Here are a few noteworthy EHS regulatory changes for Canada and the United States in April 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 – Industrial Standards
- Canada – Alberta
- Canada – Ontario
- Canada – Quebec
- Canada – Saskatchewan
- Canada – Yukon
- United States – Federal
- United States – Alabama
- United States – Indiana
- United States – New Jersey
- United States – New York
- United States – Texas
Canada – Industrial Standards
New Edition – National Building Code of Canada 2020
Published Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This Code establishes technical requirements for the design and construction of new buildings, as well as the alteration, change of use and demolition of existing buildings.
The 2020 edition, according to the National Research Council of Canada, notably provides technical requirements for large farm buildings “which address fire protection, occupant safety, structural design, and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning,” introduces encapsulated mass timber construction, which enables the construction of wood buildings with up to 12 storeys, updates accessibility requirements to “reduce barriers related to anthropometrics, plumbing facilities, signage, entrances and elevators,” revises design requirements for evaporative equipment “to minimize the growth and transmission of Legionella and other bacteria,” introduces a home-type care occupancy “to allow safe and affordable care in a home-type setting,” and establishes energy performance tiers “to provide a framework for achieving higher levels of energy efficiency in housing and small buildings.”
New Edition – National Fire Code of Canada 2020
Published Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This Code establishes technical requirements for “activities related to the construction, use or demolition of buildings and facilities; the condition of specific elements of buildings and facilities; the design or construction of specific elements of facilities related to certain hazards; [and] protection measures for the current or intended use of buildings.”
The 2020 edition, according to the National Research Council of Canada, notably provides technical requirements for large farm buildings, “which address the inspection of mechanical equipment and electrical systems, the control of flammable gases and vapours, and the storage of flammable or combustible liquids,” consolidates fire safety plan requirements to facilitate compliance and enforcement, establishes classifications for “5 widely used water-miscible liquid mixtures to ensure that appropriate fire safety measures are applied in their storage, handling, use and processing,” and provides measures “to address fire safety during the construction of encapsulated mass timber buildings.”
New Edition – National Plumbing Code of Canada 2020
Published Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This Code sets out technical requirements for the design and installation of new plumbing systems, as well as the extension, alteration, renewal and repair of existing plumbing systems.
The 2020 edition, according to the National Research Council of Canada, notably provides “fibrocement pipe and fittings as alternatives to asbestos-cement materials,” adds new plumbing materials as options, which include “polyethylene of raised temperature (PE-RT) tube, cellular core polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe, and their fittings,” reduces the maximum temperature for water discharging from showerheads or into bathtubs in health-care facilities and seniors’ residences to prevent scalding, removes gate valves and screw caps “as options for backflow protection to reduce the risk of basement flooding,” and introduces “design requirements for non-potable rainwater harvesting systems” to facilitate the collection and use of rainwater.
New Edition – National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020
Published Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This Code sets out technical requirements for the energy-efficient design and construction of new buildings and additions to existing buildings.
The 2020 edition, according to the National Research Council of Canada, notably provides that the Code “is extended to cover alterations, such as tenant improvements, to buildings originally constructed in accordance with the [National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings],” reduces maximum overall thermal transmittance values for opaque building assemblies and fenestration to improve the thermal performance of the building envelope, introduces whole-building airtightness “as an option for complying with air leakage requirements,” updates lighting power densities “to reflect improvements in the efficacy of lighting products,” updates “performance requirements for heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) and service water heating equipment to align them with relevant standards and regulations,” removes the trade-off compliance paths for HVAC and service water systems, and introduces a new compliance path with 4 energy performance tiers to “provide a framework for achieving higher levels of energy efficiency in buildings.”
Canada – Alberta
Amended Document – Directive 050: Drilling Waste Management
Amending Document – Bulletin 2022-06: New Edition of Directive 050
First Effective Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
The amended document adds alternative soil endpoint criteria, adds soil sample requirements and exclusion criteria for site investigation, introduces new requirements for remote sites and reviseS requirements for extending their use, adds mix-bury-cover as a disposal option for nonhydrocarbon-based drilling waste solids, updates requirements and pit size limits for cement pits, adds references for nitrogen application rates, removes the requirement for sodium application rates, and adds notification requirements for drilling waste from well drilling and pipelines.
