Railway Relocation and Crossing Act

An Act to facilitate the relocation of railway lines or rerouting of railway traffic in urban areas and to provide financial assistance for work done for the protection, safety and convenience of the public at railway crossings Short title This Act may be cited as the Railway Relocation and Crossing Act. Definitions In this Act, Agency means the Canadian Transportation Agency; (Office) railway crossing means any railway crossing of a highway or highway crossing of a railway and any manner of construction of the railway or highway by the elevation or depression of the one above or below the other, or by the diversion of the one or the other, and any work ordered or authorized by the Agency to be provided as one work for the protection, safety and convenience of the public in respect of one or more railways with as many tracks crossing or crossed as the Agency in its discretion determines; (croisement de chemin de fer) transportation plan means a plan for the control of transportation within a defined area proposing as of some specific time the layout of any streets, highways, bridges, railway lines, railway crossings at level or at grade separations, bus routes, rapid transit lines, railway stations, bus terminals, rapid transit stations and wharves and airports within the defined area; (plan de transport) urban area means an area and areas adjacent thereto that are classified by Statistics Canada in its most recent census of Canada as urban; (zone urbaine) urban development plan means a plan respecting the development and use of land within or within and adjacent to an urban area whereby it is proposed to control and regulate the use of that land for purposes of industry, commerce, government, recreation, transportation, hospitals, schools, churches, residences, homes for the elderly or for other purposes or classes of users, with or without subdivisions of the various classes. (plan d’aménagement urbain) Other words and expressions Unless otherwise provided in this Act, words and expressions in this Act have the same meanings as in Parts I and III of the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act. Application to Agency Where, in respect of an area in a province that includes or comprises an urban area, in this Part called a “transportation study area”, the government of the province and all the municipalities within that area have agreed on an urban development plan and transportation plan, in this Part called an “accepted plan”, for that transportation study area, the province or a municipality may, subject to subsection 4(1), apply to the Agency for such orders as the Agency may make under section 7 or 8 and as are necessary to carry out the accepted plan. Part of urban area The Agency may receive an application in respect of a transportation study area that includes only a part of an urban area if the Agency is satisfied that the accepted plan materially affects only those municipalities located wholly or in part in the transportation study area to which the accepted plan relates. Financial assistance Subject to subsection (4) and to such regulations as the Governor in Council may make in that behalf, the Minister of Transport may authorize the payment, out of moneys appropriated by Parliament therefor, of part of the cost of preparing such one or more transportation plans in respect of a transportation study area as are desirable to consider for the transportation study area; and the Minister of Transport may authorize the payment, out of moneys appropriated by Parliament therefor, of part of the cost of preparing such one or more urban development plans in respect of a transportation study area as are desirable to consider for the transportation study area. Limitation Not more than fifty per cent of the amount of the cost of preparing urban development plans and transportation plans described in subsection (3) may be authorized for payment under that subsection. Examination of federal involvement Where an application to the Agency under subsection 3(1) is made in respect of an accepted plan that contemplates the use of federal programs established under the authority of Parliament in implementing the urban development or transportation plans forming part of the accepted plan, the application shall not be received by the Agency unless it is shown to the Agency that the Minister of Transport is satisfied that the federal programs contemplated for use in the urban development plan forming part of the accepted plan are available and would contribute significantly to the improvement of any urban area within the transportation study area in respect of which the application is made; and the Governor in Council is prepared to authorize the allocation of moneys from the moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of making relocation grants under this Part for the transportation plan forming part of the accepted plan in respect of which the application is made. Regulating priorities The Agency may, if it deems it necessary to do so, make rules for the handling of applications under subsection 3(1), and may by those rules prescribe the periods during which applications will be received by the Agency and may adopt an order of priorities governing the receipt by it of those applications. Financial plan to accompany application An application under section 3 shall contain a financial plan showing how the costs and benefits of the transportation plan included in the accepted plan are to be shared by the province, the municipalities concerned, the railways affected by the accepted plan and any other interests that may be affected thereby; how the costs of the transportation plan included in the accepted plan are to be met having regard to any amounts that may be applied thereto or recommended therefor under this Act; the dates between which any payments or transactions required by the financial plan are to be made or carried out; all financial assistance available to meet the costs of the transportation plan included in the accepted plan from all sources other than financial assistance from the Agency; and such other information as the Agency deems necessary in respect of the transportation plan included in the accepted plan. Submission to Agency of transportation plan The accepted plan, together with the financial plan, shall be filed with the Agency and the Agency may accept the transportation plan and the financial plan either as submitted or with such