Whereas the increase in rail shipment of petroleum products and other dangerous goods pose an increased chance for spills and greater environmental risk: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the provincial and federal governments to improve Environmental Emergency Program regulations around rail transport of petroleum products and dangerous goods to strengthen and include improvements to spill preparedness, response and recovery.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy The Province of British Columbia recognizes that hazardous spills due to railway incidents pose a significant risk to the environment. In October 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy developed its first phase of regulations which place certain requirements on railways, pipelines and trucking transporters to address these risks. As a result of these regulations, transporters must develop and test spill contingency plans to prepare for spills; adhere to more stringent spill reporting requirements; and may be required to develop a recovery plan to address damage to the environment. Government is developing a second phase of spill regulations that would potentially require railways andor pipelines to develop geographic response plans to ensure resources are available to support an immediate response to a spill and adhere to response time planning standards that would ensure a timely response following a spill.