Winter 2010

ISSN 0828-5039 Vol. 30 No. 1 Agreement Number 2182971

Inside

• Editorial
• Diesel Fuel Transport After January 1, 2010
• Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Transportation of Dangerous Goods
• CANUTEC - 30 Years of Service to Canadians
• The amended Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992 and its Certificates
• Duty To Respond
• About CANUTEC A Survey of First Responders
• First class training helps prepare emergency responders
• CANUTEC Stats

TP 2711 E
02/2010

The Dangerous Goods Newsletter is published twice yearly in both official languages by the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate, Transport Canada, and is distributed to government and industry organizations in fields related to dangerous goods. Subscriptions are free of charge and available to anyone on request by calling 613-990-1148 or by visiting the TDG website at http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/newsletter/menu.htm and clicking on Request. This newsletter is also available at the same internet address. Please address comments and inquiries regarding additional information or publications to:

The Editor,
Dangerous Goods Newsletter
Transport Dangerous Goods
Transport Canada
330 Sparks Street, Tower C, 9th floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0N5

Editor

Véronique Tessier
(veronique.tessier@tc.gc.ca)

Graphics and Design

Yvan Meloche
(yvan.meloche@tc.gc.ca)

Writers/Contributors to this issue

Maurice Gaudet - TDG Inspector - PNR Region

Peter Coyles - Resources Planning &Special Projects Branch,
TDG Directorate

Michel Cloutier - CANUTEC,
TDG Directorate

Jacques Savard - Regulatory Affairs Branch,
TDG Directorate

Nathalie Belliveau - Compliance and Response Branch,
TDG Directorate

Michèle Provencher - Research, Evaluation and Systems Branch,
TDG Directorate

Contacts

Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate

Director General
M.-F. Dagenais 613-990-1147
(Marie-France.Dagenais@tc.gc.ca)

Regulatory Affairs

J. Savard, Director 613-990-1154 (Jacques.Savard@tc.gc.ca)

Compliance and Response

N. Belliveau, Acting Director 613-998-6540 (Nathalie.Belliveau@tc.gc.ca)

Research, Evaluation and Systems

G. Oliver, Director 613-990-1139 (Geoffrey.Oliver@tc.gc.ca)

Legislation and Regulations

L. Hume-Sastre, Director 613-998-0517 (Linda.Hume-Sastre@tc.gc.ca)

Publications: 613-998-6539
Fax: 613-993-5925

CANUTEC: Information 613-992-4624
Emergency 613-996-6666 Fax 613-954-5101
(Canutec@tc.gc.ca)

Atlantic Region

Dartmouth 902-426-9461 Fax: 902-426-6921
St. John's 709-772-3994 Fax: 709-772-5127
Moncton 1 866-814-1477 Fax: 506-851-7042
E-mail: Tdg-TmdAtlantic@tc.gc.ca

Quebec Region

514-283-5722 Fax: 514-283-8234
E-mail: tmd-tdg.Quebec@tc.gc.ca

Ontario Region

416-973-1868 Fax: 416-973-9907
E-mail: tdg-tmdOntario@tc.gc.ca

Prairie and Northern Region

Winnipeg 204-983-5969 Fax: 204-983-8992
Saskatoon 306-975-5105 Fax: 306-975-4555
E-mail: Tdg-TmdPnr@tc.gc.ca

Pacific Region

New Westminster 604-666-2955 Fax: 604-666-7747
Kelowna 250-491-3712 Fax: 250-491-3710

Transport Canada Dangerous Goods Directorate

Internet address - www.tc.gc.ca/tdg/menu.htm

We welcome news, comments or highlights of transportation of dangerous goods activities, announcements of meetings, conferences or workshops. The Newsletter carries signed articles from various sources. Such articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Directorate, nor does publishing them imply any endorsement. Material from the Newsletter may be used freely with customary credit.

