3. REQUESTS FOR REGULATORY ACTION
(INVOKING CARAC)

3.1 General

Anyone may request the CARAC to consider issuing, amending or revoking a regulation, standard or advisory material. Accordingly, the following details the procedures for "Invoking CARAC". These procedures are illustrated in Appendix 13.

Anyone wishing to "Invoke CARAC" shall do so, in writing, to

Transport Canada
Civil Aviation
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0N8
Attn.: Chief, Regulatory Affairs (AARBH)

Requests are to be accompanied by appropriate documentation in order to ensure a prompt and concise review of the proposal. The following details the information that should be provided:

• historical and technical background;
• the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal containing any information, views or arguments available to the petitioner to support the action sought, including reasons why the granting of the request would be in the interest of aviation safety or the public;
• the expected impact on aviation safety and the environment;
• where possible, consideration of the approach of other aviation authorities to the same issue;
• the anticipated economic impact; and
• any other related material.

3.2 Secretariat

For each request received, the Secretariat, on behalf of CARC, will

• acknowledge receipt of the request and forward it to the Executive Director who has functional authority for the issue within Transport Canada.

3.3 Executive Director

Upon receipt of a request provided by the Secretariat, the Executive Director will

• determine the proposal’s merit by reviewing the documentation provided;
• determine the proposal’s compatibility with existing regulations, standards or advisory material;
• obtain technical inputs from specialists on specific issues; and
• notify the petitioner(s) of the subsequent proposed actions with respect to the request within 30 days.

As a result, the Executive Director may

• direct his/her staff to generate an NPA for Technical Committee consideration, where there is departmental agreement with the request;
• add the request as an agenda item for Technical Committee discussion. The Technical Committee can then recommend that an NPA be prepared to process the change, the issue be referred to a Working Group, an alternative or non-regulatory solution be developed or the request be denied. In the latter case, the petitioner may request that CARC reconsider the Technical Committee recommendation (the Executive Director will ensure that proposed agenda items are appropriately analyzed before being added to the Technical Committee’s agenda);
• request CARC to consider the request, especially in cases when new policies or unusual circumstances may result; or
• deny the request by the petitioner to have the proposal considered by the Technical Committee. Accordingly, the Executive Director will advise the Secretariat to notify the petitioner. In such cases, an appeal may be submitted in writing to the CARAC Secretariat for consideration by CARC.

3.4 Civil Aviation Regulatory Committee (CARC)

In cases where an issue is submitted for consideration, the CARC may

• direct the Executive Director to instruct his/her staff to generate an NPA for Technical Committee consideration, where there is general agreement with the request;
• direct the Executive Director to add the request as an agenda item for Technical Committee discussion as described above. Should the Technical Committee recommend that the request be denied, the petitioner may not request that CARC reconsider the Technical Committee recommendation unless new information is provided that may alter the recommendation;
• direct the Executive Director to develop or implement an alternative or non-regulatory solution; or
• direct the Executive Director to advise the petitioner that the request has been denied.

3.5 Discussion Items

When a decision is made to place a request, as a discussion item, on a Technical Committee’s agenda, the Executive Director will provide a summary of the request to the Secretariat. In addition, a preliminary analysis of the proposal in the request should also be provided to the Secretariat. The summary will include (refer to format if Appendix 14)

• the file number of the request (where applicable);
• the regulatory reference;
• the subject title;
• the name of the petitioner;
• a description of the general nature of the request;
• a justification (as presented in the request for instituting rule-making procedures);
• the TCCA position in respect of the request;
• the current text; and
• the proposed new regulatory text to meet intent of the change (where possible).

3.6 Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA)

If it is determined that an NPA is to be prepared, the Executive Director will provide details of the request to the Secretariat. The NPA is Transport Canada’s administrative tool to formally announce regulatory change proposals to regulations and standards to the aviation community and, in particular, to the CARAC. NPAs will contain the following information and be presented, as illustrated in Appendix 15, to Technical Committee:

• Reference;
• English Title;
• French Title;
• Sponsor (indicate if not OPI Branch or Transport Canada);
• Language (does the change affect English, French or both languages);
• Issue;
• Justification for Change (this section should, where applicable, refer to the impact of different options or provide relevant regulatory text or references found in other national regulations);
• Current Text; and
• New Text (current text shown with revision marks to indicate new text to facilitate review).

3.7 Justification for Regulatory Changes

For documents produced by CARAC, which would not be subject to publication in the Canada Gazette and thus would not require a RIAS, a substantive justification will still be required. Similar to a RIAS, the purpose of the justification is to provide background information on the development and impact of the proposal. Many of the same questions addressed in the RIAS should also be considered in the justification. It should also form part of the recommendation package presented to the CARC by the Technical Committee.

3.8 Establishment of Working Groups Following a Request for Regulatory Action

If the Technical Committee recommends the establishment of a Working Group as a result of a Request for regulatory action, then the normal Working Group procedures in Section 2.4 of Division II will be followed.

