Top global EHS regulatory changes – May 2023

By: Sydney Sybydlo

Here are a few noteworthy global EHS regulatory changes in May 2023. We cover EHS legislation and standards for over 30 countries and 400 jurisdictions. If you would like to track legislative changes for specific regions, countries, or jurisdictions, we are happy to help. Please send us a request for more information here, and we will contact you shortly.

• Canada – Federal
• Canada – British Columbia
• Canada – Ontario
• Canada – Quebec
• Canada – Saskatchewan
• United States – Federal
• United States – Indiana
• United States – New Jersey
• United States – Washington
• European Union
• Australia – Victoria
• Austria
• Denmark
• Ireland
• China

Canada – Federal

New Principal Document – CSA N293:23 Fire protection for nuclear power plants

First Effective Date: 8 May 2023
Industry Sector: Utilities & Communications Industry

This document, according to its content, “provides the minimum fire protection requirements for the design, construction, commissioning, operation, and decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and small modular reactors (SMRs), including structures, systems, and components (SSCs) that directly support the NPP/SMR and the protected area.”

Canada – British Columbia

Amended Document – Motor Vehicle Act
Amending Document – Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2023

Published Date: 11 May 2023
Industry Sector: Road Transportation Industry

The amended document requires the use of speed limiters by heavy commercial vehicles on highways (with certain exceptions) to, according to the government, “regulate the maximum speed of heavy-duty commercial vehicles, decreasing [greenhouse gas] emissions, reducing speed-related crashes and making it safer for all road users.” It also adds requirements for drivers to take precautions around “vulnerable road users,” cyclists, and pedestrians, and adds rules for the operation of personal mobility devices, micro-utility devices, automated vehicles, and motor-assisted cycles.

Additional information is available here.

Amended Document – Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act
Amending Document – Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2023

First Effective Date: 1 April 2013 (retroactive)
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

According to the government, the amended document notably–

• “requires the operator of a reporting operation to submit the reports required by the regulations respecting greenhouse gas emissions in a reporting period”;
• “repeals provisions deeming captured and stored emissions not to be attributable to a regulated operation and setting an emission limit”;
• “adds a provision respecting the determination of the amount of excess greenhouse gas emissions for a regulated operation in a compliance period;
• updates a rule “respecting how an operator of a regulated operation in a prescribed class of regulated operations may meet a compliance obligation relating to excess greenhouse gas emissions in a compliance period”;
• “sets out the compliance units or dollar amount required, for each tonne of excess greenhouse gas emissions, to meet a compliance obligation in a compliance period”;
• corrects “the emission limit, or the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, of a regulated operation for a compliance period after the operator of the regulated operation has met its compliance obligation or the director has issued earned credits”;
• “requires the operator of a regulated operation to submit the reports required by the regulations respecting greenhouse gas emissions in a compliance period”;
• repeals rules concerning funded units;
• adds rules providing for the designation of an industrial operation “on application, as a reporting operation, or as a reporting operation and a regulated operation, if prescribed criteria are met, […] or a proposed industrial operation, on application, as a new entrant, if prescribed criteria are met,” with certain exceptions;
• “provides that a person is not entitled to be indemnified for the retirement, suspension, cancellation or expiry of a compliance unit”
• revises “the monetary amount of a regulated operation’s compliance obligation for the compliance periods of 2024 to 2030 as a dollar amount per tonne of excess greenhouse gas emissions”;
• revises various definitions; and
• expands the government’s regulation-making and enforcement powers.

The Carbon Tax Act is also amended to “[impose] the full amount of tax on fuel that was partially exempt from tax but whose subsequent use renders it ineligible for the partial exemption,” and establish the carbon tax rates for various types of fuel for years 2023 and beyond. Various “provisions related to the use and sharing of confidential information” are also updated.

Canada – Ontario

Amended Document – Gasoline Tax Act
Amending Document – Building a Strong Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2023

First Effective Date: 1 January 2018 (retroactive)
Industry Sector: General Industry

The amended document notably imposes “a tax rate of 0 cents per litre on hydrogen used by an interjurisdictional carrier in Ontario to generate power in a qualified motor vehicle,” “[provides] for penalties for unregistered importers or exporters that import or export aviation fuel or propane,” exclude hydrogen from the definition of “gasoline,” and includes hydrogen in the definition of “fuel” for the purpose of interjurisdictional agreements.