2009 was a very busy year for us, mostly due to the work required, on one hand, to ensure the adoption of the amended Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, and then, once the law came into force, to start the implementation of the modifications brought upon by the amendments. Amongst other things, the changes have permitted Transport Canada and the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate to implement regulations that increase safety and security for Canadians and visitors to the country, as explained in the article featured on page 4 regarding Olympic Planning. Additionally, new tools were brought into force, such as the certificates discussed in the article found on page 7. The New Year promises to be just as busy, if not more. So stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted!

Happy New Year!

Véronique Tessier

Further to an article published in the Summer 2009 Newsletter entitled “Diesel fuel, heating oil and Jet A fuel oil non-spec tank grandfather clause expiring”, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate has established a compliance and enforcement policy with respect to all diesel fuel transport tanks that will be applied as follows:

Diesel fuel Class 3 UN 1202 PG III is a dangerous good as defined, and thereby regulated, by the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, and its Regulations.

Effective January 1, 2010, all diesel fuel transport tanks with a capacity over 450 litres are required to meet one of the Canadian standards prescribed in Part 5 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Diesel fuel tanks with a capacity less than 450 litres remain exempt as per Section 1.33 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Refrigeration, heating and ventilation units that are intended to remain with the means of transport and utilize diesel fuel are exempt as per Subsection 1.27(d) of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Non-specification tanks that were plated for removal from dangerous goods service by January 1, 2010 must be removed from service or brought up to current standard. All of those tanks became fully regulated on that date and the exemption provided is no longer valid.

However, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate will consider further allowance for use of non-specification diesel tanks in use with motorized equipment during this period of transition.

Thus, owners of diesel fuel tanks that are integral to motorized equipment with a capacity greater than 450 litres, but not greater than 2,000 litres, that are intended to be used exclusively as fuel for the operation of motorized equipment must be in compliance, or have to apply within one year, for an equivalency certificate that will be granted under the following conditions:

• Certificate valid for 5 years

• Must replace their fleet using the following schedule

  1. 25% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2013

  2. 50% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2014

  3. 75% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2015

  4. 100% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2016

Owners of diesel fuel tanks that are integral to motorized equipment with a capacity of more that 2000 litres and less than or equal to 10,000 litres that are intended to be used exclusively as fuel for the operation of motorized equipment must come into compliance or may apply for an equivalency certificate that will be granted under the following conditions:

• Certificate valid for 5 years

• Must replace their fleet using the following schedule

  1. 25% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2012

  2. 50% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2013

  3. 75% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2014

  4. 100% of the diesel tanks must be replaced by June 30, 2015

These certificates may be issued to an association.

Finally, the certificate may require a visual inspection of each of the non-compliant tank for leaks or damages by the owner once per calendar year.

Olympic Planning by the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate

As you are probably aware, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods program is an established and mature risk program.

In early 2007, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate started its surface (road and rail) Olympic planning. This planning was designed to include a comprehensive scalable approach to the safe and secure transportation of dangerous goods during the Olympics.

As part of its Olympic planning, many activities were undertaken, including:

• Safety and security threat risk assessments;
• Engagement and consultations of national and regional stakeholders;
• Visits and mapping of dangerous goods sites by Transportation of Dangerous Goods inspectors and Remedial Measures Specialists;
• Review of the dangerous goods products entering Vancouver ports;
• Review of dangerous goods products being transported by rail;
• Review of movements of dangerous goods on routes and bridges; and
• Conducting plume modeling on dangerous goods being transported by various modes of transport.

The Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate worked with its aviation, rail, marine safety and security colleagues in the development of their plans to make sure that there is a seamless safety and secure movement of dangerous goods into and out of Vancouver/Whistler Olympic area.

Olympic Roles and Responsibilities

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has overall federal responsibility for the 2010 Games safety and security planning, with its focus being on venue security. To help provide expertise and advise to the RCMP on its program and public safety during the transportation of dangerous goods around Olympic venues, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate has embedded a Remedial Measure Specialist (a specialist on promoting safety and security planning and emergency response) with the Integrated Security Unit of the RCMP (V2010-ISU).

