CARs Update
By Brian Whitehead
June 1999
It's been over two years now since the first Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR) dealing with maintenance issues came into force, and a situation report might now be in order. I think it's fair to say that, by and large, the new rules have been welcomed by most in our industry — Maintenance and Manufacturing Branch certainly receives lots of positive feedback. When dealing with a subject as complex as ours, you can never satisfy all points of view, but the number of complaints is reassuringly low. One common criticism relates to the time taken to implement changes. Admittedly, it often takes longer than we would like to promulgate an amendment, but everything is relative — what seems slow to us would look like lightning speed in some regulatory systems.
The time from first inception of a new requirement to its implementation varies according to the complexity of the topic, but it can go from a low of around six months to a high of three years. Introduction of the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC) has speeded things up greatly, but CARAC does not replace the established system, it merely supplements it. Roughly speaking, aviation rulemaking involves two distinct stages: consultation with the interest groups most directly affected, and establishment and formal implementation of the basic policy through the legislative process. CARAC has had an extremely beneficial effect on the first stage, not only in streamlining the process, but also in ensuring the maximum participation of affected groups.
By any measure, CARAC would have to be seen as a success. I am constantly impressed by the professionalism of the industry participants in the Technical Committee meetings and working groups, as they balance the interests of their own constituents with those of the industry as a whole. Most maintenance issues are settled in only one or two Technical Committee meetings. The more complex topics are referred to specialist working groups, but even the working groups can usually arrive at a recommendation within two or three meetings. If the topic is a standard, which among other things means it cannot control conduct by creating a chargeable offense, agreement at the Technical Committee stage effectively ends the process. The new standard will be published with the next scheduled amendment.
If the change involves a regulation, the formal legislative process then kicks in. The proposal goes through a system of review to ensure it is legally and constitutionally sound and in keeping with government policy. Finally, it is submitted for comments from the public at large, through the Canada Gazette.
During this part of the process, aviation regulations must compete for priority with other initiatives across the whole range of law making. What may seem important to us in the world of aviation, may turn out to have quite a low priority when competing with legislation on the environment, agriculture, or fisheries, for example. It is in this later stage that we experience delays and there is not much that can be done to change this. The system is designed to avoid putting too much power in the hands of bureaucrats, and it's part of the price we pay for living in a democracy.
The good news is the CARs have been designed to keep the regulations as simple and objective as possible. Wherever possible, the material that is most subject to change has been located in the standards. Introduction of the regulations themselves is now almost complete. A first round of minor changes will be needed to "fine tune" the rules and correct the inevitable minor glitches, but once those adjustments are made, the great bulk of future amendments should be restricted to the standards, with accompanying benefits in response time.
Before we get to that happy state of affairs, three major topic areas still need attention. The first, and probably the area of most direct interest to readers, is AME licensing. The new licensing standards have now been fully consulted and drafted in both official languages. The system awaits only the completion of essential Y2K testing on the associated new database, before it can be introduced. Other than mentioning that we should see the new licences issued this year, I will say no more on this topic, as my colleague Tony Soulis will be explaining the entire system in detail in a forthcoming column.
CAR 561 Manufacturing, and its associated standards, is in the final stages of CARAC consultation. A few remaining issues need to be resolved, but there is consensus on the great majority of the proposals, and we have high hopes of completing the industry consultation and submitting the draft for legal review following the next meeting.
Among other things, the new regulations will clarify the circumstances under which Approved Maintenance Organizations can make aeronautical products as a part of their maintenance activities, without the need to hold a Manufacturer Certificate. This change alone should significantly lesson the burden on both Transport Canada and the industry.
Finally, CAR 563 Distributors, will complete the introduction of the Maintenance and Manufacturing CARs. These regulations have not yet been drafted, other than an initial transfer of the existing Airworthiness Manual material into CARs format. Additional changes will be needed to make the distributor requirements compatible with the existing regulations. A working group will likely be formed this summer, to make recommendations on the policy to be applied to distributors. With any luck, draft regulations should be ready for submission to the Technical Committee by the autumn.
Other events that could lead to regulatory change in the near future include negotiations with other national authorities on the harmonization of rules and the acceptance of each other's products and services. One example is the proposed new standard for an internationally recognized release form, variously known as the FAA form 8130-3, JAR form 1, and Transport Canada form 24-0078. While the authorities involved have agreed in principle, several details remain to be settled before the forms can be fully implemented as first envisaged.
With the CARs finally complete and the fine tuning mentioned earlier taken care of, the emphasis in future will be on the development of more comprehensive standards. Initially, the standards were deliberately left lean to allow industry time to adjust to the new regulatory format and appreciate the flexibility it provides. Once things have shaken down, we will concentrate on providing more detail, while still maintaining the principle of regulation by objective, or to use the currently popular phrase, performance-based regulation.