Amended Document – Mining Act
Amending Document – Building More Mines Act, 2023

First Effective Date: 18 May 2023
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry

The amended document notably provides that:

• proponents may be required to include “a statement […] in the closure plan or amendment [that is] certified by a qualified person or other individual” as specified;
• the “condition of the land following remediation” must be comparable to or better than its state before the recovery, after recovering minerals or mineral-bearing substances from mining waste materials; and
• if a change to the financial assurance in a closure plan is approved by the Minister, or “if the Minister transfers a proponent’s filed closure plan to another person,” then “an amendment to the closure plan is deemed to have been filed”.

It also allows the filing of a closure plan for advanced exploration, even if it fails to meet certain requirements, upon obtaining an order from the Minister, and limits the circumstances in which a proponent must give notice of a material change in a project.

Canada – Quebec

Amended Document – Safety Code for the construction industry
Amending Document – Regulation to amend the Safety Code for the construction industry

First Effective Date: 8 June 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The amended document notably establishes:

• a list of “materials presumed to contain crystalline Àsilica” (hereinafter the “Materials”);
• control measures during work involving Materials likely to emit dust;
• cases where the wearing of a “respiratory protective apparatus” is mandatory during work involving the use of Materials likely to emit dust;
• obligations for employers to “train and inform workers of the risks, prevention methods and safe working methods” as well as the criteria that this training must meet during work involving Materials;
• obligations concerning the cleaning of work clothes by workers before leaving a work area involving the use of Materials; and
• obligations to wet or place in closed containers debris of Materials produced during “work carried out in a building.”

It also modifies the minimum free width of the planking of scaffolding platforms and removes the exceptions to the requirement that a drilling machine be fitted with “pipes supplying water in holes during drilling” or a “mechanized exhaust system for removing the dust created by drilling machines.”

Amended Document – Regulation respecting occupational health and safety
Amending Document – Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting occupational health and safety

First Effective Date: 8 June 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The amended document notably sets out new rules pertaining to arboriculture work, which establish:

• the obligation for a worker carrying out arboriculture work to hold a certificate of qualification in arboriculture;
• the obligation for the employer carrying out arboriculture work to hold an information meeting, as well as the mandatory content of such a meeting;
• provisions concerning the delimitation of a work area;
• the obligation for an employer to establish a rescue procedure;
• standards and requirements for mandatory personal protective equipment in the work area, including full body harnesses;
• requirements for work near a power line, including obtaining written authorization, completion of mandatory training, and standards and requirements for equipment and tools; and
• requirements for the use of aerial basket lifting devices, in particular with regard to its inspection and maintenance, the obligation to hold a certificate of qualification or a qualification as an apprentice, as well as the protective equipment that may be worn while in use.

Canada – Saskatchewan

New Principal Document – The Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases (Standards and Compliance) Regulations, 2023

First Effective Date: 1 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

This document sets out rules pertaining to the mandatory reporting and reduction of greenhouse gases. It notably establishes who is a regulated emitter, provides provisions regarding required registration and exemptions, baselines and standards for reducing emissions intensities, limits on emissions, compliance obligations for when a facility exceeds its permitted emissions, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and administrative penalties.

It replaces The Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases (Standards and Compliance) Regulations. The new document notably establishes:

• deadlines for regulated emitters to submit baseline submissions, fulfil a compliance obligation they incurred, and submit an emissions return for each of its regulated facilities;
• exemptions for regulated emitters to determine their total regulated emissions in a compliance year, notably for commercial products in standby and regulated facilities being decommissioned;
• exemptions from the requirement to submit an emissions return for certain products in standby or for certain regulated facilities in the process of being decommissioned;
• tables containing the emission intensity standards for the electricity generation sector and the rate of payment to fulfil a compliance obligation for each compliance year; and
• which emissions regulated emitters should exclude from the determination of their total regulated emissions.

It also specifies that:

• electricity facilities, aggregate facilities and facilities under construction may be voluntarily registered;
• an electricity facility may be removed from registration if its total regulated emissions remain below 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ for the three prior compliance years;
• a compliance year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31;
• any compliance return must contain a signed declaration from the regulated emitter; and
• the minister may carry out an audit or inspection of a regulated facility.

The new document also modifies the rules relating to standby, which now specifically pertain to commercial products produced at an industrial facility instead of a regulated facility as a whole, and requires every regulated emitter to produce a signed declaration as part of their baseline submissions.