Transport Canada has a broader mandate to address transportation safety and security generally and, in particular, during the Olympics. Therefore, while the RCMP safety and security planning is venue centric, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate is also taking into consideration the broader issue of transportation of dangerous goods safety and security during the Olympics to address issues that are not targeted by the RCMP planning.

Safety and Security Requirements for the Olympics

On July 23, 2009, under the newly amended dangerous goods Act, a new emergency regulation requiring the reporting of lost, stolen or unlawfully interfered with dangerous goods reporting was brought into force. This requires any person who becomes aware that a dangerous good is lost or stolen, that loss or theft is now required to be immediately reported to CANUTEC.

In addition, before and during the Olympics, Inspectors and Remedial Measures Specialist will be conducting increased targeted inspections before and during the games period to verify compliance with the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, and its Regulations.

Other Olympic restrictions will include:

During the Olympic period, CANUTEC will be staffed with additional scientific personnel to handle any questions or advice related to dangerous goods incidents and emergency response.

The maps below represent the two main controlled access zones. To see the maps of the 11 other zones, please visit the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate's Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics web page at http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/olympics-controlledaccesszones-322.htm.

For more information on Olympic planning or the Interim Orders establishing the requirements for the transportation of dangerous goods in British Columbia during the Olympics please visit http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/olympics-menu-404.htm

Notice

 

On October 21, 2009, members of the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association approved a new direction for their association. During the Annual General Meeting, members voted for a new mandate for the association, recognizing the shift taking place from chemical production to the broader business of chemistry. The new name for their industry association will be the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada | Association canadienne de l’industrie de la chimie, representing a broad spectrum of the chemistry sector. While production of chemicals has shifted and production sites in Canada have declined, this country will continue to be a major consumer of chemical products produced elsewhere and these products re-sold in Canada will face many of the same issues as chemical products made here. What’s more, existing Association members are not strictly in the business of chemical production anymore. Many are moving to marketing or contract manufacturing while several companies are involved in services and technologies related to the overall chemistry industry. This industry is rapidly developing in areas related to downstream products, bioproduct, nanotechnology, and research and development. With its new mandate and by taking a value-chain approach for this industry, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada will be better placed to deal with emerging issues while retaining its strong focus on chemical producers and plant issues. The association will also be in a better place to create synergies between partners in the chemistry industry in order to find solutions to some of the issues facing Canada, such as energy conservation, water quality or conservation, greenhouse gases, and product stewardship throughout the value chain. This new name is effective January 1, 2010.

CANUTEC, the Canadian Transport Emergency Centre, was established in July 1979 to promote public safety during the transportation of dangerous goods. Now in its 31^st year of operation by Transport Canada, CANUTEC is a national bilingual advisory centre staffed by professional scientists specialized in emergency response and experienced in interpreting technical information. The Centre is responsible for providing guidance and emergency response information to both emergency responders and the Canadian public.

CANUTEC handles approximately 1000 incident situations yearly and is involved with more than 25,000 calls annually. Each incident, whether transportation related or not, involves a rapid risk assessment of the situation based on a variety of factors including the chemical and toxicological hazards of the substance being transported, its location relative to populated areas as well as other environmental considerations.

