Transport Canada has posted an alert on their website that deals with US carriers transporting dangerous goods into Canada.

Section 6.4(1) of the TDG Regulations states that a carrier from the US must have a hazmat endorsement on their commercial driver’s licence and that this endorsement must reference sections 172.700 to 172.704 of 49 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). As the hazmat endorsement is state generated, not federal (DOT), not all endorsements make reference to those sections of 49CFR.

However, Transport Canada has an agreement with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) that Transport Canada will recognize the hazmat endorsement on the CDL.

For more information, please go to: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/publications-alerts-endorsements-1092.htm

Transport Canada has posted on its website Amendment T – Provisions for Orphan Releases. This is a proposed regulation and has NOT been published in the Canada Gazette.

Amendment T outlines the compensation for implementing an ERAP at the request of the Minister. There are 4 sections that will be added:

• 7.10 Compensation for Authorization to Implement an Approved Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP)
• 7.10.1 Compensation Limits
• 7.10.2 Claims for Compensation
• 7.11 Emergency Response Assistance Plan for Emergency Response Contractors

Section 7.10 outlines what expenses will be covered, such as:

• death, disability or injury to the plan holder or its employees
• overhead costs for the plan response
• cost of employees or contractors
• use of tools, vehicles, hoses, pumps, generators, etc.
• travel expenses – meals, accommodation, fuel, flights, etc.
• rental fees
• repair costs for equipment damaged during the response
• cost of defending any legal action

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Cindy Douglass, the Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety officer of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), addressed concerns about the organization during her keynote address to the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council (DGAC) annual conference, held this year in San Antonio, Texas.

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A number of shippers and carriers are concerned about the recent changes to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act (TDG Act). Their concerns are centred around how they are to comply with ERAPs, security plan and security clearances sections of the TDG Act.

As Tranport Canada has not written any regulations for the changes to the Act, then there is nothing for shippers and carriers to comply with. The reasons these changes have been implemented are the upcoming Vancouver Olympics and the G8 summit next June to be held in Huntsville, ON.

The Act does provide for the Minister to issue interim orders. An interim order has been issued which states that anyone who has knowledge of the loss, theft or otherwise unlawfully interfered with dangerous goods must notify their local police and CANUTEC.

So until regulations are written and published in Gazette II or another interim order is issued, there is nothing for shippers or carriers to do. But seeing what is in the changes to the Act, it would be prudent for a company to start preparing if it has not already done so.

The federal government has made changes to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act which will increase security for dangerous goods. Most of this is being implemented due to Vancouver hosting the Olympics next year. For the most part there is nothing for anyone to do as there are no regulations for these changes. So there is nothing for us to comply with. The amendments to the regulations for these changes look like they will take some time as I imagine that plenty of people will want to comment on the proposed changes.

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