Mr. Chair, at the beginning of the evening, a mere three hours ago, I gave the correct number when it came to the number of civil aviation oversight inspectors. I gave the incorrect number in the last round of questioning. I just want to make sure that for the purposes of the record, I am clear that in civil aviation the oversight positions numbers are 1137 and not what I said, which was the total number, 1707.
I thank the hon. member for catching me on that one and ensuring that we have the record sorted out, and I am delighted that he talked about a topic that is very important to us.
With regard to what happened in Lac-Mégantic, the first meeting I had was in Lac-Mégantic with the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, and from there I met the local mayors ten days later. The one thing that came out of it was the importance of understanding that first responders needed to have certain information and, second, that they needed to ensure that they had a communication line open with the rail companies in their area.
That is what we have been trying to do through our protective directives, the first one having to do with the information and the second one, which we just did, having to do with emergency preparedness along Canada's railway lines.
As the member pointed out, an ERAP, or emergency response assistance plan, is a formal plan. It is what industry says it will do to support first responders, the ones first on the scene in the event of an accident involving dangerous goods. Sometimes it requires special expertise and sometimes it requires special response equipment. An ERAP helps municipalities and local emergency responders by providing them with around-the-clock technical expertise and specifically trained and equipped emergency response personnel at the scene of an accident.
The ERAP describes specialized response capabilities and equipment that would be used to support response to incidents involving higher-risk dangerous goods. It addresses emergency preparedness, personnel training, response exercises, and equipment maintenance.
As the hon. member also pointed out, CANUTEC supports first responders as well. Transport Canada's 24-hour emergency centre is staffed with scientists who provide real-time information and emergency responses by the first responders following an accident or an incident, something which the municipalities told us they wanted to have.
Prior to my announcement on April 23, regulations required an ERAP for certain volatile refined fuels, such as gasoline or diesel, when there were a large number of cars in interconnected trains. The requirement did not apply to crude oil or if a smaller number of cars were transported.
ERAP requirements are now being expanded to include specific flammable liquids transported in large volumes by train. The protective directives that we put in place require shippers to develop these ERAPs for flammable liquids like crude oil, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and ethanol. An ERAP is required even when it is just a single tank. I think that is an important specific issue with respect to how we are dealing with this matter.
Industry must submit the ERAP to Transport Canada for approval within 150 days, and we have set up a task force as well to facilitate even further more recommendations that may be made by the transportation of dangerous goods general policy advisory committee's emergency response working group.