CANUTEC continuously strives to improve its services in order to provide enhanced tools and information for Canadians. In fact, CANUTEC offers a registration program through which Canadian companies can obtain permission to display the CANUTEC 24-hour emergency telephone number on their dangerous goods shipping documents. This is a free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week service for the Canadian industry. More than 6,000 companies now benefit from this essential safety program and CANUTEC has access to more than 1.9 million Safety Data Sheets. These can be immediately accessed by CANUTEC’s Emergency Response Advisors during incidents to provide essential technical information and advice to fire, police, ambulance, poison control centres, hospital services and the public to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

Furthermore, CANUTEC has published the Emergency Response Guide 2008 (ERG2008) in English, French and Spanish and will soon begin revising the document for the next North American 2012 edition. The ERG2008 is an emergency response guidance document distributed by Transport Canada to emergency responders throughout Canada. Its purpose is to assist first responders in making initial decisions upon arriving at the scene of a dangerous goods incident. It provides recommended evacuation distances, describes potential hazards of a dangerous good and supplies relevant public safety information including fire, spill and first aid measures.

In order to enhance access for Canadians to this valuable publication, CANUTEC has developed electronically accessible free versions of the document as well as a training package that are available on the CANUTEC Web site. For the downloadable database, visit : http://www.tc.gc.ca/canutec/en/guide/ERGO/ergo.htm, for the Internet interactive on-line version, visit: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/3/erg-gmu/erg/ergmenu.aspx and for the training presentation on the use of the ERG2008, visit: http://www.tc.gc.ca/canutec/en/guide/training_ppt.htm

Please take a few moments to review the article by Michèle Provencher concerning the results of a survey covering CANUTEC services that is also part of this edition as it provides informative details about CANUTEC.

An important feature we would like to convey is the fact that you can contact CANUTEC during your exercises and simulations. CANUTEC is involved in many of these events and they are very helpful in developing closer working relationships that can greatly improve communications and emergency response efficiency when real incident situations occur.

Furthermore, we would be very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in your annual organizations meetings by possibly making presentations on CANUTEC services. We welcome any information you would like to share with us concerning these upcoming events.

Please remember that CANUTEC was principally created for the emergency response community and it is always our pleasure to have the opportunity to provide assistance during incident situations in order to promote public safety for responders as well as the Canadian public.

The recently amended Act allows the Minister to make exceptions, via certificates, to the requirements of the Act and its Regulations. Section 31 provides for the issuance of three types of certificate, each with its own conditions of issue and use.

Equivalency Certificate

The equivalency certificate allows the Minister to authorize any activity not in compliance with the Act and Regulations, if he is certain the activity will ensure a level of safety at least equivalent to that of complying with the Act. Certificates are normally issued in cases where they are likely to be needed on an ongoing basis, or where the period of non-compliance has no set time limit. To ensure a sufficient level of safety, certificates may also include restrictions or other requirements (i.e. restrictions on the quantity of dangerous goods authorized, requirement to disclose the nature of the transport to emergency services before proceeding, requirement to use certain modes of transportation, or any other conditions deemed necessary).

It is important to note that the term "Equivalency Certificate" has replaced the term "Equivalent Level of Safety (ELS) Permit". This is to avoid confusion, since many people were under the impression that a permit was required to conduct their activities.

Example: Used car batteries are normally transported on palettes wrapped in transparent plastic. Since a shrink-wrapped palette is not a standardized means of containment, an equivalency certificate is required.

For more information on equivalency certificates and how they can be obtained, please consult the Transport Dangerous Goods Website at the following address: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/3/tdgcert-tmdcert/Certificatesmenu.aspx 

Emergency Certificate

To address emergencies, or any situation requiring a rapid response in the public interest, Parliament has added subsection 31(2) to the Act, which authorizes the Minister to issue emergency certificates.

Subsection 31(2) states that for a certificate to be issued, the Minister must be certain that doing so is necessary to resolve the emergency. In other words, there must be an emergency situation posing an immediate threat to public safety.

In the few cases where this legislative provision has been used, the authorities had to declare a state of emergency, or the health or lives of one or more persons would have been directly threatened if rapid action had not been taken.

Example: The 1998 ice storm in Quebec and Eastern Ontario caused a propane shortage, and an emergency certificate was issued to authorize the import of propane gas cylinders from the United States.

