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Vol. 136, No. 14 — July 03, 2002 Registration SOR/2002-235 13 June, 2002HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INFORMATION REVIEW ACT Regulations Amending the Hazardous Materials Information Review RegulationsP.C. 2002-1059 13 June, 2002 Whereas, pursuant to subsection 48(1) of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (see footnote a) , the Minister of Health has consulted with the government of each province and such organizations representative of workers, organizations representative of employers and organizations representative of suppliers as the Minister deemed appropriate; And whereas, pursuant to subsection 48(2) of that Act, the Minister of Health has consulted with the council governing the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission; Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Health and the Treasury Board, pursuant to section 48 of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (see footnote b) , hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations. REGULATIONS AMENDING THE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INFORMATION REVIEW REGULATIONS AMENDMENTS 1. (1) The definitions "existing claim for exemption" (see footnote 1) and "subsequent claim for exemption" (see footnote 2) in subsection 2(1) of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations (see footnote 3) are repealed. (2) Subsection 2(1) of the Regulations is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order: "original claim" means a claim for exemption filed by a claimant in respect of information relating to a controlled product, but does not include a refiled claim. (demande originale) "refiled claim" means a claim for exemption that is filed in respect of information relating to a controlled product, that is filed by the claimant who filed the original claim relating to that product, and is solely in respect of any of the information that, under subsection 19(2) of the Act, is or was previously exempt from disclosure in relation to that product. (demande représentée) 2. The heading "Chemical Identity or Concentration" (see footnote 4) before section 4 and sections 4 to 6 (see footnote 5) of the Regulations are replaced by the following: Original Claims 4. Subject to section 7, the fee required under subsection 11(3) of the Act to accompany an original claim is
Refiled Claims 5. Subject to section 7, the fee required under subsection 11(3) of the Act to accompany a refiled claim is
3. The portion of section 7 (see footnote 6) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following: 7. The fee required under subsection 11(3) of the Act to accompany a claim for exemption is one half of the fee required by section 4 or 5 if the claimant 4. Section 8 (see footnote 7) of the Regulations is replaced by the following: 8. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a claim for exemption shall be in writing and be signed and dated by the claimant, and shall contain
(2) A statement or description referred to in paragraph (1)(h) is not required to be contained in a claim for exemption if
(3) A claim for exemption submitted under subsection (1) shall not contain any false or misleading information. 5. The portion of section 9 (see footnote 8) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following: 9. A claim for exemption shall be filed 6. Section 10 (see footnote 9) of the Regulations is replaced by the following: 10. A screening officer shall assign a registry number or have a registry number assigned to a claim for exemption as soon as practicable after receiving
7. Schedules I to IV (see footnote 10) to the Regulations are repealed. COMING INTO FORCE 8. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered. REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT (This statement is not part of the Regulations.) Description These amendments to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations (HMIRR) introduce provisions that provide further clarity to user fees to be disbursed by claimants who avail themselves of the opportunity of obtaining an exemption, under the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (HMIRA), to disclose information which is otherwise required to be disclosed by law. While the present regulations allow for an exemption and a fee schedule, the new amendments, which are part of the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commissions' overall renewal, include client suggestions to improve service delivery by simplifying the fee structure and reducing the amount of information to be submitted in support of a claim. The regulations provide for a new fee schedule for filing and refiling of both single or grouped claims. The complex grouping criteria currently in existence is being replaced, for fee purposes, with a simpler flat fee approach based on the notion that a group of claims filed at the same time will qualify for a progressive reduction in the fee payable per claim. Claims will be categorized as original or refiled and definitions will be amended accordingly. Original claims for exemption will be governed by one fee schedule while refiled claims for exemption (claims being filed for a second time, or more) will be subject to a distinct and lower fee schedule. Under the present regulations, claimants benefit from a volume discount fee when filing numerous claims simultaneously. In order to ensure that claimants retain this advantage under the new regulations, a three tiered fee structure was developed allowing claimants to benefit from reduced fees when filing or refiling numerous claims at once. Claimants will also retain the existing fee reduction for small businesses. The proposed fee schedule
