Significant investments in all types of infrastructure have seen a multitude of projects across our province, and the hydroexcavation industry has been at the forefront of this work.
Hydroexcavation is a safe, cost-effective, reliable, all-seasons means of excavation to build, maintain or perform repairs on buried infrastructure. Ontario’s utility companies, transit operators, road authorities, municipalities and the Government of Ontario itself have come to rely upon this technology for its many merits.
The HydroVac Alliance of Ontario (HVAO), in operation since July 2014, has over 40 member companies, representing over half of the hydroexcavators in operation in Ontario as well as manufacturers and dealers. We are a group of industry members, large and small, coming together to share best practices and, most critically, to speak as a group on issues of common interest.
THE FOCUS
From the outset, the focus of HVAO’s work has been to ensure that the government of Ontario’s policies, as they pertain to hydroexcavators, are informed by industry expertise. The need to do so was, and remains, urgent. In its 2014 budget, the Ontario government announced a plan to make changes to the Highway Traffic Act to modernize the treatment of road building machines. Hydroexcavators as well as mobile cranes, concrete pumpers and others will be affected by Ontario’s plan to make changes in this area.
The government’s plan carries the risk of potentially significant operating cost increases for both hydroexcavator operators and the industry’s stakeholders. The government’s budget proposal means new licensing requirements, increased fuel costs and potentially a range of operating restrictions. The impact on our businesses and our customers could be severe.
In summer 2014, we had seven founding members and a significant challenge facing us in the form of the government’s budget initiative. With planning and a significant time and monetary commitment by our executive members, a good deal has changed since then. Membership has grown: HVAO now has more than 40 firms, including 11 executive committee members. Just as critically, we have established the HVAO as the responsible voice of the hydrovac industry.
OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
HVAO embarked on a comprehensive outreach campaign to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) as well as a number of other government ministries that would be impacted by the traffic act changes affecting the use of hydroexcavators in the province. Our goal is to ensure that any government policy changes affecting hydroexcavators recognize the unique attributes of the machines and the important role they play. Policy changes may happen from time to time, but we believe these changes must be fully informed.
The relationship we have sought to develop with government reflects the values we have as an organization — namely that HVAO member companies are responsible businesses that share a commitment to safety and to the communities in which we work. We have not sought to be contrary or confrontational but instead have engaged in constructive and informed conversation. In this context, while it is not our first choice, we have recognized and accepted that increased registration fees and fuel costs are likely in our future. At the same time, we have argued strongly that other possible changes the government is considering will produce unnecessary costs and interfere with the maintenance and building of infrastructure.
PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
To its credit, the government appears to be listening. In August 2015, it deferred implementation of its 2014 budget measure by one year to January 2017 to allow more time for further consultations with industry.
That time is needed because there remains many issues to work out. How those issues are resolved will affect HVAO member companies and our customers. The treatment of existing hydroexcavators is one example of the remaining issues. Hydroexcavators operating today in Ontario were acquired under existing rules. Those rules allowed the design, length, width and capacity of our existing machines to vary. That rule may go away with these new rules.
More fundamentally, we continue to be concerned about the operating regime in the future. Hydroexcavators are, according to independent statistics, the safest method of excavation around vulnerable underground infrastructure. It is in nobody’s interest to see the cost of hydroexcavation services increase to the point that other, less safe forms of excavation are used.
We are entering a critical phase of consultations with the MTO regarding the traffic act changes affecting our industry. We have a degree of confidence that other ministries are aware of the adverse consequences of poorly conceived changes. The HVAO has crafted what we consider to be fair and reasonable positions across many issues. The HVAO will work diligently to make the case for these positions.
The HVAO requires ongoing support in this crucial phase from the hydroexcavation sector and other affected stakeholders in order to achieve the sought after win-win outcomes. Please help us by joining the HVAO today!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barry Wood, the CEO of Ontario Excavac, is the chair of the HydroVac Alliance of Ontario. He can be reached at 416/749-0005 or bwood@excavac.ca. For more information on HVAO, go to www.hvaontario.com.