United States – Federal

New Principal Document – 40 CFR 60 Subpart MMa Standards of Performance for Automobile and Light Duty Truck Surface Coating Operations for which Construction, Modification or Reconstruction Commenced After May 18, 2022

First Effective Date: 9 May 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

As indicated by its title, this document establishes emission performance standards for certain facilities involved in automobile and light duty truck surface coating operations. It contains volatile organic compound (VOC) standards, performance testing requirements, control device and monitoring requirements, rules for devices’ and systems’ efficiency, and rules concerning notifications, reports and records.

40 CFR 60 Subpart MM Standards of Performance for Automobile and Light Duty Truck Surface Coating Operations for which Construction, Modification or Reconstruction Commenced After October 5, 1979 is also revised to provide that it only applies to facilities whose construction, reconstruction, or modification began before May 18, 2022 (a facility whose construction began after that date are subject to the new document).

Amended Document – 40 CFR 82 Subpart G Significant New Alternatives Policy Program
Amending Document – Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Listing of Substitutes Under the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Fire Suppression

First Effective Date: 30 May 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amended document notably “lists certain substances as acceptable, subject to use conditions, in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector for chillers—comfort cooling, residential dehumidifiers, residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pumps, and a substance as acceptable, subject to use conditions and narrowed use limits, in very low temperature refrigeration.”

It also “incorporates by reference standards which establish requirements for electrical air conditioners, heat pumps, and dehumidifiers, laboratory equipment containing refrigerant, safe use of flammable refrigerants, and safe design, construction, installation, and operation of refrigeration systems [and] lists certain substances as acceptable, subject to use conditions, in the fire suppression sector for certain streaming and total flooding uses.”

Amended Document – 49 CFR 40 Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs
Amending Document – Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs: Addition of Oral Fluid Specimen Testing for Drugs

First Effective Date: 1 June 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

This change is part of a suite of amendments to include oral fluid testing as a drug testing method for “transportation employers, safety-sensitive transportation employees (including self-employed individuals, contractors and volunteers as covered by [Department of Transportation] agency regulations), and service agents“. According to the government, the changes harmonize various provisions, “[remove] or [adjust] references to the word ‘urine’ and/or add references to oral fluid, as well as [remove] or [amend] some definitions for conformity”.

United States – Indiana

Amended Document – IAC Article 335-5 Storage And Secondary Containment of Pesticides
Amending Document – Final Rule LSA Document #22-386(F)

First Effective Date: 24 May 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

According to the government, the amended document notably–

• identifies who it applies to;
• limits the following to bulk and minibulk only: appurtenance requirements, underground pesticide storage restrictions, abandoned container restrictions, container materials restrictions, storage container anchoring requirements, shutoff valve requirements, appurtenance requirements, maintenance requirements, and operational area requirements;
• limits the following to bulk only: storage container venting requirements, container filling restrictions, and leveling gauge requirements;
• “[differentiates] between bulk and minibulk secondary storage [and] drainage requirements”;
• ”[clarifies] the reference to floors of containment structures”;
• ”[clarifies] acceptable materials for floors of secondary containment”;
• “[permits] double wall storage containers to satisfy the secondary containment requirement”;
• “[limits] certain storage requirements to dry bulk only”;
• “[limits] storage registry requirements to bulk only”;
• “[consolidates] and [simplifies] pesticide storage and use restrictions in wellhead protection areas and isolation areas”; and
• “[consolidates] pesticide service container requirements [and] open burning restrictions for pesticide containers.”

United States – New Jersey

New Principal Document – NJAC Chapter 7-1F Underground Storage Caverns

First Effective Date: 1 May 2023
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry

This document, according to the government, notably provides:

• “[that] any person [shall] obtain a permit from the Department [of Environmental Protection] before constructing or operating an underground storage cavern”;
• “[rules on] the construction, operation, modification, and decommissioning of underground storage cavern systems used for the underground storage of any natural or artificial gas, or any petroleum product or derivative of any petroleum product, excluding liquefied natural gas”;
• “construction requirements for new or major modification of an existing cavern and cavern system, including a feasibility study, design specifications and operating plans, process hazard analysis, an environmental and health impact statement (EHIS), and a third-party evaluation”;
• “operating requirements, including as-built specifications and mechanical integrity tests, operation and maintenance plans, ground water and soil vapor monitoring, an emergency response plan, and provisions for release reporting and suspected release investigation”;
• “permit application and fee requirements, as well as applicable public notice and comment provisions and grounds for denial, suspension, or revocation of a permit:” and
• “requirements for permit renewal, recordkeeping, minor and major modifications, dormancy plans, decommissioning, including financial responsibility, permit transfer, confidentiality claims, hearing request procedures, and enforcement provisions for violations [of the rules].”

