Vol. 143, No. 51 — December 19, 2009

Order Amending the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order

Statutory authority

Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act

Sponsoring department

Department of Transport

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issue and objectives

The Shipping Safety Control Zones Order prescribes certain areas of the arctic waters as shipping safety control zones. Shipping safety control zones are prescribed for several purposes, including the making of regulations to prevent pollution via the control of navigation of vessels in arctic waters. In accordance with subsection 11(1) of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act (AWPPA), the Governor in Council may, by order, prescribe as a shipping safety control zone any area of the arctic waters that is specified in the order. In accordance with section 12 of the Act, the Governor in Council may make regulations, applicable to ships of any class specified, setting standards for any ship of that class when navigating within any shipping safety control zone, and prohibiting any ship of that class from navigating within any shipping safety control zone unless it complies with those standards.

The proposed Order Amending the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order would bring the existing shipping safety control zones in line with the new, expanded definition of arctic waters (not including rivers, lakes and other fresh waters which the new definition includes), as amended by Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, which received Royal Assent on June 11, 2009.

Description and rationale

The objective of the proposed amendments to the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order is to align the Order with the amended AWPPA (with the exception of rivers, lakes and other fresh waters which the new definition includes). The amendment to the definition of arctic waters in the AWPPA is intended to

• help protect the environment;
• make the AWPPA consistent with other Canadian Acts respecting the outward sea boundary;
• be consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);
• clarify the framework for future economic development in Canada’s 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone;
• demonstrate Canada’s commitment to Arctic environmental stewardship; and
• strengthen the exercise of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.

The proposed consequential regulatory amendments to the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order would extend the Seaward (outer) Boundary of the shipping safety control zones to the outer limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone, which is the extent of the new definition of “arctic waters” under the recently amended AWPPA.

Shipping Safety Control Zones 1, 9, 10, 13 and 15 would be affected, as follows: Zone 1, to the northwest of the arctic archipelago, would increase by roughly 400 000 km²; Zone 9 would increase by roughly 65 000 km²; Zone 10 would increase by roughly 15 000 km²; Zone 13 would increase by roughly 5 000 km²; and Zone 15 would increase by roughly 100 000 km², for a total of approximately 500 000 km² to 600 000 km². For clarity, it is important to note that although the proposed Order would amend the wording of the description of Zone 4, the actual size and shape of the zone would not change. On the other hand, while the proposed Order would not amend the wording description of Zone 10 or 15, the size and shape of those zones have changed as a result of the new, expanded definition of arctic waters in the AWPPA.

Article 234 of UNCLOS states that “Coastal States have the right to adopt and enforce non-discriminatory laws and regulations for the prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution from vessels in ice-covered areas within the limits of the exclusive economic zone.” Therefore, the proposed amendments are consistent and compatible with international law.

The Canadian Hydraulics Centre of the National Research Council has conducted over two decades of ice research to determine the science-based limits of each shipping safety control zone. It is important to note that this amendment does not alter any of the internal limits of the shipping safety control zones.

Strategic environmental analysis

With respect to the amendment to the definition of arctic waters in the AWPPA, an environmental scan was undertaken in accordance with the criteria of Transport Canada’s Strategic Environmental Assessment Policy. As any environmental impact related to the proposed amendments to the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order will be identical to the amended AWPPA, further assessments or studies regarding environmental effects of this initiative are not likely to yield a different determination.

Costs

As there is currently no vessel traffic in the expanded area north of the existing shipping safety control zones, and all vessels currently transiting in the expanded area to the east of the existing zones comply with the regulations, this amendment will have no financial impact on Arctic shipping.

At the present time, there is no navigation in Zone 1 other than Canadian and U.S. icebreakers transiting to the area outside the Exclusive Economic Zone in order to undertake scientific work to delineate the continental shelf. Historically, there has been no commercial navigation in Zone 1. In the expanded area between Baffin Island and Greenland (Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, and the northern part of Labrador Sea), there may be approximately two-dozen ships navigating each year, plus some commercial fishing vessel activity. All of the vessels that are bound for Canadian ports or waters inside the archipelago would already have to be compliant with the current shipping safety control zone requirements and will not be affected by the extended Zones 9, 10, 13 and 15.

Consultation

As the proposed amendments to the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order are consequential to the amended AWPPA, it was determined that no further consultations were necessary.

Contact

Ross A. MacDonald
Manager, Special Projects and Arctic Shipping (AMSRP)
Transport Canada, Marine Safety
Place de Ville, Tower C
330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N5
Telephone: 613-991-3145
Fax: 613-991-4818
Email: ross.macdonald@tc.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 11(2) of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act (see footnote a), that the Governor in Council, pursuant to subsection 11(1) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed Order Amending the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order.

Interested persons may make representations to the Minister of Transport with respect to the proposed Order within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must be in writing and cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to Tia McEwan, Regulatory Services and Quality Assurance (AMSX), Marine Safety Directorate, Department of Transport, Place de Ville, Tower C, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5 (tel.: 613-998-5352; fax: 613-991-5670; e-mail: tia.mcewan@tc.gc.ca).