The amendments will also provide for a non fee related initiative: the reduction of the current requirements relating to the provision of information in support of a claim for exemption. This will be achieved by reducing the amount of information to be provided upfront by claimants, upon filing an original claim or upon refiling a claim. The reduced requirements represent the minimum supporting information required to allow the decision-maker to assess the validity of a claim while still meeting statutory requirements. For those exceptional cases where the information provided under the new Regulations will prove to be insufficient, the decision-maker will have the ability to request additional information under the HMIRA. Schedule 1, Form 1 of the regulations is being removed from the regulatory realm to allow for greater administrative flexibility and efficiency, which will benefit the claimants. All other schedules are being repealed because the amendments renders them obsolete. Alternatives Three possible methods to implement a new user fees schedule were identified: 1. By policy; 2. By amendment to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Regulations; and 3. By amendment to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act. The first method was considered but it was decided that the fee schedule restrictions should remain part of the regulations. The second method consisting in amendments to the regulations was adopted. The third method was not adopted because regulatory amendments were deemed sufficient to address the issues raised. Benefits and Costs Benefits The amendments will be in lign with Treasury Board Cost Recovery and Charging Policy. The new fee structure will benefit claimants as it will allow for reduced fees and for simpler fee calculation as well as provide simplified grouping opportunities. Industry will also benefit from the modifications aimed at reducing the requirements for the provision of supporting information when filing a claim, as the new provisions will accelerate and simplify claim preparation. Labour representatives will also benefit from this initiative because the reduction of costs and of claim preparation time for industry will translate in a higher rate of claimant participation and impact positively on occupational health and safety of workers. Costs Most of the costs for the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission are fixed costs. While most claimants will see their costs diminished, which will result in a revenue reduction on a per claim basis, the projected number of claims filed is increasing sufficiently to off set revenue losses, as confirmed by the number of claims for 1999/00 (394) , 2000/01 (305), and 2001/02 (300 with two months remaining to the fiscal year). Therefore, this proposal will only result in a modest net cost increase to the Commission, due to operating efficiencies from greater claimant compliance and increasing number of claims. Table 1: Net Impact of Proposed new Fee Structure On Commission Revenue
Table 2: Comparative Charts — Current vs. New Fee Schedule
Consultation The Commission is governed by a Council of Governors (Council), consisting of members representing labour, industry (suppliers and employers) and the federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Commission consulted extensively with its stakeholders and involved them in all steps leading to the proposed revised fee schedule. Already, during the Commission's renewal initiative, stakeholders had reiterated their position on the issue of fees: fees needed to be simplified and reduced. As a result, consultations with claimants and Treasury Board's cost recovery policy group were undertaken and a draft conceptual framework was presented to Council and unanimously endorsed. After Council endorsement, the Commission conducted a detailed analysis of claim profiles utilizing actual claim filings and put together a business case for the development of a fee proposal. This fee proposal was then forwarded to claimants for consultation. The Commission used a series of tools to gain input from its claimants, which included mailing and faxing the fee proposal to all claimants, meeting with stakeholder groups and holding consultation sessions, providing slide presentations and engaging in direct telephone contact with claimants. At the end of the consultation period, all feedback was analyzed. Over 75% of all active claimants responded and the comments received revealed that all claimants fully supported HMIRC's initiative. Based on claimant feedback, some minor adjustments were made to the distributed draft fee schedule to further address concerns of companies submitting larger groups of claims under the current fee schedule. More specifically, the threshold for grouping of claims was lowered from 20 to15, a second tier introduced for groups of 16-25 claims, and a third tier was added for 25 claims and over. These changes were also incorporated into a presentation to Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) officials to discuss the consultation results, the resulting fee schedule proposal and any required material revision. TBS officials were satisfied with our consultation process and final proposal. Labour representatives are very supportive of the initiative, as they believe that a reduction of costs for industry will translate in a higher rate of claimant participation and impact positively on occupational health and safety of workers. Council was presented with the final proposal and unanimously endorsed the new fee structure. In the development of the proposed regulations, the Minister consulted with industry, labour, federal, provincial and territorial governments, as represented by HMIRC's Council of Governors. The proposed amendments were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on April 13, 2002 and were simultaneously posted on the Commission's Website. No representations were made following the pre-publication. Adverse Reaction Reporting There was no reaction to the pre-publication of these amendments. Compliance and Enforcement Unchanged enforcement policy. Contact Me Josée Potvin Director of Regulatory Affairs and Appeals Division Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission 427 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 700 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1M3 Telephone: (613) 993-4429 FAX: (613) 993-5016 E-mail: josee_potvin@hc-sc.gc.ca R.S., c. 24 (3rd Supp.), Part III R.S., c. 24 (3rd Supp.), Part III SOR/91-419 SOR/91-419 SOR/88-456 SOR/88-510 SOR/93-234; SOR/91-419 SOR/91-419 SOR/93-234 SOR/93-234 SOR/91-419 SOR/93-234; SOR/91-419 |
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