Amended Document – Directive 055: Storage Requirements for the Upstream Petroleum Industry
Amending Document – Bulletin 2022-07: New Editions of Directives 055 and 058 and Rescinded Documents
First Effective Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
The amended document introduces requirements for two additional types of storage systems: the bladder with structural frame and the engineered containment pond, permits aboveground synthetically-lined walled storage systems (“aboveground systems”) to be used for longer periods, and updates notification and approval requirements to reflect the permitted extended use period of aboveground systems.
Amended Document – Directive 058: Oilfield Waste Management Requirements for the Upstream Petroleum Industry
Amending Document – Bulletin 2022-07: New Editions of Directives 055 and 058 and Rescinded Documents
First Effective Date: 28 March 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
The amended document expands “waste storage” to include storage of water for reuse in hydraulic fracking operations, removes “disposal by pipeline” and “spreading oily by-product on roads” as waste management methods, however, provides that they may still be used upon application for an alternative waste management activity, and incorporates other industrial guidance concerning the management of upstream petroleum resources.
Canada – Ontario
Amended Document – General – Mining Act
Amending Document – Amending O. Reg. 45/11 (General)
First Effective Date: 1 April 2022
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry
The amended document provides requirements for proponents applying for a determination of mine production activities as exploration or advanced exploration and requires that a proponent consults with Aboriginal communities before or following the submittal of their application for determination of a proposed activity.
Amended Document – Occupational Health and Safety Act
Amending Document – Working for Workers Act, 2022
First Effective Date: 11 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document requires employers to provide naloxone kits where there may be a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose, and to provide training in recognizing an opioid overdose and administering naloxone. It also sets out aggravating factors for the purposes of determining a penalty, including when an offence results in the death or serious injury of an employee.
Amended Document – Blue Box
Amending Document – Amending O. Reg. 391/21 (Blue Box)
First Effective Date: 14 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document notably modifies certain requirements for producer responsibility organizations such as following responsibilities concerning waste reduction, and establishing and operating collection systems with producers, requires producers to establish and operate collection systems (including systems for curbside and depot collection), requires producers to collect blue box material from public spaces in certain eligible communities, requires producers to offer collection system services to First Nations, provides that producers of blue box material supplied to consumers in Ontario at any time must register with the Authority through the Registry, and requires that as of 1 April 2022, producer responsibility organizations that have entered into agreements with producers responsible for more than 66 percent of the aggregate weight of blue box material supplied to consumers in Ontario in 2020 must submit a report to the Authority describing how they intend to comply with requirements for collection systems, for processing blue box material, and for establishing a promotion and education program.
Amended Document – General – Endangered Species
Amending Document – Amending O. Reg. 242/08 (General)
First Effective Date: 31 May 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document’s applicability is extended to all species on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as it is read on January 26, 2022. Conditional exemptions are extended to activities that may impact species newly classified as threatened or endangered, and it provides prohibition dates on which prohibitions in harming relevant species and their habitats begin to apply. Other changes include the renaming of the table of ‘Transition Species’ to ‘Relevant Species’, the incorporation of all species listed prior to 2013 up to 2022, and updates to the list of species for which certain prohibitions on killing, harming, capturing, or taking them do not apply for activities that are necessary to avoid or reduce a non-imminent threat to human health or safety.
Canada – Quebec
Amended Document – Regulation respecting occupational health and safety
Amending Document – Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting occupational health and safety
First Effective Date: 28 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document notably revises the definition of “respirable asbestos fibre” to provide that the asbestos must have “a ratio of length to diameter of more than 3:1”, and updates the list of concentrations of air contaminants workers may be exposed to without affecting their health.