Ottawa, December 10, 2009

JURICA ČAPKUN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

ORDER AMENDING THE SHIPPING SAFETY CONTROL ZONES ORDER

AMENDMENTS

1. Sections 2 and 3 of the Shipping Safety Control Zones Order (see footnote 1) are replaced by the following:

2. In this Order, seaward boundary means the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone of Canada. However, where the international boundary between Canada and Greenland is less than 200 nautical miles from the baselines of the territorial sea of Canada, the international boundary shall be substituted for that outer limit.

SHIPPING SAFETY CONTROL ZONES

3. The areas of the arctic waters described in the zones set out in Schedule 1 and shown in Schedule 2, other than any rivers, lakes or other fresh waters, are hereby prescribed as shipping safety control zones.

2. The heading “SCHEDULE I” in Schedule I to the Order is replaced by the following:

SCHEDULE 1

3. The description of Zone 1 in Schedule 1 to the Order is replaced by the following:

COMMENCING at latitude 76°40′, longitude 99°00′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 76°40′, to longitude 96°25′; THENCE along a line to latitude 80°25′, longitude 88°00′; THENCE along a line to the intersection of latitude 82°00′ with the seaward boundary in Robeson Channel; THENCE along the seaward boundary northerly and southwesterly to longitude 141°00′; THENCE along meridian of longitude 141°00′ to latitude 71°20′; THENCE along a line to latitude 71°15′, longitude 137°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 71°30′, longitude 134°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 72°00′, longitude 131°30′; THENCE along a line to latitude 72°40′, longitude 131°00′; THENCE along a line to the most westerly intersection of latitude 74°20′ with the shore of Banks Island, near Cape Prince Alfred; THENCE along the northerly and northeasterly shore of Banks Island to its most easterly intersection with latitude 73°30′, near Russell Point; THENCE along a line to latitude 74°30′, longitude 112°50′; THENCE along a line to latitude 75°30′, longitude 106°10′; THENCE along a line to latitude 75°50′, longitude 99°00′; THENCE along meridian of longitude 99°00′ to the point of commencement.

4. The description of Zone 4 in Schedule 1 to the Order is replaced by the following:

COMMENCING at latitude 70°30′, longitude 141°00′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 70°30′, to longitude 138°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 72°00′, longitude 127°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 73°30′, longitude 125°00′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 73°30′, to its most westerly intersection with the shore of Banks Island, near Bernard Island; THENCE along the westerly shore of Banks Island to its most westerly intersection with latitude 74°20′, near Cape Prince Alfred; THENCE along a line to latitude 72°40′, longitude 131°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 72°00′, longitude 131°30′; THENCE along a line to latitude 71°30′, longitude 134°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 71°15′, longitude 137°00′; THENCE along a line to latitude 71°20′, longitude 141°00′; THENCE along meridian of longitude 141°00′ to the point of commencement.

5. The description of Zone 9 in Schedule 1 to the Order is replaced by the following:

COMMENCING at the most easterly intersection of latitude 66°35′ with the shore of Baffin Island, near Cape Dyer; THENCE along parallel of latitude 66°35′ to the seaward boundary in Davis Strait; THENCE along the seaward boundary to latitude 73°35′ in Baffin Bay; THENCE along a line to the most easterly intersection of latitude 72°30′ with the shore of Baffin Island, near Cape Macculloch; THENCE along the easterly shore of Baffin Island to the point of commencement.

6. The description of Zone 13 in Schedule 1 to the Order is replaced by the following:

COMMENCING at the intersection of latitude 76°30′ with the seaward boundary in Baffin Bay; THENCE along a line to latitude 75°00′, longitude 82°00′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 75°00′ to longitude 95°00′; THENCE along meridian of longitude 95°00′ to latitude 73°45′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 73°45′ to longitude 87°00′; THENCE along meridian of longitude 87°00′ to latitude 70°50′; THENCE along parallel of latitude 70°50′ to longitude 84°00′; THENCE along a line to the most easterly intersection of latitude 72°30′ with the shore of Baffin Island, near Cape Macculloch; THENCE along a line to the intersection of latitude 73°35′ with the seaward boundary in Baffin Bay; THENCE along the seaward boundary to the point of commencement.

7. The note at the end of Schedule 1 to the Order is replaced by the following:

Note:

In the descriptions of the shipping safety control zones set out above,

(a) all lines are the shortest lines between points named, unless otherwise specified;

(b) “shore” means the upper limit of the shore; and

(c) the geographical names are based on the Atlas of Canada, published by the Department of Natural Resources.

8. Schedule II to the Order is replaced by the Schedule 2 set out in the schedule to this Order.

COMING INTO FORCE

9. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

SCHEDULE
(Section 8)

SCHEDULE 2
(Section 3)

SHIPPING SAFETY CONTROL ZONES

[51-1-o]

Footnote a
R.S., c. A-12

Footnote 1
C.R.C., c. 356

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