changes in either of them as the Agency considers necessary, if the financial plan will not, in the opinion of the Agency, either impose on any railway company affected thereby any costs and losses greater than the benefits and payments receivable by the railway company under the plan, or confer on any railway company affected thereby any benefits and payments greater than the costs and losses incurred by the railway company under the plan; the financial plan sets out the amounts that, in the opinion of the applicant, the Agency would likely apply or recommend for payment under this Act in order to carry the transportation plan into effect; when changes, if any, in the transportation plan or financial plan have been considered necessary by the Agency, the parties who prepared the accepted plan have agreed to modify that plan to the extent necessary to accord with the changes considered necessary by the Agency in the transportation plan or financial plan; and the Agency is satisfied that the financial assistance set out in the financial plan will be committed to the purposes of the transportation plan when required. Hearing Before making any order under section 7 or 8 in respect of any accepted plan, the Agency shall hold a hearing thereon. Order following approval For the purpose of carrying into effect a transportation plan accepted by the Agency under section 6, the Agency may, by order, require a railway company to cease to operate over any line within the transportation study area to which the transportation plan relates, and, if considered desirable or expedient, to remove any tracks, buildings, bridges or other structures from the land occupied by the railway company within that area. For the purpose of carrying into effect a transportation plan accepted by the Agency under section 6, the Agency may, by order, subject to any requirements imposed by or under the Railway Safety Act, require a railway company to permit the locomotives and trains of another railway company or the equipment of a rapid transit or public transit system to be operated over its lines or right-of-way within the transportation study area to which the transportation plan relates on such terms and conditions in respect of compensation as are set out in the financial plan accepted by the Agency and according to such rules as the Agency may prescribe with respect to those operations; require a railway company to operate only trains carrying such class or classes of traffic over such of its lines within the transportation study area to which the transportation plan relates as may be specified by the Agency; require a railway company to build a railway line in such location as may be specified by the Agency within the transportation study area to which the transportation plan relates, or to make any connections between such railway lines or any rapid transit or public transit systems within the transportation study area as may be specified by the Agency; or require the closing of any existing railway crossing at grade level on any railway line within the transportation study area to which the transportation plan relates if the closing thereof is required under the transportation plan accepted by the Agency. Powers to acquire land When the Agency makes an order under subsection (1) requiring a railway company to build a railway line or to make any connections between railway lines, all the provisions of law at that time applicable to the taking of land by the railway company, to its valuation and sale and conveyance to the company, and to the compensation therefor, apply to the land required for the proper carrying out of that order. Acquisition of railway land When the Agency makes an order under section 7 requiring a railway company to cease to operate over a line within a transportation study area, the Agency may recommend that the Minister of Public Works and Government Services acquire any land that is or was occupied as part of its railway undertaking by the railway company subject to such conditions as the Agency may prescribe, and the Minister of Public Works and Government Services may acquire such land by purchase or by expropriation under the Expropriation Act. Necessary laws An order under section 7 or 8 shall be issued only after the Agency is satisfied that the government of the province and each municipality that has agreed to the accepted plan have caused such laws to be passed or such orders to be made as are necessary to carry the accepted plan into effect. Power to dispose of property The Minister of Public Works and Government Services may sell or lease or otherwise dispose of any land acquired pursuant to section 9 if that disposition is consistent with the accepted plan and any conditions prescribed by the Agency with respect to the acquisition of the land by that Minister. Power to withhold funds If, after accepting a transportation plan under section 6 and making orders under section 7 or 8 in respect thereof, the Agency is given reason to believe that the provisions of the transportation plan are not being carried into effect at the times and in the manner prescribed by the plan, any amounts that may be applied or recommended for payment by the Agency under this Act may be withheld by the Agency or the Minister of Transport until the Agency is satisfied that all reasonable efforts are being made to carry the plan into effect at the times and in the manner prescribed by the plan. Recommending relocation grant When an order is made by the Agency under section 7 or 8, the Agency may recommend to the Minister of Transport that a grant, in this Part referred to as a “relocation grant”, be paid to meet part of the costs of implementing the transportation plan accepted by the Agency. Amount of relocation grant A relocation grant shall not exceed fifty per cent of the net costs of railway relocation as determined pursuant to section 15. Interest rate The Agency may, after consultation with the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Finance, establish a rate of interest to be used for the purpose of calculating the current value of items for which costs are required to be calculated for the purposes of this Part. Payment of relocation grant When a relocation grant is recommended by the Agency in respect of a transportation plan accepted by it, the Minister of Transport may, subject to such terms and conditions as he may consider necessary to effect the financial plan attached to the accepted plan in which that