cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Susan Archer, Director, Regulatory Affairs, Rail Safety, Department of Transport, Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5 (tel.: 613-990-8690; fax: 613-990-7767; email: susan.archer@tc.gc.ca).

Ottawa, June 16, 2015

JURICA ČAPKUN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE RAILWAY SAFETY ADMINISTRATIVE MONETARY PENALTIES REGULATIONS (GRADE CROSSINGS REGULATIONS)

AMENDMENT

1. Schedule 1 to the Railway Safety Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations (see footnote 1) is amended by adding the following after Part 4:

PART 5

DESIGNATED PROVISIONS OF THE GRADE CROSSINGS REGULATIONS
Item

Column 1

Designated Provision

Column 2

Maximum Amount Payable ($)
Individual

Column 3

Maximum Amount Payable ($)
Corporation

1. Sections 4 and 11 5,000 25,000
2. Sections 5 and 11 25,000 125,000
3. Sections 6 and 11 50,000 250,000
4. Sections 8 and 11 5,000 25,000
5. Sections 9 and 11 50,000 250,000
6. Section 10 5,000 25,000
7. Sections 12 and 18 5,000 25,000
8. Sections 13 and 18 25,000 125,000
9. Sections 14 and 18 50,000 250,000
10. Sections 15 and 18 25,000 125,000
11. Section 17 5,000 25,000
12. Subsection 20(1) 50,000 250,000
13. Subsection 20(2) 50,000 250,000
14. Subsection 20(3) 50,000 250,000
15. Subsections 21(1) and (4) 50,000 250,000
16. Subsections 21(2) and (4) 25,000 125,000
17. Subsections 21(3) and (4) 50,000 250,000
18. Section 23 50,000 250,000
19. Section 24 50,000 250,000
20. Section 25 50,000 250,000
21. Section 26 50,000 250,000
22. Section 27 50,000 250,000
23. Section 28 50,000 250,000
24. Section 29 50,000 250,000
25. Section 31 25,000 125,000
26. Section 32 50,000 250,000
27. Section 33 50,000 250,000
28. Section 34 25,000 125,000
29. Section 35 50,000 250,000
30. Section 36 50,000 250,000
31. Section 38 25,000 125,000
32. Section 39 25,000 125,000
33. Subsection 40(1) 50,000 250,000
34. Subsection 40(2) 50,000 250,000
35. Section 41 50,000 250,000
36. Subsection 42(1) 50,000 250,000
37. Subsection 42(2) 25,000 125,000
38. Subsection 43(1) 50,000 250,000
39. Subsection 43(2) 25,000 125,000
40. Subsection 44(1) 50,000 250,000
41. Subsection 45(1) 50,000 250,000
42. Subsection 45(2) 50,000 250,000
43. Section 46 50,000 250,000
44. Section 48 25,000 125,000
45. Section 49 50,000 250,000
46. Subsection 50(1) 50,000 250,000
47. Subsection 50(2) 25,000 125,000
48. Subsection 51(1) 50,000 250,000
49. Subsection 51(2) 25,000 125,000
50. Subsection 53(1) 50,000 250,000
51. Subsection 53(2) 50,000 250,000
52. Subsection 53(3) 50,000 250,000
53. Section 54 50,000 250,000
54. Subsection 55(1) 50,000 250,000
55. Subsection 55(2) 50,000 250,000
56. Section 56 50,000 250,000
57. Section 57 50,000 250,000
58. Section 58 50,000 250,000
59. Sections 59 and 60 25,000 125,000
60. Sections 59 and 61 50,000 250,000
61. Sections 59 and 62 25,000 125,000
62. Sections 59 and 63 25,000 125,000
63. Section 59 and subsection 64(1) 50,000 250,000
64. Section 59 and subsection 64(2) 50,000 250,000
65. Sections 59 and 65 50,000 250,000
66. Section 59 and subsection 66(1) 50,000 250,000
67. Section 59 and subsection 66(2) 25,000 125,000
68. Section 59 and subsection 67(1) 50,000 250,000
69. Section 59 and subsection 67(2) 25,000 125,000
70. Section 59 and subsection 68(1) 50,000 250,000
71. Section 59 and subsection 68(2) 50,000 250,000
72. Sections 59 and 69 50,000 250,000
73. Sections 59 and 70 50,000 250,000
74. Sections 59 and 71 50,000 250,000
75. Section 72 50,000 250,000
76. Section 73 50,000 250,000
77. Sections 74 and 76 25,000 125,000
78. Sections 74 and 77 50,000 250,000
79. Sections 74 and 78 50,000 250,000
80. Sections 74 and 79 50,000 250,000
81. Section 74 and subsection 80(1) 50,000 250,000
82. Section 74 and subsection 80(2) 25,000 125,000
83. Section 74 and subsection 81(1) 50,000 250,000
84. Section 74 and subsection 81(2) 50,000 250,000
85. Section 75 and subsection 82(1) 50,000 250,000
86. Section 75 and subsection 82(2) 50,000 250,000
87. Sections 75 and 83 50,000 250,000
88. Sections 75 and 84 50,000 250,000
89. Sections 75 and 85 50,000 250,000
90. Section 86 50,000 250,000
91. Subsection 87(1) 50,000 250,000
92. Subsection 87(2) 50,000 250,000
93. Subsection 87(3) 50,000 250,000
94. Subsection 88(1) 50,000 250,000
95. Subsection 88(2) 50,000 250,000
96. Section 89 50,000 250,000
97. Section 90 50,000 250,000
98. Section 91 50,000 250,000
99. Section 92 25,000 125,000
100. Subsection 93(1) 5,000 25,000
101. Subsection 93(2) 50,000 250,000
102. Subsection 93(3) 25,000 125,000
103. Subsection 94(1) 50,000 250,000
104. Subsection 94(2) 50,000 250,000
105. Subsection 94(3) 25,000 125,000
106. Section 95 50,000 250,000
107. Subsection 96(1) 50,000 250,000
108. Subsection 96(2) 50,000 250,000
109. Subsection 96(3) 25,000 125,000
110. Subsection 97(1) 25,000 125,000
111. Subsection 97(2) 50,000 250,000
112. Subsection 98(1) 5,000 25,000
113. Subsection 98(2) 5,000 25,000
114. Subsection 98(3) 5,000 25,000
115. Subsection 98(4) 5,000 25,000
116. Section 99 50,000 250,000
117. Subsection 100(1) 50,000 250,000
118. Subsection 100(2) 50,000 250,000
119. Section 101 50,000 250,000
120. Subsection 102(1) 50,000 250,000
121. Subsection 102(2) 50,000 250,000
122. Paragraph 103(a) 50,000 250,000
123. Paragraph 103(b) 50,000 250,000
124. Paragraph 103(c) 50,000 250,000
125. Paragraph 103(d) 25,000 125,000
126. Section 105 50,000 250,000
127. Section 106 50,000 250,000
128. Section 107 50,000 250,000
129. Section 108 5,000 25,000
130. Subsection 109(1) 5,000 25,000
131. Subsection 109(2) 5,000 25,000
132. Subsection 109(3) 5,000 25,000
133. Subsection 110(1) 25,000 125,000
134. Subsection 110(2) 5,000 25,000

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

[26-1-o]