Vol. 142, No. 16 — April 19, 2008

ARCHIVED —  

ARCHIVED — Environmental Response Arrangements Regulations

Statutory authority

Canada Shipping Act, 2001

Sponsoring department

Department of Transport

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

The proposed Environmental Response Arrangements Regulations (the Regulations) are being introduced under paragraph 182(a) of the new Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (CSA 2001) and maintain the regime that was codified in the former Canada Shipping Act (CSA).

Response to discharges of oil into Canadian waters is addressed by four private sector response organizations and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), to which the Minister of Transport has issued certificates of designation to respond to such discharge in waters south of the 60th parallel north of latitude. The four response organizations are the Point Tupper Marine Services Company, the Atlantic Emergency Response Team Inc., the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation and the Eastern Canada Response Corporation Ltd. The CCG responds to discharges of oil into waters north of the 60th parallel north of latitude.

The proposed Regulations contribute to ensuring that the marine environment is protected from the effects of a vessel or an oil handling facility discharge of oil by providing a mechanism to maintain a state of preparedness and a response capability to discharge. In that respect, the CSA 2001 provides that prescribed vessels and oil handling facilities are required to have arrangements with a response organization to contain, clean, and monitor a discharge of oil on their behalf, and the vessels and facilities pay the response organization fees as provided for in section 170 of the CSA 2001. Under the CSA 2001, the vessels and the oil handling facilities to which these obligations apply must be prescribed. Given the vastness of the northern geography, the costs to maintain a state of preparedness and response capability through private enterprise resources is cost prohibitive to the users. Consequently, the service is provided through the CCG and is financed through general revenues.

The proposed Regulations prescribe the classes of vessels that are required to have an arrangement with a response organization: oil tankers of 150 gross tonnage or more, vessels of 400 gross tonnage or more that carry oil as fuel or cargo, and vessels that are pushed or towed together with an aggregate of gross tonnage of 150 or more and carry oil as cargo.

Pleasure crafts of any size are excluded from these classes, as well as foreign vessels when in transit through the territorial sea of Canada or the exclusive economic zone of Canada, if they are not engaged in the loading or unloading of oil during transit.

Since the CCG responds to discharges of oil in waters north of the 60th parallel north of latitude, vessels in those waters are also excluded from the obligation to have arrangements with a response organization. The proposed Regulations also prescribe the class of oil handling facilities that are required to have an arrangement with a response organization as those that receive 100 tonnes or more of oil during a period of 365 days.

An exclusion is also provided for oil handling facilities located at or south of the 60th parallel north of latitude that have received less than 400 tonnes of oil during the preceding 365 days and all oil handling facilities that are located north of the 60th parallel north of latitude.

The proposed Regulations will replicate those provisions from the repealed CSA concerning the maximum quantity of oil for the purpose that would be subject to mandatory arrangements with response organizations to be 10 000 tonnes.

Alternatives

Since the CSA 2001 requires prescribing the vessels and oil handling facilities that are required to have arrangements with response organizations, there is no other option available but to regulate. In the absence of a prescription, the response organizations would not be financially able to meet their certification standards and provide the necessary immediate assistance in the event of a discharge of oil into the marine environment in Canada. In anticipation of these proposed Regulations, the oil handling facilities and vessels required under the former CSA to have arrangements with and pay a fee to response organizations have remained in compliance on a voluntary basis. However, it is unlikely that this voluntary compliance would continue in total absence of a regulatory framework.

Benefits and costs

The proposed Regulations do not impact the manner in which fees are administered. This is done through other mechanisms, which ensures fairness and transparency and culminates in the requirement for those fees to be published in the Canada Gazette.

The benefits of the proposed Regulations accrue to the public in general and the environment, as these allow for a more immediate response to important environmental disasters. The proposed Regulations also provide a safety net for vessels and oil handling facilities as these put in place an intervention mechanism that contains the damages caused by discharges of oil.

The proposed Regulations are not expected to raise any additional costs to the users, as they maintain the regime that existed under the former CSA. The four response organizations collectively allocate $19M annually to maintain the state of preparedness and response capability required for their certificates of designation. Maintaining this state of preparedness involves an inventory of $60M of dedicated preparedness/response equipment used to respond to an average of 55 discharges of oil that occur south of the 60th parallel north of latitude each year.

Consultation

Extensive consultation has taken place with industry at both regional and national Canadian Marine Advisory Council (CMAC) meetings in respect of the proposed Regulations. Members at regional and national CMAC meetings were consulted on the proposed Regulations in the Spring 2006 meetings and were invited to comment. Updates on the progress of the development of the proposed Regulations have been communicated to stakeholders periodically since those meetings. The proposed Regulations received broad support throughout these consultations.

