WHEREAS changes made to the federal Railway Act in 1996 reduced accountability of railway companies to communities in key safety areas, including derailments and spills, invasive plant control and livestock exclusion fencing; AND WHEREAS the sale of BC Rail, completed in 2003, has further eroded the responsibility of rail companies to communities with respect to these key safety issues: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the provincial government to ensure that rail companies operating in BC have workable arrangements in place with local governments regarding matters such as derailments, spills and invasive plant control and provide livestock exclusion fencing along their rights-of-way; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that UBCM and FCM lobby for the reinstatement of sections of the Railway Safety Act regulations governing the payment of maintenance and materials for fencing on private property.
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION The safe operation of railways operating in the Province of British Columbia Province is of great importance. The Minister of Transportation Ministry has communicated his concerns to his federal counterpart and to CN on many occasions. The federal minister created the federal Railway Safety Act Review Panel in spring 2007, and the Ministry will make a submission to this Review to ensure that the concerns of residents, local governments and the Province are made known to the federal government. With respect to derailments and spills involving dangerous goods and chemicals, there are protocols in place between the railways, CANUTEC, and the BC Provincial Emergency Program PEP. It has become known that these protocols do not include local governments, and this concern will be raised in the Ministrys submission to the Railway Safety Act Review Panel. The federal Railway Safety Act provides authority to enact regulations which set out access control for railway rights-of-way. However, no such regulations exist yet. Minister Falcon has requested of his federal counterpart to ensure that safe, consistent and fair regulations get put into place soon. CN has adopted a policy that fencing material may be offered to qualified applicants, in specific circumstances. Landowners who have livestock on their property can make application to CN to receive fencing material for property not fenced, or areas that require major repairs. Our expectation is that Transport Canadas regulations will provide ranchers along federally-regulated railways with a way to obtain compensation from the railway companies for the fencing repairs and upgrades they need, as well as for any livestock killed.
CN CN is participating in frank, open and widespread dialogue with the communities along its network. While there sometimes is not complete agreement between CN and affected parties, we are making every effort to ensure communities are aware of our policies and protocols, and the reasons behind these decisions. In 2007, CN established a comprehensive Community Networking program in British Columbia and elsewhere across Canada. Our Senior Executive have met and spoken to communities and their leaders across BC. In addition, our main community contact in your province, CN Regional Manager of Public Government Affairs, Kelli Svendsen, has met or spoken with nearly 100 community leaders on the subjects of safety, crossings, car supply, fencing, noxious weeds and community sponsorships. CN has also responded to community concerns about a perceived lack of CN assistance to municipal emergency responders. CNs System Director, Dangerous Goods, Danny Simpson has personally met with Fire Chiefs and other First Responders across BC, outlining CNs Dangerous Goods emergency response procedures, ensuring they have current information on CNs 247 emergency response contacts. He has also established the Responder Education Assistance and Certification training program REACT, in an attempt to help first responders in BC and elsewhere upgrade their technical training. Approximately 120 municipal responders from 36 northwestern BC communities participated in CNs initial REACT pilot program. We understand there are localized concerns with the 1996 Railway Safety Act fencing provision where federal railways are not responsible for fencing private or crown land. however, CN believes our protocol of offering fencing material to ranchers who own their land is both fair and equitable. This policy was communicated clearly with the assistance of the BC Cattlemans Association through their October 2006 newsletter. FCM FCM UBCM resolution 2007 B19 was considered at the 2008 FCM Annual Conference under the number MIT08.2.05. The conference decision was to place the resolution in Category D, defined as Matters dealt with by FCM in the previous three years and that are in accordance with FCM policy.