By: Sydney Sybydlo
This is a list of select proposed EHS regulatory changes in Canada, the United States, and the European Union. Nimonik monitors EHS legislation, regulations and standards in over 30 countries and 400 jurisdictions. If you would like to track EHS legislation in specific regions, jurisdictions or countries, we are happy to help. Please send us a request for more information here and we will get in touch shortly.
Canada
- Federal – Publication after assessment of 12 substances in the Phenylpropanoids and Aldehydes Group specified on the Domestic Substances List (section 77 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999)
- Federal – Bill C-375 – An Act to amend the Impact Assessment Act (federal-provincial agreements)
- Federal – Bill C-382 – An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act (extra-energy-efficient products)
- Federal – Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds (Storage and Loading of Volatile Petroleum Liquids) Regulations
- Federal – Canada Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations
- Manitoba – Wildfire Regulation
- New Brunswick – Amendments to the General Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act
- Ontario – New regulation to focus municipal environmental assessment requirements
United States
- National Wildlife Refuge System; Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health
- Emergency Response Standard
- Listing of Specific PFAS as Hazardous Constituents
- National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Lime Manufacturing Plants Amendments
European Union
- No newsworthy proposals this month.
Canada – Federal
Publication after assessment of 12 substances in the Phenylpropanoids and Aldehydes Group specified on the Domestic Substances List (section 77 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999)
Published Date: 3 February 2024
Industry Sector: Chemicals Industry, Food Industry
The Government of Canada has announced its intention to add bay oil, tarragon oil, jasmine oil, perfumes and essences of jasmin, violet oil and lilial to the list of toxic substances to regulate them as such.
According to the government, these substances “are generally used as fragrance ingredients in cosmetics, drugs including natural health products (NHPs), cleaning products, and air fresheners, including do-it-yourself (DIY) use of these substances to create some of these products. Some of them are also present in pest control products as formulants. In addition, some of them occur naturally in food and may be used as food flavouring agents.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 3 April 2024.
Additional information is available here.
Bill C-375 – An Act to amend the Impact Assessment Act (federal-provincial agreements)
Published Date: 12 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry
The Government of Canada has introduced a proposal that would allow the federal and provincial governments to exempt certain projects from the impact assessment requirements if certain conditions are met.
Impact assessments are generally required for projects that are likely to cause environmental, health, social or economic effects and involve various research, reporting, consultation, and mitigation steps.
The change would be made by amending the Impact Assessment Act.
Additional information is available here.
Bill C-382 – An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act (extra-energy-efficient products)
Published Date: 14 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The Government of Canada has announced its intention to provide tax breaks on extra-energy-efficient products.
The change would exempt such products (specific classes of household appliances, air conditioners, condensing units and chillers, heat pumps, furnaces and recovery ventilators, electric boilers and water heaters, lamps and lamp ballasts, lighting fixtures, electronic products, and motors) from the goods and services tax and provide a tax credit for the purchase of such products.
A product would be considered “extra-energy-efficient” if, among other potential conditions, “the product or class of products [exceed], by at least 10%, the energy efficiency standard that applies to it under the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016.”
The changes would be made by amending the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act.
Additional information is available here.
Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds (Storage and Loading of Volatile Petroleum Liquids) Regulations
Published Date: 24 February 2024
Industry Sector: Utilities & Communications, Oil & Gas
The Government of Canada has announced its intention to publish rules designed to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds by petroleum liquid storage tanks and loading racks. According to the government, the rules would “establish equipment-based requirements for new and existing volatile petroleum liquid storage tanks and loading operations at petroleum and petrochemical facilities (hereinafter referred to as ‘regulated facilities’) located in Canada.” Operators of regulated facilities would be required to:
– “install emissions control equipment on storage tanks and loading equipment;
– “implement an inspection and repair process; and
– “undertake record-keeping and reporting activities.”
The rules would be implemented by new regulations, the Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds (Storage and Loading of Volatile Petroleum Liquids) Regulations.
Interested parties may submit comments until 24 April 2024.
Additional information is available here.
Canada Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations
Published Date: 24 February 2024
Industry Sector: Utilities & Communications
Canada’s Department of Natural Resources has announced its intention to develop safety, security, and environmental protection rules for offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects. According to the government, the rules would “outline the requirements of an application for an authorization to carry out work or activities related to a project, the conditions of an authorization that must be met by an operator before the authorized work or activities can commence, and the ongoing requirements that an operator must meet while carrying out the authorized work or activity.”
These rules would be implemented by new regulations, the Canada Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations.