Environmental considerations

A preliminary scan for environmental impacts has been undertaken in accordance with the criteria of Transport Canada’s Strategic Environmental Assessment Policy Statement — March 2001. The preliminary scan has led to the conclusion that a detailed analysis is not necessary. Further assessments or studies regarding environmental effects of this initiative are not likely to yield a different determination.

Compliance and enforcement

Any prescribed vessel or oil handling facility that contravenes either section 167 or 168 of the CSA 2001 is subject to a fine of not more than $1M dollars or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 18 months, or to both.

Enforcement of sections 167 and 168 will not impact the overall established compliance mechanism under the provisions of the CSA 2001 enforced by Transport Canada’s marine safety inspectors.

Contact

Robert Gowie
Project Manager, Regulatory Services and Quality Assurance (AMSX)
Transport Canada, Marine Safety
Place de Ville, Tower C
330 Sparks Street, 11th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N5
Telephone: 613-990-7673
Fax: 613-991-5670
Email: gowier@tc.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council proposes, pursuant to paragraph 182(e) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001(see footnote a), to make the annexed Environmental Response Arrangements Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the publication date of this notice. All representations must be in writing and cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the publication date of this notice, and be sent to Robert Gowie, Regulatory Services and Quality Assurance, Marine Safety Directorate, Department of Transport, Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5 (tel.: 613-990-7673; fax: 613-991-5670; e-mail: gowier@tc.gc.ca).

Ottawa, April 10, 2008

MARY PICHETTE
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

	ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE ARRANGEMENTS REGULATIONS
	INTERPRETATION
Definitions	1. The following definitions apply in these Regulations.
“Act” « Loi »	“Act” means the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.
“combination carrier” « transporteur mixte »	“combination carrier” means a vessel designed to carry oil or solid cargoes in bulk.
“gas carrier” « transporteur de gaz »	“gas carrier” means a cargo vessel that is constructed or adapted, and that is used, for the carriage in bulk of any liquefied gas or other products listed in Chapter 19 of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, published by the International Maritime Organization.
“NLS tanker” « bâtiment-citerne SLN »	“NLS tanker” means a vessel constructed or adapted to carry a cargo of noxious liquid substances in bulk and includes an oil tanker that is certified to carry a cargo or part cargo of noxious liquid substances in bulk.
“oil tanker” « pétrolier »	“oil tanker” means a vessel constructed or adapted primarily to carry oil in bulk in its cargo spaces and includes a combination carrier, an NLS tanker and a gas carrier that is carrying a cargo or part cargo of oil in bulk.
	VESSELS
Prescribed classes	2. (1) The following classes of vessels are prescribed for the purposes of subsection 167(1) of the Act: (a) oil tankers of 150 gross tonnage or more; (b) vessels of 400 gross tonnage or more that carry oil as cargo or as fuel; and (c) groups of vessels that are towed or pushed, are of 150 gross tonnage or more in aggregate and carry oil as cargo.
Exclusion	(2) The classes of vessels that are prescribed by subsection (1) do not include (a) foreign vessels that are only transiting in the territorial sea of Canada or the exclusive economic zone of Canada and are not engaged in the loading or unloading of oil during transit; (b) pleasure craft; or (c) government vessels, naval auxiliary vessels or vessels owned or operated by a foreign state and used only on government non-commercial service.
Waters north of 60° N	(3) Paragraph 167(1)(a) and subparagraphs 167(1)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the Act do not apply in respect of vessels that are in waters north of latitude 60° N.
	OIL HANDLING FACILITIES
Prescribed class	3. (1) Oil handling facilities that received more than 100 tonnes of oil during the preceding 365 days are prescribed as a class for the purposes of subsection 168(1) of the Act.
Exclusion	(2) Paragraph 168(1)(a) and subparagraphs 168(1)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the Act do not apply in respect of oil handling facilities that (a) received less than 400 tonnes of oil during the preceding 365 days and are located at or south of latitude 60° N; or (b) are located north of latitude 60° N.
	MAXIMUM QUANTITY OF OIL
Paragraphs 167(1)(a) and 168(1)(a)	4. For the purposes of paragraphs 167(1)(a) and 168(1)(a) of the Act, the prescribed maximum quantity of oil is 10 000 tonnes.
	COMING INTO FORCE
Registration	5. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
[16-1-o]

Footnote a
 S.C. 2001, c. 26

NOTICE:
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