Here are a few noteworthy EHS regulatory changes for Canada and the United States in February 2022. We cover EHS legislation and standards for over 100 countries and 200 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 – Quebec
- United States – Federal
- United States – Alabama
- United States – California
- United States – New York
- United States – Tennessee
- United States – Texas
- United States – Vermont
- International Standards
Canada – Federal
New Principal Document – Notice with respect to the substances in the National Pollutant Release Inventory for 2022, 2023 and 2024
Published Date: 12 February 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This document requires persons who own or operate facilities that manufacture, process, or otherwise use or release certain substances listed in the National Pollutant Release Inventory and meet reporting thresholds to report releases, disposals, off-site transfers for recycling annually for those substances.
Canada – Quebec
New Principal Document – Regulation respecting occupational diseases
First Effective Date: 6 October 2021
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This Regulation determines diseases for the purposes of the application of the occupational disease presumption (that a worker is presumed to have contracted an occupational disease if they have done work corresponding to that disease) and the special conditions in relation to those diseases. It also determines the eligibility criteria for a claim for a disease for which the diagnosis is a hearing impairment caused by noise.
United States – Federal
New Principal Document – 18 CFR 12 Subpart F Owner’s Dam Safety Program
First Effective Date: 11 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This document contains requirements concerning the preparation and collection of Owner’s Dam Safety Program information for certain dam licensees. It applies to entities that are responsible for one or more projects classified as having a high hazard potential.
Amended Document – 40 CFR 63 Subpart AAAA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
Amending Document – National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Municipal Solid Waste Landfills Residual Risk and Technology Review; Correction
First Effective Date: 14 February 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document provides that carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations may be monitored by analyzing a sample from the wellhead or wellhead sampling port of the gas collection and control system, adds procedural requirements for collecting CO samples, provides that data concerning monitoring system breakdowns, repairs, and adjustments, are not to be included in the calculation of the 3-hour average combustion temperature for control systems, introduces exceptions to corrective action reporting requirements for certain wells approved for a higher operating temperature, and revises the table outlining the applicability of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) to municipal solid waste landfills.
United States – Alabama
New Principal Document – CA Chapter 25-15 Alabama Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
First Effective Date: 1 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This document requires that employers provide reasonable workplace accommodations for employees related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless it would cause an undue hardship on the employer. It also requires employers to post a notice of employee rights.
United States – California
Amended Document – CCR Chapter 27-4-1 Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986
Amending Document – Chemicals Known to the State to Cause Cancer or Reproductive Toxicity
First Effective Date: 27 January 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document adds two chemicals to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity: (1) “2–ethylhexyl acrylate, methyl acrylate, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and its salts and transformation and degradation precursors, tetrahydrofuran, and technical grade trimethylolpropane triacrylate as chemicals known to the state to cause cancer,” and (2) “perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and its salts as chemicals known to the state to reproductive toxicity.”
United States – New York
New Principal Document – NYCRR Part 6-III-A-203 Oil and Natural Gas Sector
First Effective Date: 3 March 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry
This document establishes monitoring, operational, and reporting requirements for the oil and natural gas sector, including specific requirements for wells, gathering lines, transmission lines, and compressor stations. It also contains leak detection and repair requirements and recommendations for the frequency of equipment inspection. It applies to owners and operators of equipment used in the production, storage, transportation, and regulation of oil and natural gas.
New Principal Document – NYCRR Part 6-IV-B-368 Product Stewardship and Product Labeling
First Effective Date: 10 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This Part contains rules concerning recycling labeling and mercury-added consumer product labeling, registration and reporting of covered electronic equipment (CEE) by manufacturers, and the operation of electronic waste acceptance programs. It also contains specific requirements for collectives’ responsibilities to meet the same requirements as CEE manufacturers.
United States – Tennessee
Amended Document – R Chapter 0400-40-05 Permits, Effluent Limitations and Standards
Amending Document – R Chapter 0400-40-05 Permits, Effluent Limitations and Standards 2022-02-17 Amendments
First Effective Date: 15 May 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document revises rules concerning National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Notably, it establishes “the parameters for electronic reporting,” revises rules concerning terms and conditions of permits, updates and clarifies permit application language and public notice provisions, revises provisions concerning effluent limitations, revises rules concerning concentrated animal feeding operations, and adds “language required by state law regarding municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s).”
United States – Texas
Amended Document – TAC Chapter 30-335 Industrial Solid Waste and Municipal Hazardous Waste
Amending Document – TAC Chapter 30-335 Industrial Solid Waste and Municipal Hazardous Waste 2022-01-28 Amendments
First Effective Date: 3 February 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document incorporates revisions to federal hazardous waste program rules. Notably, it updates standards applicable to generators of hazardous waste and revises waste classification rules, incorporates by reference updated federal rules concerning hazardous waste management, adds hazardous waste aerosol cans to the list of universal wastes, clarifies that spent foundry sands from iron and steel casting processes are not considered industrial solid waste “when introduced into the stream of commerce and managed as an item of commercial value, including use constituting disposal,” removes “variance criteria for hazardous secondary materials transferred to a verified-reclamation facility or intermediate facility where the management of hazardous secondary materials is not addressed,” under certain permits, and revises the applicability of various rules.
United States – Vermont
New Principal Document – Biomass Renewable Energy Standard
First Effective Date: 10 February 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry
This document establishes renewability standards for forest products used to generate energy by distributed renewable generation and energy transformation projects. These standards include efficiency requirements for wood boilers and requirements for harvesting and procurement. It applies to certain utilities that offer incentives on wood-fired appliances, all generation from biomass electric generation facilities, and certain combined heat and power (CHP) facilities.
International Standards
New Principal Document – NFPA 470: Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Standard for Responders
First Effective Date: 15 September 2021
Industry Sector: General Industry
This Standard provides minimum requirements for personnel responding to incidents involving hazardous materials and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). According to its contents, it specifies minimum requirements for levels of competence required by responders to emergencies involving hazardous materials/WMD, job performance requirements for personnel at the scene of a hazardous materials/WMD incident, and levels of competence required by emergency medical services personnel who respond to incidents involving hazardous materials/WMD. It incorporates three former Standards including NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents.
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