transportation plan was set out, authorize the payment out of moneys appropriated by Parliament therefor of an amount, not exceeding the amount limited under subsection (2), to defray part of the costs of carrying out the transportation plan. Valuation of lands Where pursuant to this Act a determination of the value of any land is required to be made by the Agency for the determination of the net costs of railway relocation, the Agency may appoint such qualified land appraisers as are necessary to determine the value of that land. Determining net cost of railway relocation The Agency shall determine the net costs of railway relocation for the purposes of this Part in accordance with the rules set out in the schedule. [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 32 (4th Supp.), s. 117] For the purposes of this schedule, costs of new railway facilities means the costs, as determined by the Agency, of any new railway facilities required to be built or provided as a result of any orders made by the Agency under section 7 or 8 of this Act to carry into effect a transportation plan accepted by the Agency, excluding the costs of any land that has been or may be acquired as a site for the new facilities and excluding the costs of any grade separations required to be built or provided as a result of any such orders; (frais afférents aux nouvelles installations ferroviaires) current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities means the current capitalized value of any railway maintenance or operating costs, as determined by the Agency, over a fifteen year period at an interest rate established pursuant to subsection 13(3) of this Act, of any railway company or companies that would follow from the use of the existing railway facilities, within the transportation study area to which a transportation plan accepted by the Agency relates, over that period if no orders had been made by the Agency under section 7 or 8 of this Act to carry that transportation plan into effect; (valeur courante des frais d’entretien et d’exploitation des installations existantes) current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities means the current capitalized value of any railway maintenance or operating costs, as determined by the Agency, over a fifteen year period at an interest rate established pursuant to subsection 13(3) of this Act, of any railway company or companies that would follow from the use of existing railway facilities that would continue to be used, within the transportation study area to which a transportation plan accepted by the Agency relates, during any part of the fifteen year period, and the use of new or improved railway facilities during that fifteen year period that would be required within that transportation study area as a result of any orders made by the Agency under section 7 or 8 of this Act to carry the transportation plan into effect; (valeur courante des nouveaux frais d’entretien et d’exploitation des installations) decrease in the value of relevant land means a decrease in the value of land owned by a railway company or companies that will result from the carrying out of any orders made by the Agency under section 7 or 8 of this Act to carry into effect a transportation plan accepted by the Agency, regardless of whether, as a consequence of any such orders, the land will pass out of railway ownership by virtue of any sale, donation or expropriation or will be acquired by a railway company or companies by virtue of any purchase, donation or expropriation; (baisse de la valeur des terrains en cause) increase in the value of relevant land means an increase in the value of land owned by a railway company or companies that will result from the carrying out of any orders made by the Agency under section 7 or 8 of this Act to carry into effect a transportation plan accepted by the Agency, regardless of whether, as a consequence of any of those orders, the land will pass out of railway ownership by virtue of any sale, donation or expropriation or will be acquired by a railway company or companies by virtue of any purchase, donation or expropriation. (hausse de la valeur des terrains en cause) The net costs of railway relocation shall be determined in accordance with the following rules: when there is a decrease in the value of the relevant land, the net costs of railway relocation shall be the amount that is equal to the aggregate of the amount of the decrease in the value of the relevant land, as determined to the satisfaction of the Agency, and the adjusted costs of new railway facilities as determined under section 3 of this schedule; when there is an increase in the value of the relevant land, the net costs of railway relocation shall be the amount, if any, remaining after deducting the amount of the increase in the value of the relevant land, as determined to the satisfaction of the Agency, from the adjusted costs of new railway facilities as determined under section 3 of this schedule; or when there is neither an increase in the value of the relevant land nor a decrease in the value of the relevant land, the net costs of railway relocation shall be the adjusted costs of new railway facilities as determined under section 3 of this schedule. The adjusted costs of new railway facilities shall be determined in the following manner: when the current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities is greater than the current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities, the adjusted costs of new railway facilities is the amount of the costs of new railway facilities plus the difference between the current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities and the current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities; when the current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities is less than the current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities, the adjusted costs of new railway facilities is the amount, if any, remaining after the difference between the current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities and the current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities is deducted from the costs of new railway facilities; and when the current value of new maintenance and operating costs of facilities equals the current value of existing maintenance and operating costs of facilities, the adjusted costs of new railway facilities shall be the amount of the costs of new railway facilities.