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
- British Columbia – Consultation on proposed amendments to Part 4 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
- Ontario – Streamlining environmental permissions for stormwater management under the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR)
- Ontario – Proposed regulatory provisions for ‘special projects’ using wells to test or demonstrate new and innovative activities, including carbon storage, and to remove well security caps and exemptions for all types of wells under this legislation going forward.
- Ontario – Proposed regulatory amendments required to implement legislative amendments made through Building More Mines Act, 2023
- Ontario – Protecting Black Ash and its habitat under the Endangered Species Act, 2007
- Quebec – Mineral substances other than petroleum, natural gas and brine—Amendment
- Quebec – Construction Code—Amendment
United States
- Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Distribution Pipelines and Other Pipeline Safety Initiatives
- Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska
- List of Fisheries for 2024
- Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States
European Union
- No newsworthy proposals this month.
Canada – British Columbia
Consultation on proposed amendments to Part 4 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
Published Date: 6 September 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
WorkSafeBC has announced its intention to update occupational health and safety rules concerning harassment and violence. According to WorkSafeBC, the changes would “include a single definition for behavioural hazards, called harassment and violence [which] states that an action may be considered harassment and violence if it can reasonably be expected to intimidate, humiliate, or offend a worker or to cause physical or psychological harm to a worker. The definition includes behaviour that harmfully targets an individuals’ personal characteristics, such as gender or race.”
Employers would be required to prepare and implement a harassment and violence prevention program that includes “a risk assessment of harassment and violence, effective measures to eliminate or minimize that risk, written policies and procedures, and training for supervisors and workers.”
Related administrative and reporting requirements would also be introduced for the resolution of investigations of complaints of harassment and violence.
The changes would be made by amending the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
Interested parties may submit comments until 30 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Canada – Ontario
Streamlining environmental permissions for stormwater management under the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR)
Published Date: 31 August 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has announced its intention to develop new rules governing the registration of stormwater management works on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR). According to the government, the rules would:
- “allow owners of certain stormwater management works to self-register on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry”;
- “exempt some stormwater management works in residential areas from approval requirements”;
- “[remove] the need for, [limit], or [restrict] the types of policies to be included in source protection plans where a significant drinking water threat is being managed through registration on the EASR”;
- “allow for amendments to existing source protection plans without following the usual process”;
- “expand on the exemptions in Ontario Regulation 525/98 for low impact development (LID) works”;
- “add exemptions for drainage works for roadways and railways, including railway projects by Metrolinx that are not already captured under the Ontario Water Resources Act”; and
- require proponents “to identify whether [their] activity is a significant drinking water threat [and if so, a licensed engineering practitioner (LEP)] would be required to consider additional design measures and may need to consider other requirements, such as a monitoring plan”.
Certain privately-owned stormwater management works servicing commercial, institutional, light industrial, and multi-unit residential activities would be eligible for self-registration. They “will be subject to a site-specific technical assessment performed by a licensed engineering practitioner (LEP), including assessing whether the works are identified as a significant drinking water threat in a source protection plan.”
“Owners of stormwater management works that are eligible to self-register on the EASR would need to meet rigorous requirements and follow existing ministry standards, guidance, and limits. If the works are a significant drinking water threat, the LEP would be required to consider additional management measures.”
These changes would be implemented by the development of a new regulation and amendments to Approval Exemptions and General, under the Clean Water Act regulations.
Interested parties may submit comments until 30 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Proposed regulatory provisions for ‘special projects’ using wells to test or demonstrate new and innovative activities, including carbon storage, and to remove well security caps and exemptions for all types of wells under this legislation going forward.
Published Date: 1 September 2023
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has announced its intention to change rules for oil and gas wells “to establish a framework for authorizing sppecial projects to test or demonstrate new or innovative activities using certain types of wells, [and to update] well security exemptions and caps”.
According to the government, the proposed regulations for special projects would include those that address “special project designations, applications for licences and injection permits to authorize special projects, financial security requirements, transfers for, and amendments to, special project designations and their associated well licences and injection permits (including conditions), [and] other key requirements related to special projects.” Well security exemptions and caps would be removed “for all wells under [the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act] that are newly drilled, deepened or converted to another use, when a well licence is transferred, or companies amalgamate.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 16 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Proposed regulatory amendments required to implement legislative amendments made through Building More Mines Act, 2023
Published Date: 8 September 2023
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry
The Ontario Ministry of Mines is seeking feedback on proposed rules to govern mine rehabilitation standards and procedures in the province. According to the government, the rules would notably:
- “add a new requirement for closure plans to contain technical certifications related to compliance with each Part of the [Mine Rehabilitation] Code”;
- “allow proponents to submit closure plans that contain rehabilitation measures that are different from the ones required by [existing rules], as long as a properly qualified person can certify that the alternate measure meets or exceeds the objective of [relevant existing rules]”;
- clarify “that certificates for completed rehabilitation measures are to be delivered after-the-fact, in the course of mine rehabilitation”;
- expand the list of persons who may issue corporate certifications for closure plans;
- establish new requirements and standards for rehabilitating site infrastructure, equipment and transportation corridors”;
- update detailed requirements concerning cyanide testing and surface water quality requirements;
- clarify the form and manner for submitting requests to approve a closure plan or amendment “that does not contain all regulatory requirements at the time of submission”;
- introduce specific rules for closure plans to use a phased form of financial assistance; and
- prescribe an additional class of excluded facilities from the definition of a “mine,” namely, facilities that produce “nickel, cobalt, and manganese sulphates, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and spheronized graphite” unless located on a mine site.