Amended Document – Safety Code for the construction industry
Amending Document – Regulation to amend the Safety Code for the construction industry
First Effective Date: 28 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document notably provides that a high-efficiency filter must fully cover a work area in low- and high-risk work sites, requires that friable asbestos material be removed from a work area using wetting agents prior to undertaking certain building works, requires that friable asbestos material and their dust be kept wetting using a wetting agent for the duration of works, clarifies that debris of materials containing asbestos be placed in airtight containers during work inside buildings and require the employer to dispose of the debris using methods to ensure airtightness during transportation, requires the outside of containers for asbestos-containing material debris by cleaned by wetting, requires employers on construction sites where moderate-risk work is being carried out to ensure workers’ disposable protective clothing be sealed in an airtight container or in a water-filled receptacle, requires the isolation of a work area, the installation of efficient exhaust venitilation systems, and the designated use of glove bags where work to handle or remove certain volumes of asboestos-containing materials, and requires workers on construction sites where moderate-risk work is being carried out to decontaminate protective clothing and individual protective equipment prior to removing the protections.
Canada – Saskatchewan
Amended Document – The Crown Resource Land Regulations, 2019
Amending Document – The Crown Resource Land (Fees) Amendment Regulations, 2022
First Effective Date: 31 March 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document updates applicable fees for resource land dispositions other than peat or petroleum and natural gas dispositions, and for petroleum and natural gas dispositions.
Canada – Yukon
New Principal Document – Wildlife Adaptive Management (General) Order (2022)
First Effective Date: 1 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This Order establishes the maximum number of permit hunt authorizations that may be issued for certain species, the areas and seasons in which the hunting of certain species is permitted, and the areas where vehicles may be used.
New Principal Document – High Risk Residential Setting (COVID-19) Vaccination Policy Regulation
First Effective Date: 4 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Healthcare Industry, Public Administration & Institutions
This Regulation requires certain employers in healthcare and high-risk residential settings to establish a COVID-19 vaccination policy requiring employees, volunteers, and contractors to provide an attestation or proof of vaccination or a valid exemption. It establishes the required components of a vaccination policy, including accommodations for exemptions, consequences for failure to comply with the policy, and requirements for persons to whom the policy applies.
It replaces the previous High Risk Setting COVID-19 Vaccination Policy Regulation.
United States – Federal
Amended Document – 49 CFR 192 Subpart A General
Amending Document – Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards
First Effective Date: 5 October 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry
The amended document requires the installation of rupture mitigation valves (RMVs) on certain gas pipelines which meet existing valve spacing and operational requirements, permits the use of alternative equivalent technologies to RMVs, requires the submission of technical and safety evaluations of such alternatives technologies if they are to be used, requires the submission of the economic, technical or operational infeasibility of using RMVs before requesting to use manual valves as an alternative technology, allows operators to request an extension of the compliance deadline for pipeline design requirements, and provides certain exemptions to valve spacing requirements.
Amended Document – 49 CFR 192 Subpart L Operations
Amending Document – Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards
First Effective Date: 5 October 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry
The amended document notably specifies rupture mitigation valve (RMV) and alternative equivalent technology requirements when a class location changes, requires “that emergency procedures provide for rupture mitigation in response to a rupture event,” requires operators to maintain contact with appropriate local emergency or public safety answering points (ex. 9-1-1 call centre) in the event of pipeline emergencies, requires operators to know the appropriate government organizations “that may respond to a pipeline emergency involving their popeline facilities,” requires operators to identify whether a rupture has occurred by reference to their written procedures upon notification of a potential rupture, requires operators “to identify potential preventive and mitigative measures that could be taken to reduce or limit the release volume and damage” from ruptures, and require post-incident reporting, requires “operators to install and use RMVs or alternative equivalent technology on newly constructed and entirely replaced onshore gas pipeline segments with diameters of 6 inches or greater,” establishes RMV and alternative equivalent technology spacing requirements, establishes the criteria for a “notification of potential rupture”, and establishes operational requirements for RMVs and alternative equivalent technologies.”