Interested parties may submit comments until 25 March 2024.
Additional information is available here.
Manitoba
Wildfire Regulation
Published Date: 26 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry
The Government of Manitoba has announced its intention to develop safety requirements for industrial and other operations occurring in burning permit areas. According to the government, the rules would establish safety requirements generally and “[restrict] the use, handling and storage of incendiary and other ammunition, fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, and exploding targets within the burning permit areas, as wall [regulate] outdoor.”
Interested parties are invited to submit comments and/or complete a survey about the proposed rules.
Additional information is available here and here.
New Brunswick
Amendments to the General Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act
Published Date: 7 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The Government of New Brunswick has announced its intention to update workplace health and safety rules. Notable changes would require employers to establish codes of practice for hearing conservation and respiratory protective equipment, where applicable and would set out the information to be included in those codes as well as rules concerning the review and update of the codes.
The changes would establish rules governing the safe use of abrasive blasting and high-pressure washing tools, safe demolition activities, including managing hazardous materials and substances, the quality of manufactured scaffold plants and bracket scaffolds, rules for seismic blasting operations, and specific rules for radiation safety, including for X-ray equipment operators and nuclear energy workers, as well as exposure limits.
Other changes would introduce specific rules for the provision of toilet facilities “if the toilets are of a chemical, a self-contained portable or other similar type” based on the number of employees on-site at any given time, require outdoor employee eating areas to have hand cleaning and drying facilities and garbage receptacles, update the versions of various standards incorporated by reference, and make minor updates to hazardous materials handling rules.
The changes would be made by amending the General Regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Interested parties may submit comments until 3 April 2024.
Additional information is available here.
Ontario
New regulation to focus municipal environmental assessment requirements
Published Date: 17 February 2024
Industry Sector: Utilities & Communications, Public Administration & Institutions
The Government of Ontario has announced its intention to develop an environmental assessment program “for municipal infrastructure that puts the focus on certain water, shoreline and sewage system projects” that are led by municipalities.
According to the government, the program would be comprised of two main components: the Project List (which describes the projects that will be subject to the program) and the Municipal Project Assessment Process (or MPAP, which establishes “requirements for consultation, consideration of alternative designs, impact assessment studies, documentation and notification”).
These changes would be made by enacting a new regulation under the Environmental Assessment Act and revoking the Designation and Exemption – Private Sector Developers regulation.
Interested parties may submit comments until 17 March 2024.
Additional information is available here and here.
United States
National Wildlife Refuge System; Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health
Published Date: 2 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has announced its intention to introduce rules to further the protection of “the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health (BIDEH) of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System)”.
According to the Service, new rules would “provide a consistent framework within which refuge managers would consider potential management actions that may affect BIDEH [and] more specific direction for certain management activities that the Service has identified as having a particular propensity to affect BIDEH.”
Changes would also “[define what it means to ensure BIDEH on refuges [and promote management of the Refuge System as an interconnected network of lands and waters with functioning ecological processes to maintain the composition, activity, and resilience of the Refuge System over time.” Various definitions would be added or updated and a “Refuge System-wide directive for maintaining BIDEH in refuge management” would be added, “[creating] a framework with which refuge managers can determine and implement management activities.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 4 March 2024.
Additional information is available here.
Emergency Response Standard
Published Date: 5 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry, Public Administration & Institutions
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced its intention “to issue a new safety and health standard, titled Emergency Response, to replace the existing Fire Brigade Standard.”
According to OSHA, the Emergency Response standard “would address a broader scope of emergency responders and would include programmatic elements to protect emergency responders from a variety of occupational hazards.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 6 May 2024.
Additional information is available here and here.
Listing of Specific PFAS as Hazardous Constituents
Published Date: 8 February 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to add nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), their salts, and isomers to its list of hazardous constituents under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The substances in question are “perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimer acid (HFPO–DA or GenX), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA).”
According to the EPA, “when corrective action requirements are imposed at a facility, these PFAS would be among the hazardous constituents expressly identified for consideration in RCRA facility assessments and, where necessary, further investigation and cleanup through the RCRA corrective action process at RCRA treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2024.
Additional information is available here and here.
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Lime Manufacturing Plants Amendments
Published Date: 9 February 2024
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating its proposal for updated National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) applicable to lime manufacturing plants. The changes would revise “the proposed emission limits for [hydrogen chloride], mercury, organic [hazardous air pollutants], and [dioxin/furans] based on additional information gathered” since the initial proposal in January 2023.
Interested parties may submit comments until 11 March 2024.
Additional information is available here and here.
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