The changes would be made by amending regulations including the Advanced Exploration, Mine Development and Closure Under Part VII of the Act regulations.
Interested parties may submit comments until 9 October 2023.
Additional information is available here and here.
Protecting Black Ash and its habitat under the Endangered Species Act, 2007
Published Date: 18 September 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has announced its intention to develop specific rules to protect the Black Ash tree species from the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
According to the Ministry, “EAB is the primary threat to Black Ash in Ontario, and Black Ash is only considered at risk due to the likelihood of a high number of Black Ash and other trees that this insect is expected to kill as its distribution expands in the province over the next 100 years.”
The rules would apply general species and habitat protection requirements to the Black Ask “to health Black Ash, those that appear appear [sic] to have survived exposure to EAB, located in areas of the province that have experienced significant EAB-caused mortality of ash trees.”
Certain exceptions would allow for forest operations and other exempt activities to continue with ministerial approval.
Interested parties may submit comments until 2 November 2023.
Additional information is available here and here.
Canada – Quebec
Mineral substances other than petroleum, natural gas and brine—Amendment
Published Date: 6 September 2023
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry
The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules concerning impact-causing exploration work. According to the government, the changes would notably determine “what constitutes impact-causing exploration work” and set “the conditions for the issue and renewal of the authorization for impact-causing exploration work to render applicable the new authorization regime introduced to the Mining Act by the Act mainly to reinforce the enforcement of environmental and dam safety legislation, to ensure the responsible management of pesticides and to implement certain measures of the 2030 Plan for a Green Economy concerning zero emission vehicles.”
The changes would be made by amending the Regulation respecting mineral substances other than petroleum, natural gas and brine.
Interested parties may submit comments until 21 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Construction Code—Amendment
Published Date: 13 September 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules concerning the energy efficiency of buildings. According to the government, the changes would notably add “a requirement concerning the management of the peak electrical power demand, applicable only where the path selected to ensure the compliance of a building with the requirements of the [Construction Code] is the energy performance path, provided for in the Code”, which would take “into account the maximum electrical power demand of the proposed building, for the period from 1 December to 31 March, and provides that the sum of that demand and of the annual energy consumption of the building must be equal to or lower than that calculated for the reference building provided for in the Construction Code.”
The changes would be made by amending the Construction Code.
Interested parties may submit comments until 28 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
United States
Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Distribution Pipelines and Other Pipeline Safety Initiatives
Published Date: 7 September 2023
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
The United States Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has announced its intention to update pipeline safety rules. According to PHMSA, the changes would “require operators of gas distribution pipelines to update their distribution integrity management programs (DIMP), emergency response plans, operations and maintenance manuals, and other safety practices.”
They would also “codify use of [PHMSA’s] State Inspection Calculation Tool, which is used to help states determine the base-level amount of time needed for inspections to maintain an adequate pipeline safety program [and instroduce] other pipeline safety initiatives for all part 192-regulated pipelines, including gas transmission and gathering pipelines, such as updating emergency response plans and inspection requirements. Finally, PHMSA proposes to apply annual reporting requirements to small, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) operators in lieu of DIMP requirements.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 6 November 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska
Published Date: 8 September 2023
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry, Oil & Gas Industry
The United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced its intention to introduce new rules governing “the management of surface resources and Special Areas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR–A)”. According to BLM, the rules would “would revise the framework for designating and assuring maximum protection of Special Areas’ significant resource values, and would protect and enhance access for subsistence activities throughout the NPR–A. [They] would also incorporate aspects of the NPR–A Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) approved in April 2022.”
Such changes “would have no effect on currently authorized oil and gas operations in the NPR–A.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 7 November 2023.
Additional information is available here.
List of Fisheries for 2024
Published Date: 1 August 2023
Industry Sector: Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping Industry
The United States National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced its draft List of Fisheries for 2024, which “reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals.” NMFS’s classification of fisheries are “based upon the level of mortality and serious injury of marine mammals that occurs incidental to each fishery.”
The classification of a fishery “determines whether participants in that fishery are subject to certain [rules], such as those on registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan (TRP) requirements.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 13 October 2023.
Additional information is available here.
Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States
Published Date: 15 September 2023
Industry Sector: Agricultural Industry
The United States Department of Labor (Department or DOL) has announced its intention to improve employee protections for temporary agricultural workers. According to the Department, changes would be made to rules “governing the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers employed in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment and the enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of these nonimmigrant workers. The [proposed changes] focus on strengthening protections for temporary agricultural workers and enhancing the Department’s capabilities to monitor program compliance and take necessary enforcement actions against program violators.”
Interested parties may submit comments until 14 November 2023.
Additional information is available here.
European Union
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