For Immediate Release:
October 6, 2010
SIMCOE- Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett is attributing pressure from the Opposition for amendments to new propane regulations that will keep many small filling stations in the propane business.
Amendments to propane regulations in the wake of the Sunrise Propane explosion in Toronto would have required all propane filling stations to have a risk assessment and Risk and Safety Management Plan completed by an engineer. These assessments cost $25,000 and only large refineries and nuclear power plants needed an assessment and plan prior to the regulation change. The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) required the plans to be completed by the time licenses for the refilling station are renewed in 2011.
Prior to the implementation of the new regulations, the Ontario Propane Association suggested all propane storage facilities under 5,000 gallons be exempt from the new requirements. Most refilling stations in Ontario fit in that category and only the larger depots that supply these stations will now require assessments.
“I am glad to see the Technical Standards and Safety Authority reconsidered the ramifications of its new requirements that could have had impacts on farmers, recreational trailer owners and dealers,” said Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett. “I have been contacted by concerned farmers, trailer park owners and propane filling station owners, who were worried the regulations could drive small propane dealers out of the business.”
Barrett wrote the Minister of Consumer Affairs John Gerretsen on the topic in late August. “I ask you to reconsider your decision and to adopt the suggestion from the Ontario Propane Association to exclude storage sites under 5,000 gallons from the new requirements,” the letter asked.
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629