Railway Safety Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 32 (4th Supp.))

Marginal note:Formulation or revision of rules

• 20 (1) A company shall file with the Minister for approval any rules in respect of any matter referred to in subsection 18(1) or (2.1) that it proposes to formulate or revise on its own initiative.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (2) A company may not file rules with the Minister under subsection (1) unless it has first given a reasonable opportunity during a period of sixty days for consultation with it concerning the rules,

  • (a) in the case of a railway company, to each relevant association or organization that is likely to be affected by the implementation of the rules; or

  • (b) in the case of a local railway company, to any railway company on whose railway the local railway company operates railway equipment and that is likely to be affected by the implementation of the rules.

• Marginal note:Rules to be accompanied by notice

  (3) Rules filed with the Minister by a company pursuant to subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a notice

  • (a) setting out the reasons why the company proposes to formulate or revise the rules; and

  • (b) identifying any relevant association or organization or any railway company that objects, on grounds of safety, to the implementation of those rules and attaching a copy of the notice of objection.

• Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

  (4) Subsections 19(4) to (5.1), (10) and (11) apply in relation to the filing and consideration of rules filed with the Minister under subsection (1) as if the rules had been duly filed in compliance with an order made under subsection 19(1).

Marginal note:Third party

20.1 A third party may act for and on behalf of a company in all matters relating to the formulation or revision of standards or rules under sections 7, 19 and 20.

Marginal note:Regulations — formulation of rules

• 20.2 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the process for the formulation or revision of rules applicable to companies and for the amendment of their terms and conditions.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) A regulation made under subsection (1) may be general or applicable to a group or class of companies.

Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Regulations and Rules

Marginal note:Uniformity of rules

21 In establishing, under section 19 or 20, rules applying to a particular company or in deciding, under section 19 or 20, whether to approve rules formulated or revised by, and applying to, a particular company, the Minister shall, to the extent that it is, in the opinion of the Minister, reasonable and practicable to do so, ensure that those rules are uniform with rules dealing with a like matter and applying to other companies.

Marginal note:Exemption by order in council

• 22 (1) The Governor in Council may, by order, on any terms and conditions that are specified in the order,

  • (a) exempt a specified company, specified railway equipment or a specified railway work from the application of a specified provision of regulations made under subsection 18(1) or (2.1) or of rules in force under section 19 or 20; or

  • (b) exempt a specified person from the application of a specified provision of regulations made under subsection 18(2).

• Marginal note:Exemption by Minister

  (2) If, in the opinion of the Minister, the exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to threaten safe railway operations, he or she may, by notice, on any terms and conditions that are specified in the notice,

  • (a) exempt a specified company, specified railway equipment or a specified railway work from the application of a specified provision of regulations made under subsection 18(1) or (2.1) or of rules in force under section 19 or 20; or

  • (b) exempt a specified person from the application of a specified provision of regulations made under subsection 18(2).

• Marginal note:Sending of notices

  (3) A notice under subsection (2) shall be sent to the company or person exempted by the notice and takes effect on receipt by that company or person.

• Marginal note:Application

  (4) A company may apply to the Minister for an exemption from the application of a specified provision of regulations under subsection 18(1), (2) or (2.1) or of rules in force under section 19 or 20.

• Marginal note:Company to consult

  (5) A company may not apply for an exemption under subsection (4) unless it has first given

  • (a) in the case of a railway company, each relevant association or organization that is likely to be affected by the exemption, and

  • (b) in the case of a local railway company, any railway company on whose line the local railway company operates railway equipment and that is likely to be affected by the exemption,

  a reasonable opportunity during a period of sixty days to consult with it, except that it may apply for the exemption before the end of those sixty days if it has received comments from all those associations and organizations or from that railway company, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Copy of comments

  (6) The company shall send with its application to the Minister a copy of all comments received from relevant associations and organizations or the railway company.

• Marginal note:Period for granting application

  (7) The Minister may grant the application within sixty days after receiving it if, in the opinion of the Minister, the exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to threaten safe railway operations. The Minister may extend the time for granting the application for an additional period of up to sixty days.

Marginal note:Other exemptions

• 22.1 (1) A company that proposes to conduct testing relating to railway transportation, or that requires an immediate exemption of short duration, may by notice seek an exemption from the application of any provision of standards formulated under section 7, regulations made under subsection 18(1) or (2) or 24(1) or rules in force under section 19 or 20 for a period of up to six months.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) A notice under subsection (1) shall be filed with the Minister and

  • (a) in the case of a railway company, each relevant association or organization that is likely to be affected by the exemption; or

  • (b) in the case of a local railway company, any railway company on whose railway the local railway company operates railway equipment and that is likely to be affected by the exemption.

• Marginal note:Objections

  (3) Each of the relevant associations or organizations or the railway company to which notice must be given, as the case may be, may object to an exemption on grounds of safety by filing its objection with the Minister and the company within fourteen days after the notice referred to in subsection (1) is filed.

• Marginal note:Minister’s decision

  (4) The Minister may

  • (a) within twenty-one days after the filing of an objection under subsection (3), confirm the objection if the Minister decides that the exemption threatens safety;

  • (b) within twenty-one days after the filing of an objection under subsection (3) or within thirty-five days after receiving a notice under subsection (1), impose terms and conditions on the exemption that the Minister considers appropriate, if the Minister is of the opinion that the exemption without terms and conditions is not in the public interest or is likely to threaten safety; or

  • (c) within thirty-five days after receiving the notice under subsection (1), deny the exemption if the Minister is of the opinion that the exemption is not in the public interest or is likely to threaten safety.

