WHEREAS the amount of ocean traffic is increasing along the West Coast of British Columbia due to increased economic activity, which increases the risk of accidents and spills, particularly from ships carrying dangerous andor toxic products; AND WHEREAS current environmental measures are not able to adequately clean up damages caused by these types of large scale spills or disasters, and continual cuts are being made that undermine the ability of our Coast Guard to address such disasters in a timely and adequate manner: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM petition the provincial and federal governments to create legislation that requires that liability for cargo on a ship be the responsibility of both the carrier and the one who sold the cargo until such time as the cargo reaches its final destination, andor is outside of Canadian waters; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that UBCM petition the provincial and federal governments to create legislation that requires shippers of dangerous goods and cargo, as well as the manufacturers, be required to pay into an emergency fund designed for three purposes: 1. to clean up, and compensate for any and all damages, including capital devaluation, social, cultural, and ecological damage, caused by an accident involving said goods and cargo; 2. to fund research into improving clean-up methods to deal with the eventuality of such spills; and 3. to fund a sustained increase in provincial spill prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response resources; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that UBCM petition the federal government to restore the Coast Guard complement and safety measures along our coast to a standard that protects our coastline from the dangers of such accidents, and mitigates the amount of damage that would occur from the result of any such incidents.
Ministry of Environment The Province recognizes that resource development that involves the movement of goods along our coast brings an element of risk to the environment from spills. In response to the increase in pipeline proposals, BC has established five requirements for support for any for proposal for the shipment of heavy oil including: - World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for BCs coastline and ocean to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy oil pipelines and shipments - World-leading practices for land-based oil spill prevention, response and recovery systems to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy oil pipelines; Recognizing that marine spill response is the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, BC is committed to working with Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard to strengthen marine spill requirements and capacity on the west coast. The Ministry of Environment is also currently reviewing options for an industry funded model to support increased capacity for planning, spill response and restoration of land impacted by spills.