An Act to amend the Railway Safety Act and to make consequential amendments to the Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 2012, c. 7)
Full Document:
Assented to 2012-05-17
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 7
8. Section 11 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Sound engineering principles
11. (1) All work relating to railway works — including, but not limited to, design, construction, evaluation, maintenance and alteration — must be done in accordance with sound engineering principles.
Marginal note:Engineering work
(2) All engineering work relating to railway works must be approved by a professional engineer.
9. The Act is amended by adding the following before the heading “Regulations” before section 18:
Prohibitions
10. The Act is amended by adding the following after the heading “Prohibitions”, as enacted by section 9:
Marginal note:Requirement for certificate
17.1 (1) No person shall operate or maintain a railway, or operate railway equipment on a railway, without a railway operating certificate.
Marginal note:Crossing maintenance
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person exempted under paragraph 17.9(1)(c) or to a municipality or road authority that maintains a crossing work.
11. (1) The Act is amended by adding the following before the heading “Regulations” before section 18:
Marginal note:Compliance with regulations and rules
17.2 No railway company shall operate or maintain a railway, including any railway work or railway equipment, and no local railway company shall operate railway equipment on a railway, otherwise than in accordance with the regulations and with the rules made in respect of the company under sections 19 and 20, except to the extent that the company is exempt from their application under section 22 or 22.1.
Marginal note:Crossing works
17.3 No person responsible for the maintenance of a crossing work shall maintain it otherwise than in accordance with the regulations made under section 18 unless that person is exempted under section 22 or 22.1 from the application of those regulations in relation to the maintenance of that crossing work.
(2) Section 17.2 of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Compliance with certificate, regulations and rules
17.2 No railway company shall operate or maintain a railway, including any railway work or railway equipment, and no local railway company shall operate railway equipment on a railway, otherwise than in accordance with a railway operating certificate and — except to the extent that the company is exempt from their application under section 22 or 22.1 — with the regulations and the rules made under sections 19 and 20 that apply to the company.
12. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 17.3:
Railway Operating Certificate
Marginal note:Issuance of certificate
17.4 (1) The Minister shall, on application, issue a railway operating certificate authorizing a person to operate and maintain a railway, or to operate railway equipment on a railway, if the Minister is satisfied that the prescribed conditions for obtaining one have been met.
Marginal note:Terms and conditions
(2) A railway operating certificate may contain any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate.
Marginal note:Variation
(3) The Minister may, on application by a company, vary the terms and conditions of its railway operating certificate.
Marginal note:Time limit
(4) A decision by the Minister whether to issue or vary a railway operating certificate shall be made as expeditiously as possible within 120 days after receipt of the application unless the applicant agrees otherwise.
Marginal note:Suspension or cancellation
(5) The Minister may suspend or cancel a company’s railway operating certificate if the company has
(a) ceased to meet any of the prescribed conditions for obtaining the certificate;
(b) contravened any provision of this Act or the regulations or any rule, order, standard or emergency directive made under this Act; or
(c) requested its suspension or cancellation.
Marginal note:Notice of decision
17.5 (1) The Minister shall notify the affected person or company of any decision made under subsection 17.4(1), (3) or (5).
Marginal note:Contents of notice
(2) The notice of decision shall specify
(a) the grounds of the Minister’s decision; and
(b) the address at which and the date, being thirty days after the notice is sent, on or before which the person may file a request for a review of the decision.
Marginal note:Effective date of decision
(3) The effective date of a decision is the day on which the notice is received by the person or company unless the notice specifies a later date.
Marginal note:Request for review
17.6 (1) A person or a company affected by a decision of the Minister under subsection 17.4(1), (3) or (5) may, on or before the date specified in the notice under section 17.5 or within any further time that the Tribunal on application allows, file with the Tribunal a written request for a review of the decision.
Marginal note:Effect of request
(2) A request under subsection (1) for a review of a decision under subsection 17.4(5) does not operate as a stay of the decision.
Marginal note:Exception
(3) On application in writing by the person or company affected by a decision made under subsection 17.4(5), after giving any notice to the Minister that is, in the member’s opinion, necessary and after considering any representations made by the parties, a member of the Tribunal assigned for the purpose may grant a stay of the decision until the review is completed, if he or she is satisfied that granting a stay would not constitute a threat to railway safety.