Temporary Certificate

As its name implies, the temporary certificate is meant to address temporary situations where it is impossible to find a solution with an equivalent safety level and comply with the Act. The Directorate expects to use it in situations where rapid action is required but do not warrant emergency certificates, and where equivalency certificates are too difficult or time-consuming to prepare.

In practice, they will be used primarily for non-compliance issues when it is difficult or impossible to establish an equivalent safety level. An example would be to allow dangerous containers or goods to be moved to safer locations when it is hard to rapidly obtain an equivalency certificate. Temporary certificates will replace the "estoppels" that were used to address such situations until now.

Example: A temporary certificate may be needed to transport a damaged railway tank car to a repair facility (doing so without such a certificate would constitute a breach of the Act).

Finally, it is important to mention that under the Act, the Minister and departmental employees benefit from legal protection for the issuance of certificates. This is not the case for certificate holders, who may be held liable for action or inaction resulting in damages to a third party, and may be prosecuted for any action or situation of non-compliance that is not covered by the certificate.

Transport Canada’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods Inspectors have a standardized approach to enforcement activities related to the duty to respond under Section 19 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992.

Various railroads have signed agreements to operate on each others rail lines. The fact that rail companies operate on each others rail lines is a common practice. For example, VIA rail operates on both CN and CP rail lines across Canada. Trains belonging to CN and CP, operated by a crew working for those companies, travel on each others rail lines to facilitate movements. In the event an accident occurs, to which company would an inspector provide a direction under Section 19 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992?

Legal concepts

Pursuant to Subsection 17(4) of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, a direction may be issued only to a person who, at the time of non-compliance or at any time afterward, owns or imports or has the charge, management or control of the dangerous goods or means of containment.

Pursuant to Subsection 19(2) of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, a direction may be issued only to any person

(a) who, when the release occurs or is anticipated or at any time afterward, owns, imports or has the charge, management or control of the dangerous goods or means of containment;

(b) who is required under Section 7 to have an emergency response assistance plan that applies to the actual or anticipated release;

(c) who is responding to the actual or anticipated release in accordance with an emergency response assistance plan approved under Section 7; or

(d) who causes or contributes to the occurrence of the actual or anticipated release.

Considerations

The following should be considered when applying these regulatory allowances:

1. The person must have the “authority” to take measures or to give instructions to take measures.
2. Physical possession is not a mandatory condition for a person to have charge, management or control.
3. A direction may be issued to more than one person.
4. Protection of Public Safety is the key consideration in issuing any direction.

Implementation

Accordingly, if one person has charge, management or control of the dangerous goods or means of containment, the direction can only be issued to that person. For example, a rail company is operating on its own rail line and has an accident. The direction may be issued solely to that rail company.

If more than one person has charge, management or control of the dangerous goods or the means of containment the direction may be issued to all persons. For example, a train belonging to a rail company has an accident while traveling on a rail line belonging to another company. The direction may be issued to one or all companies. This condition could exist at, but is not limited to:

1. railway interchange
2. railway operating within a port or terminal
3. VIA rail operating on both CN and CP rail lines
4. CN operating on CP rail lines or vice versa

The above two paragraphs may also apply to other similar situations where one or more persons have the charge, management or control of dangerous goods, for example an importer or carrier of road dangerous goods.

All persons who have an obligation to meet the requirements of the direction, must fulfill those obligations.

Everyone involved in emergency response knows the importance of having access to critical and timely information during an incident. The Canadian Transport Emergency Centre (CANUTEC) assists emergency response personnel in handling dangerous goods emergencies.

As part of Transport Canada's commitment to providing relevant, timely and quality services, and more simply because it is important to know the difference one makes, the Transport Dangerous Goods Directorate with the support of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police undertook a survey evaluating CANUTEC services.

The objective of the survey was to evaluate the level of impact that CANUTEC has amongst first responders, that is: the knowledge first responders have, and the use that they make, of CANUTEC's services, notably the 24-hour emergency telephone service (call collect 613-996-6666, or *666 for cellular phones) and the Emergency Response Guidebook.

