Protective Direction 36
Backgrounder
New requirements
Protective Direction 36 was developed through consultations with the Railway Association of Canada (RAC), Canadian National (CN) railway, Canadian Pacific (CP) railway, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and its members. It builds on Protective Direction 32.
PD 36 requires Canadian Class I railways to provide registered municipalities with:
- dangerous goods reports twice a year immediately;
- dangerous goods reports four times a year within 24 months; and
- a standardized format for presenting data.
Dangerous goods data provided by railways to communities will include:
- information on the number of unit trains;
- percentage of railway cars transporting dangerous goods;
- information on the nature and volume; and
- number of trains.
Short line railways must continue to provide a yearly report to municipalities, which is now due on March 15 every year.
Public information
Canadian Class I railways must also now post a public report on their website with the breakdown of the top 10 dangerous goods they transport through a province, and provide a public report that communities can access.
The new Protective Direction clarifies that communities may share dangerous goods information received from a railway with emergency planners and emergency response officials within their jurisdiction or one with whom they have a joint mutual aid agreement.
The Protective Direction remains in effect until cancelled or until appropriate permanent regulations are put in place.
April 2016
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