Senate Committee Recommends Arm’s Length Review of Rail Safety

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The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources released a new report Moving Energy Safely – A Study of the Safe Transport of Hydrocarbons by Pipelines, Tankers and Railcars in Canada.

The study was launched in November 2012 to examine emergency and spill prevention, preparedness and response frameworks and to make recommendations to improve public safety and protect the environment.

The committee made 13 recommendations: five related to marine transport; two related to pipelines; five related to rail; and one general recommendation related to the National Energy Board and Transport Canada.

Due to the scope of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster that took place July 6, 2013, the committee concluded that an arm’s-length review of rail safety is necessary in Canada. The committee also made specific recommendations aimed at improving railway safety culture and enhancing rail safety for tank cars, regulatory oversight of the transport of dangerous goods, and liability thresholds related to rail accidents. A specific recommendation was made that Transport Canada work in partnership with railway companies to make existing safety culture assessments mandatory within the audit program.

Since rail spills can be a major potential source of water contamination , efforts by the federal government to review current practices and improve mitigation and response will have an indirect benefit to the industry.

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