But only the direst disregard of safety rules would cause Transport Canada to pull a certificate.
Better yet, for Canada’s 66 existing rail operators, they will have two years to complete the brief form, which Transport Canada says should take about one hour to complete. The form introduces no new safety requirements and simply attests that the railway respects existing and future rules and regulations emitted by Transport Canada.
According to the regulatory notice published in The Canada Gazette Nov. 6, 2014, “the preparation and submission of the ROC would take approximately one hour for each company to complete, with time spent divided between clerical and managerial staff (90% and 10%, respectively). The weighted average wage rate per hour is estimated to be $30. Therefore, the total administrative burden on companies is estimated to have a present value of $1,553 over a 10-year period, which corresponds to an annualized value of $221 and an average increased cost per railway of $30. There is no charge to companies to apply for a ROC.”
No supporting documentation is required. Nor will signatory CEOs be held to account for their attestations of fidelity to regulatory rules and regulations.
“The attestation affirms the CEO’s commitment to meet paragraph 3(c) of the Railway Safety Act, which recognizes the responsibility of companies to demonstrate, by using safety management systems and other means at their disposal, that they continuously manage risks related to safety matters,” Transport Canada said. “The CEO will not be held personally liable based on the attestation since it is made at a particular date and time.”
The point of the ROC is that it can be revoked by Transport Canada without resorting to court action in the event a railway violates regulations. But the government assures that such action would be taken only in extreme situations: “As a matter of policy, Transport Canada would only cancel or suspend the ROC in extreme cases where there is company-wide or chronic non-compliance or where their operation poses a serious risk to safe railway operations,” says the regulatory notice.