• Marginal note:Effective date

  (5) An exemption is effective if

  • (a) the company receives a response from the Minister and each of those associations and organizations or the railway company, as the case may be, indicating that they do not object to the exemption;

  • (b) no objections are confirmed by the Minister under paragraph (4)(a);

  • (c) the Minister, instead of making or confirming an objection, imposes terms and conditions under paragraph (4)(b) and the company complies with the terms and conditions; or

  • (d) the Minister does not deny the exemption under paragraph (4)(c).

Powers of Agency — Fire

Marginal note:Application to Agency

• 23 (1) If a province or municipality is of the opinion that a fire to which it responded was the result of a railway company’s railway operations, it may apply to the Agency to have the costs that it incurred in responding to the fire reimbursed by the railway company.

• Marginal note:Form of application

  (2) The application shall be in the form prescribed by regulations made under subsection (5), and it shall be accompanied by the information prescribed by those regulations.

• Marginal note:Further information

  (3) The Agency may, by notice sent to the province, municipality or railway company, require the province, municipality or railway company to provide it with any further information that it specifies relating to the application, within the period specified in the notice.

• Marginal note:Agency’s determination

  (4) If the Agency determines that the fire was the result of the railway company’s railway operations, it shall make an order directing the railway company to reimburse the province or municipality the costs that the Agency determines were reasonably incurred in responding to the fire.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (5) The Agency may, with the Governor in Council’s approval, make regulations

  • (a) prescribing the form of the application referred to in this section; and

  • (b) prescribing the information that must accompany that application.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (6) Despite this section, this Act is not deemed to be administered in whole or in part by the Agency for the purpose of section 37 of the Canada Transportation Act.

Audible Warnings

Marginal note:Use of whistles

• 23.1 (1) No person shall use the whistle on any railway equipment in an area within a municipality if

  • (a) the area meets the requirements prescribed for the purposes of this section; and

  • (b) the government of the municipality by resolution declares that it agrees that such whistles should not be used in that area and has, before passing the resolution,

    • (i) consulted the railway company that operates the relevant line of railway,

    • (ii) notified each relevant association or organization, and

    • (iii) given public notice of its intention to pass the resolution.

• Marginal note:Ministerial decision

  (2) The Minister may decide whether the area meets the prescribed requirements and the Minister’s decision is final.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) Despite subsection (1), the whistle may be used if

  • (a) there is an emergency;

  • (b) any rules in force under section 19 or 20 or any regulations require its use; or

  • (c) a railway safety inspector orders its use under section 31.

PART IIINon-railway Operations Affecting Railway Safety

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 24 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) respecting

    • (i) the control or prohibition of the construction or alteration, or

    • (ii) the control of the maintenance

    of buildings and other structures, not being railway works, erected or proposed to be erected above or below a line of railway, or on land adjoining the land on which the line is situated, to the extent only that is necessary to prevent those buildings or structures from constituting a threat to safe railway operations;

  • (b) respecting the control or prohibition of the construction, alteration or operation of any mine or other works, not being railway works, constructed or proposed to be constructed below or on land adjoining the land on which a line of railway is situated, to the extent only that is necessary to prevent those mines or works from constituting a threat to safe railway operations;

  • (c) respecting

    • (i) the control or prohibition of the construction or alteration, and

    • (ii) the control of the maintenance,

    on land adjoining the land on which a line of railway is situated, of drainage systems that would constitute a threat to safe railway operations;

  • (d) respecting the control or prohibition of the presence or storage, on land adjoining the land on which a line of railway is situated, of specified materials;

  • (e) respecting

    • (i) the removal of anything, including trees or brush, that might, by obscuring clear vision either of a road or of a line of railway, constitute a threat to safe railway operations,

    • (ii) the removal of weeds that are on or along lines of railway, and

    • (iii) the use of alternatives to chemical pesticides under subparagraphs (i) and (ii);

  • (f) respecting the restriction or prevention, including by means of fences or signs on the land on which a line of railway is situated or on land adjoining that land, of access to the land on which a line of railway is situated by persons — other than employees or agents or mandataries of the railway company concerned, or of the local railway company authorized to operate railway equipment on the railway — or by vehicles or animals, if their presence on that land would constitute a threat to safe railway operations;

  • (f.1) respecting the construction, alteration and maintenance of roads for the purpose of ensuring safe railway operations;

  • (f.2) respecting the control of vehicular and pedestrian traffic on road approaches to road crossings for the purpose of ensuring safe railway operations; and

  • (g) respecting the control or prohibition of any other activity, on land adjoining the land on which a line of railway is situated, that could constitute a threat to safe railway operations.

• Marginal note:Exemption by Minister

  (1.1) The Minister may, on any terms and conditions that the Minister considers necessary, exempt any railway company or other person from the application of any regulation made under subsection (1) if, in the opinion of the Minister, the exemption is in the public interest and is not likely to threaten safety.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (2) Where the owner, lessee or occupier of land adjoining the land on which a line of railway is situated, the owner, lessee or occupier of any building or other structure erected on that adjoining land, or the owner of any mine or other works operated on that adjoining land, suffers a loss by reason of the operation of the regulations made under this section, the railway company operating that line of railway shall pay to that person such compensation in respect of that loss as is agreed to between the railway company and that person or, failing such agreement, as is determined pursuant to section 26.