3.9 Acceptance or Denial of a Request for Regulatory Action

Requests for regulatory action assigned to CARAC, for which a recommendation for regulatory action is made by the Technical Committee and accepted by CARC, will be forwarded to the appropriate Executive Director for final drafting and submission into the regulatory process.

Requests for regulatory action assigned to CARAC, for which the Technical Committee recommends or CARC determines, after consideration, that the request does not justify instituting regulatory action, the Executive Director shall advise the Secretariat to notify the petitioner accordingly. A summary of the specifics of the denial should include the following:

• the file number of the request;
• the name of the petitioner; and
• the disposition of the request (reasons for not pursuing the request).

3.10 Alternative or Non-Regulatory Solutions

A possible outcome of Working Group recommendations, Technical Committee discussions or direction by CARC is an alternative or non-regulatory solution. It is noted that alternative or non-regulatory solutions are a priority of government as published in the Federal Regulatory Policy. They should be pursued where possible when regulatory solutions need not be considered to ensure that TCCA’s safety mandate is met.

Before implementing such alternative or non-regulatory solutions, the Executive Director will seek CARC’s concurrence to ensure that it meets the overall intent of the Civil Aviation regulatory program.

3.11 Regulation and Standard Making Process for NPAs

NPAs to regulations that receive approval as part of the CARAC process must still follow the Government of Canada’s regulatory process and be published pursuant to the Statutory Instruments Act in the Canada Gazette (refer to Appendix 16, Regulation and Standard Making Process).

NPAs to standards that are recommended for approval as part of the CARAC process follow the process for making standards. In this process, standards that are recommended by a Technical Committee, without oral or written dissent, may proceed directly to Transport Canada’s publication process.

Notwithstanding the above, if the standard is directly associated with a regulatory NPA that will be published in the Canada Gazette, the publication date of the standard will be the same as the regulation as announced in Canada Gazette, Part II (refer to Appendix 16, Regulation and Standard Making Process ).

3.11.1 Simplified Process for the Amendment of the Design Standards of Airworthiness by Adopting by Reference a Foreign Amendment

To minimize delays between the Canadian effective date and that of the FAA or JAA amendments to the Airworthiness standards, Transport Canada has accepted the Aircraft Certification Technical Committee’s recommendation that a simplified process for the amendment of the design standards of Airworthiness be adopted. The process is intended to minimize the following issues that are created by such delays:

• uncertainty from the industry on TCCA intentions toward harmonization; and
• determination of the standards in effect, in Canada, at the time of application for a Type Certificate.

Only the following standards are affected by this simplified process:

Following an internal review, TCCA, Aircraft Certification, will propose the adoption by reference of the amendment issued by the responsible authority as follows:

• the adoption by reference of the foreign amendment will be effected by a Notice titled “Notice of Proposed Amendment” (NPA). The NPA will be issued by the Secretariat and provide a 30 day time period for consultation;
• the effective date for the changes will be 30 days after the closing date of the Notice, unless a dissent is filed;
• TCCA and CARAC members are to file their dissent to the Secretariat before the end of the 30 day Notice;
• Once a dissent is received, the effective date of the proposed amendment is no longer valid. The Secretariat will immediately notify the Technical Committee members; and
• If a dissent is received, the procedure in 3.11.1.2 b), Phase II, is followed.

Information Note: 
The procedures outlined in section 9 of Division I are helpful in understanding how dissents are handled.

1. Exceptions

A notice for adoption by reference will not be issued by TCCA in the following cases:

1. TCCA either filed a reservation with the responsible authority of the NPA (JAA), NPRM (FAA), which was ignored at the final ruling process by the responsible authority or TCCA filed a difference with ICAO; or
2. In cases where the amendment is in conflict with Canadian legislation:

• TCCA will either issue an NPA; or
• advise/consult the Technical Committee at its next meeting.

1. No dissents filed
   TCCA will translate and proceed with the incorporation of the amendment into the corresponding AWM chapter. The publication of the amendment will replace the foreign text adopted by reference. The effective date for the change will be 30 days following the closing of the 30 day consultation period.
2. Dissents filed
   A dissent will automatically trigger the review by the CARC. Where the proposed changes in the dissent
   (amended 2002/10/23)
   • are significant enough to justify a difference with the FAA, the JAA or the ICAO, the CARC may recommend that
     1. an NPA be developed following the CARAC amendment process for presentation at a Technical Committee meeting; or
     2. a new NPA is to replace, in part or in full, the Adoption by Reference Notice, resulting in a revised Adoption by Reference Notice to be submitted with a new effective date.
   • are not significant enough to justify a difference with the FAA, the JAA or the ICAO, or when a proposed change in the dissent is rejected, the Secretariat will advise the proponent of the dissent and will inform the Technical Committee members of the new effective date of the proposed amendment. In accordance with the procedure for dissents found in section 9 of Division I, the dissents and summary of their disposition by the CARC will be provided to Technical Committee members at the next routine meeting of the Technical Committee.