United States – Washington

Amended Document – RCW Chapter 19.27A Energy-Related Building Standards
Amending Document – AN ACT Relating to district energy systems; amending RCW 19.27A.210; adding a new section to chapter 19.27A RCW; and creating a new section.

First Effective Date: 23 July 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

According to the government, the amended document notably requires owners of state campus district energy systems (as defined herein) to develop a decarbonization plan and submit it to the government and to “[establish] an alternative compliance pathway to meet the state energy performance standard for an owner of a state campus district energy system” under certain conditions.

European Union

Amended Document – Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
Amending Document – Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/923 of 3 May 2023 amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards lead and its compounds in PVC (Text with EEA relevance)

First Effective Date: 28 May 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

The amended document notably strengthens the restrictions on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of lead and its compounds by setting a concentration limit for lead in polymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride (PVC) and providing derogations to the restrictions on lead concentration in PVC articles, allowing exemptions for PVC articles containing recovered flexible PVC, specific categories of recovered rigid PVC, PVC-silica separators in certain batteries, and certain articles covered by other directives and regulations until specified dates.

Amended Document – Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC
Amending Document – Directive (EU) 2023/958 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 amending Directive 2003/87/EC as regards aviation’s contribution to the Union’s economy-wide emission reduction target and the appropriate implementation of a global market-based measure (Text with EEA relevance)

First Effective Date: 5 June 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The amended document notably:

• adds a new definition for “non-CO₂ aviation effects” to include “the effects on the climate of the release, during fuel combustion, of oxides of nitrogen (NO^_x), soot particles, oxidised sulphur species, and effects from water vapour, including contrails, from an aircraft performing an aviation activity listed in Annex I [to the amended document]”;
• specifies the emissions trading system for aviation, respecting the emissions allowances for aircraft operators;
• establishes monitoring, reporting and verification requirements for the non-CO₂ aviation effects;
• updates the derogations for emissions from certain flights to and from the specified regions and areas; and
• specifies the listed aviation activities and the provisions respecting the monitoring and reporting of emissions from aviation activities, such as specifying the emission factor for jet kerosene (Jet A1 or Jet A) and considering emissions from certain renewable fuels derived from renewable hydrogen to be zero for aircraft operators using them.

Australia – Victoria

Amended Document – Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Regulations 2018
Amending Document – Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Electrification and Home Energy Rating Assessment) Regulations 2023

First Effective Date: 31 May 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The amended document revises prescribed activities for water heating and space heating and cooling to encourage households and businesses to upgrade to energy-efficient electric appliances and introduces new activities related to home energy rating assessments, “[limits] the prescribed activity of weather sealing to residential premises where a flueless gas space heater or open-flue gas appliance is not installed,” and enables determinations by the Essential Services Commission regarding product listings and waste disposal facilities.

Austria

New Principal Document – Agricultural and Forestry Workplaces Ordinance

First Effective Date: 1 June 2023
Industry Sector: Agricultural Industry, Forestry & Logging Industry

This document, as stated in its title, sets out the requirements for agricultural and forestry workplaces. It covers various aspects such as rules for emergency escape routes, specific workplace requirements for room height, ventilation, room climate, and lighting, provisions for sanitary and social facilities in the workplace, as well as first aid and fire safety measures.

Denmark

New Principal Document – Executive Order on psychological working environment in the aviation sector

First Effective Date: 1 July 2023
Industry Sector: Air Transportation Industry

This document regulates the psychological working environment for crew members working on board Danish civil aircraft and for their employers. It establishes various obligations with regard to the psychological working environment to ensure health and safety, notably, related to personnel training, work planning, workplace design, work fatigue and work-related abuse and violence.

Ireland

Amended Document – European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2023
Amending Document – European Communities (Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

First Effective Date: 16 April 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The amended document, according to the Irish Government, notably implements the most recent provisions of the “Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road” (ADR) by:

• updating and adding certain definitions, such as the definition of “risk category” and “commercial vehicle roadworthiness” (CVR);
• incorporating by reference the updated ADR to consolidate the requirements for transportable pressure equipment, such as the requirements for conformity assessment, periodic inspections, intermediate inspections and exceptional checks; and
• updating the list of offences related to the transportation of dangerous goods, their associated risk categories, as well as the participant identifier (a letter assigned to each role in the transportation process, such as the consignor, carrier, vehicle crew, and driver), such as the revision of the identifier corresponding to certain offences related to the appointment of safety advisors and the possession of a valid vocation training certificate by appointed safety advisors.

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