The survey was conducted early in 2009. The entire population of first responders was solicited. A two-page questionnaire was mailed to all fire departments and police services across Canada for a total of 4927 questionnaires (3738 to fire departments, 1189 to police services).

A total of 2247 questionnaires were received over the January – May period representing a 46% participation rate. The typical response rate in public opinion telephone surveys is around 10% to 20%, therefore the response rate achieved here is extremely positive.

61% of respondents were volunteer/part time fire services; another 25% were police services. The rest was split essentially amongst composite (11%) and full-time (3%) fire services.

Respondent Services by Type

Since a lot of the respondents were volunteer fire departments, it is not surprising that most of the services indicated that they serve smaller communities or even rural areas.

86% of respondents knew of CANUTEC’s 24-hour emergency telephone service. The reasons for contacting CANUTEC were essentially for emergency response measures to take during an incident, general information on products, simulation/exercise, and reporting an accident. 98% of the services that contacted and evaluated CANUTEC (approximately 900 respondents) were satisfied with the service and would recommend CANUTEC to others.

Just as CANUTEC is very well known by respondents, so is its Emergency Response Guidebook: 87% of respondents indicated that they were aware of the Guidebook. 98% of the services (approximately 1500 services) who used and assessed the Guidebook found it well organised and easy to use and found the information that they needed in a reasonable time. There is room for improvement, as some first responders still did not know CANUTEC or the Guidebook.

For more information on this survey please contact Michèle Provencher, by phone at 613-990-1894, or email at michele.provencher@tc.gc.ca.

CN has long been invested in building safer, stronger communities. Every year, in support of this goal, the CN Dangerous Goods Group provides thousands of local responders with quality emergency response training to help them protect their municipalities in the event of an incident. Recently, CN invited 30 emergency responders from various communities throughout CN’s network to attend a Tank Car Specialist training course.

The one-week course was delivered at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) in Pueblo, Colorado, and fully-funded by CN. The aim was to give emergency responders, such as firefighters and police, specialized training to safely handle incidents involving railroad tank cars.

Participants learned to identify the design and construction of pressure and non-pressure tank cars, the most common (and some uncommon) types of leaks encountered and how to repair them in the field. “The course is an important component of CN’s emergency response training program for communities where our trains travel,” says Jean Ouellette, CN senior manager, Dangerous Goods-Canada. “Lee Nelson, CN dangerous goods officer, and I supported the SERTC training staff in helping participants understand the basic principles of dealing with a tank car incident and how best to work with CN in the response. We hope the benefits of the training will be far-reaching, as each of these responders returns to their communities to teach their colleagues. ”

Mike De Smedt, CN senior manager, Dangerous Goods-US, says the hands-on portion of the training in a mock incident drove home the message for many responders. ”Rail equipment can be intimidating to the uninitiated. The field exercises we conducted helped emergency responders become familiar with transportation equipment in a rail environment and taught them how to work around the equipment safely and effectively,” reports Mike.

One emergency responder who especially appreciated the hands-on training was Donald W. Presley, from the Carbondale, Illinois, Fire Department. “I feel confident I will be able to make more informed decisions at a major rail incident to help bring the situation quickly and safely under control. I’ll certainly be sharing what I learned with my co-workers, and, because I am also a field instructor for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, I will be able to pass on my knowledge to other responders from all over the state,” says Mr. Presley.

James MacDonald, assistant fire chief for the city of Chiliwack, B.C., who also took the Tank Car Specialist course, was impressed by the high calibre of the training. “We plan to incorporate some of what we learned in our own hazardous materials training for all of our 144 career and paid-on-call firefighters,” reports Mr. Macdonald. “I feel more comfortable knowing that our responders will be able to begin an incident action plan that will dovetail well with CN’s emergency response activities.”

Good luck to our athletes!