Marginal note:Time and place for review
17.7 (1) On receipt of a request filed under subsection 17.6(1), the Tribunal shall appoint a time and place for the review and shall notify the Minister and the person who filed the request of the time and place in writing.
Marginal note:Review procedure
(2) The member of the Tribunal assigned to conduct the review shall provide the Minister and the person who filed the request with an opportunity consistent with procedural fairness and natural justice to present evidence and make representations.
Marginal note:Determination
(3) The member may confirm the decision of the Minister or refer the matter back to the Minister for reconsideration.
Marginal note:Effect of decision pending reconsideration
(4) If a decision under subsection 17.4(5) is referred back to the Minister for reconsideration under subsection (3), the decision of the Minister remains in effect until the reconsideration is concluded. However, the member, after considering any representations made by the parties, may grant a stay of the decision until the reconsideration is concluded, if he or she is satisfied that granting a stay would not constitute a threat to railway safety.
Marginal note:Right of appeal
17.8 (1) Within thirty days after a determination made under subsection 17.7(3) by a member of the Tribunal, the person or company affected by the determination may appeal it to the Tribunal.
Marginal note:Effect of request
(2) A request under subsection (1) for an appeal of a decision under subsection 17.4(5) does not operate as a stay of the decision.
Marginal note:Exception
(3) On application in writing by the person or company affected by a decision made under subsection 17.4(5), after giving any notice to the Minister that is, in the member’s opinion, necessary and after considering any representations made by the parties, a member of the Tribunal assigned for the purpose may grant a stay of the decision until the appeal is completed, if he or she is satisfied that granting a stay would not constitute a threat to railway safety.
Marginal note:Loss of right of appeal
(4) A person or company that does not appear at a review hearing is not entitled to appeal a determination, unless they establish that there was sufficient reason to justify their absence.
Marginal note:Disposition of appeal
(5) The appeal panel of the Tribunal assigned to hear the appeal may dismiss the appeal or refer the matter back to the Minister for reconsideration.
Marginal note:Effect of decision pending reconsideration
(6) If a decision under subsection 17.4(5) is referred back to the Minister for reconsideration under subsection (5), the decision of the Minister remains in effect until the reconsideration is concluded. However, the appeal panel, after considering any representations made by the parties, may grant a stay of the decision made under subsection 17.4(5) until the reconsideration is concluded, if it is satisfied that granting a stay would not constitute a threat to railway safety.
Marginal note:Regulations
17.9 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting conditions to be met for the issuance of a railway operating certificate;
(b) respecting the form and content of applications for railway operating certificates and the process for obtaining a certificate or the variation of one; and
(c) exempting any class of persons from the application of section 17.1.
Marginal note:Application
(2) A regulation made under this section may be general or applicable to a group or class of persons or companies.
13. (1) Paragraph 18(1)(a) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
a) régir toute question — notamment en matière de rendement — concernant l’exploitation ou l’entretien des lignes de chemin de fer, ou la conception, la construction, la modification, l’exploitation ou l’entretien de matériel ferroviaire;
(2) Paragraphs 18(1)(c) and (d) of the Act are replaced by the following:
(c) respecting the following matters, to the extent that they relate to safe railway operations, in relation to persons employed in positions referred to in paragraph (b):
(i) the training of those persons, both before and after appointment to those positions,
(ii) hours of work and rest periods to be observed by those persons,
(iii) minimum medical, including audiometric and optometric, standards to be met by those persons,
(iv) the control or prohibition of the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the use of drugs by those persons,
(v) the establishment of support programs for those persons and standards applicable to such programs, and
(vi) the establishment of a scheme for licensing those persons; and
(d) respecting the prevention and control of fires on railway works.
(3) Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2.1):
Marginal note:Application
(2.2) A regulation made under this section may be general or applicable to a group or class of persons or companies.
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 12
(4) Subsection 18(3) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Incompatibilité
(3) Les dispositions des règlements pris par le gouverneur en conseil sous le régime des paragraphes (1) ou (2.1) annulent les dispositions incompatibles des règles approuvées par le ministre aux termes des articles 19 ou 20 relativement à une compagnie particulière.
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