CTA Calls On Government to
Ease Hurdles to Proposed Fuel Waiver Regulation
Good first step but some regulatory
language needs to be adjusted
(Ottawa, May 6, 2008) -- The federal government has
proposed an amendment to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) that
would allow the use of temporary fuel waivers during times of short-term supply
constraints. In its comments on the proposal to Environment Canada, the Canadian
Trucking Alliance (CTA) was supportive of the general purpose of the proposed
action, but recommended changes to the regulatory text, which in its current
form may not allow government to act quickly enough to bring needed relief to
the trucking industry, which is the major consumer of diesel fuel in Canada.
According to CTA chief executive officer David
Bradley, “governments need to act quickly in times of significant
temporary fuel shortages. The current language contained in CEPA prevents
regulators from implementing supply solutions that override legislated
restrictions on the quality of fuel that may be used by the trucking industry.
The proposed regulation by Environment Canada recognizes the need for government
to take an active role in relieving supply shortages, but the proposal still
contains barriers to action that need to be addressed.”
Specifically, CTA is concerned that by making the
authority to issue a waiver contingent on the declaration of an emergency by the
federal or provincial government, the proposed regulation sets an impractically
high threshold.
“Emergencies are declared only in rare and
exceptional cases. It is CTA’s understanding that from a legal
perspective, it is highly unlikely that events such as those experienced in
central Canada in 2007, would have qualified as an emergency situation. At that
time, for a period of several weeks a significant diesel fuel shortage resulted
from the combined impact of a refinery outage and national rail strike. It was
certainly an urgent situation for the trucking industry, but probably would not
have met the criteria for an emergency set out in the current fuel waiver
proposal,” added Bradley.
In a related submission, CTA recommended that on a
priority basis, the government, along with the trucking industry, petroleum
marketers and other directly affected stakeholders, begin discussions aimed at
developing a workable contingency plan to ensure a minimum acceptable supply of
on-road diesel fuel in times of local or regional supply disruptions such as
those experienced in 2007. This type of planning will become even more crucial
in the next four to five years, as emerging engine technologies will make it
virtually impossible for trucks to burn off-road diesel fuel in the manner
contemplated by the fuel waiver proposal now under consideration.
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About CTA --
The Canadian Trucking Alliance is a
federation of provincial trucking associations. We represent a broad
cross-section of the trucking industry—some 4,500 carriers,
owner-operators and industry suppliers.
With our head office in Ottawa and
provincial association offices in Langley, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto,
Montreal and Moncton, CTA represents the industry’s viewpoint on national
and international policy, regulatory and legislative issues that affect
trucking.
www.cantruck.ca
Source: CTA
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