Amended Document – 49 CFR 195 Subpart F Operation and Maintenance
Amending Document – Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards
First Effective Date: 5 October 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry
The amended document notably requires “that emergency procedures provide for rupture mitigation in response to a rupture event,” requires operators to maintain contact with appropriate local emergency or public safety answering points (ex. 9-1-1 call centre) in the event of pipeline emergencies, requires operators to know the appropriate government organizations “that may respond to a pipeline emergency involving their popeline facilities,” requires operators to identify whether a rupture has occurred by reference to their written procedures upon notification of a potential rupture, establishes the elements an operator must incorporate in their post-accident or -failure analysis of ruptures, accidents, and failutre events involving rupture mitigation valvues and their equivalent technologies, requires operators “to identify potential preventive and mitigative measures that could be taken to reduce or limit the release volume and damage” from ruptures, and require post-incident reporting, requires operators to install and use RMVs or alternative equivalent technology on many newly constructed and entirely replaced onshore hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide pipeline segments with diameters of 6 inches or greater,” establishes RMV and alternative equivalent technology operational requirements, incorporates “the maintenance, inspection, and operator drills required to ensure operators can close an RMV or alternative equivalent technology installed under this final rule as soon as practicable,” and clarifies “requirements for conducting emergency flow restricting device evaluations for [high-consequence areas].”
Amended Document – 40 CFR 158 Data Requirements for Pesticides
Amending Document – Pesticide Product Performance Data Requirements for Products Claiming Efficacy Against Certain Invertebrate Pests
First Effective Date: 14 June 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document introduces new product performance data requirements for products claiming effectiveness against invertebrate pests. The new regulations establish relevant test species for various categories of invertebrate pests (“those identified to be of significant public health importance (e.g., ticks, mosquitoes, cockroaches, etc.), wood-destroying insects (e.g., termites), and certain invasive invertebrate species (e.g., Asian longhorned beetle)”) on which pesticide products must be tested for claims of pesticide effectiveness.
United States – Alabama
New Principal Document – AAC Chapter 220-1-5 Reservoir Management Grants Program
First Effective Date: 15 May 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This Chapter establishes procedures for the disbursement of reservoir management and reservoir debris management grants in the state, for the control of invasive aquatic species, the removal of debris from navigable waters, and for the installation and maintenance of navigational aids. It sets out grant application requirements, grant recipients’ recordkeeping obligations, and grant eligibility criteria.
United States – Indiana
Amended Document – IAC Article 327-7.1 Wastewater Management
Amending Document – Final Rule LSA Document #14-29(F)
First Effective Date: 2 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
Broad changes to rules concerning wastewater and septage management have been announced. The amended document notably replaces various references to “wastewater management” with “septage management”, revises the rules’ applicability to exclude confined feeding operations, updates the list of activities that require a septage management permit, establishes application and recordkeeping requirements for septage management permits, establishes site restrictions, design, construction, and operational requirements for storage and treatment facilities, allows the use of alternative design or construction approaches in certain circumstances for storage and treatment facilities, requires the closure of storage and treatment facilities that are no longer used or operated, establishes conditions that apply to septage management vehicles, updates the list of acceptable land applications of septage and what information must be included in an application for a permit for land application of septage, and revises acceptable land application rates and related recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
United States – New Jersey
Amended Document – NJAC Chapter 7-27 Air Pollution Control
Amending Document – NJAC Chapter 7-27 Air Pollution Control 2022-04-04 Amendments
First Effective Date: 4 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document regulates “fumigants and fumigant operations based on potential to emit, rather than weight of materials,” regulates hydrogen sulfide and sulfuryl fluoride as New Jersey Hazardous Air Pollutants (NJHAPs), adds “13 air contaminants to the list of ‘toxic air pollutants’ that a source that is subject to emissions statement requirements must include on its emissions statement,” clarifies permit requirements “for operations that discharge fumigants over the applicable threshold,” and prohibits “an operation from emitting a fumigant into the outdoor atmosphere, unless the owner has performed a risk assessment that meets the permit requirements.”
United States – New York
New Principal Document – NYCRR Part 6-IV-B-353 Expanded Polystyrene Foam Container and Polystyrene Loose Fill Packaging Reduction
First Effective Date: 14 April 2022
Industry Sector: Chemical Industry, Food Industry
This Part establishes prohibitions concerning the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene foam containers and polystyrene loose fill packaging. It contains eligibility criteria for facilities and covered food service providers and provides for certain exceptions to the requirements.
United States – Texas
Repealed Document – TAC Chapter 30-308 Criteria and Standards for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
First Effective Date: 21 April 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces
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