Proposed EHS regulatory changes – December 2022

By: Sydney Sybydlo

This is a list of select proposed EHS regulatory changes in Canada, the United States, and the European Union. We cover EHS legislation in over 100 countries and 200 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

• Alberta – Building healthier, safer workplaces for Albertans
• British Columbia – North Island Timber Supply Area Public Review
• Northwest Territories – Waste Reduction and Recovery Act
• Prince Edward Island – Bill No. 130 – Zero-emission Vehicles Act
• Prince Edward Island – Employment Standards Act Comprehensive Review

United States

• Federal – Changes to Reporting Requirements for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and to Supplier Notifications for Chemicals of Special Concern; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting
• Federal – Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector Climate Review
• Federal – General Provisions; Revised List of Migratory Birds
• Federal – Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Restrictions on the Use of Certain Hydrofluorocarbons Under Subsection (i) the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020

European Union

• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC
• Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Union certification framework for carbon removals

Canada

Alberta

Building healthier, safer workplaces for Albertans

Published Date: 15 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The government of Alberta has announced its intention to update a broad range of occupational health and safety rules to “align with best practices, modern standards and technology, and keep Alberta in line with other Canadian jurisdictions.” According to the government, the changes would notably update rules concerning:

• safe work procedures to prevent contact with overhead power lines and safety of electrical utility workers;
• industry-specific requirements for upstream operations (oil, gas or geothermal energy drilling, extraction and related decommissioning activities);
• protection of workers from exposure to occupational noise hazards;
• the requirements for isolating and securing sources of hazardous energy and for verifying that sources are isolated or secured;
• workplace first aid training, equipment, and supplies;
• mining activities;
• use of explosives; and
• other miscellaneous occupational health and safety rules to “[harmonize] standards for certain types of personal protective equipment in Canada [and provide] flexibility in implementing some requirements in the workplace.”

Further details on the highlights of the changes can be found here.

These changes will be implemented by amending the Occupational Health and Safety Code and will come into force on 31 March 2023. They are a part of the government’s plan to gradually update Alberta’s occupational health and safety rules until 2026. The government aims to touch on topics in the coming years as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Code review plan, as follows:

• between 2023 and 2024, to update rules concerning violence and harassment, explosives, mining, and occupational exposure limit (OEL);
• between 2024 and 2025, to update rules concerning specifications and certifications, chemical hazards, biological hazards, harmful substances, OEL, cranes, hoists and lifting devices, fire and explosion hazards, personal protective equipment, ventilation systems, working alone, and forestry;
• between 2025 and 2026, to update rules concerning hazard assessment, elimination and control, specifications and certifications, chemical hazards, biological hazards, harmful substances, OEL, emergency preparedness and response, general safety precautions, lifting and handling loads, toilets and washing facilities, ventilation systems, working alone, demolition, excavation and tunneling, forestry, and health care and industries with biological hazards.

The government also invites anyone to suggest other topics to be included in the review plan by submitting their suggestions along with supporting rationale by email to lbr.ohsreview@gov.ab.ca.

Additional information is available here.

British Columbia

North Island Timber Supply Area Public Review

Published Date: 6 December 2022
Industry Sector: Forestry Industry

The Government of British Columbia is conducting a review of current forest management practices in the North Island Timber Supply Area and their impacts on the local timber supply, economy, environment, and social conditions to determine a new allowable annual cut.

The North Island Timber Supply Area is located in the northern portion of Vancouver Island and covers approximately 1,749,460 hectares.

Interested parties may submit comments until 20 February 2023.

Additional information is available here, here, and in the discussion paper here.

Northwest Territories

Waste Reduction and Recovery Act

Published Date: 1 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Northwest Territories is seeking comments on its intention to update waste reduction and management rules. According to the government, the changes would notably:

• authorize the government of Northwest Territories to create regulations concerning Extended Producer Responsibility intended to “[shift] the physical and/or financial responsibility for managing the ‘end-of-life’ (i.e. disposal) phase of consumer products or packaging from communities and taxpayers to producers”;
• authorize the government of Northwest Territories to create regulations concerning disposal ban, where certain materials will be required to be disposed of at specified designated facilities instead of landfills and solid waste facilities; and
• “allow for a competitive process to select operators [for waste management and recycling programs] in addition to the current provisions guiding operator licensing” and “provide the authority to set limits to the number of depots that could operate in each community.”

These changes would be implemented by amending the Waste Reduction and Recovery Act.

Interested parties may submit comments until 4 January 2023.

Additional information is available here and here.

Prince Edward Island

Bill No. 130 – Zero-emission Vehicles Act

Published Date: 29 November 2022
Industry Sector: Hardware Manufacturing Industry, Road Transportation Industry

The Government of Prince Edward Island has announced its intention to increase the amount of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the province’s roads in order “to reduce the amount of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.”

It would do so by establishing a system of credits and charges that would apply to suppliers of motor vehicles for the sale or lease of ZEVs (defined generally as motor vehicles propelled by external electricity or hydrogen and which emit no greenhouse gas emissions at least some of the time during operation). It would also prohibit the sale of non-ZEV light-duty motor vehicles as of 2035.

This system would be implemented by enacting the Zero-emission Vehicles Act.

Employment Standards Act Comprehensive Review

Published Date: 22 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The government of Prince Edward Island is seeking feedback on proposed changes to employment standards in the province. According to the government, the changes being discussed could include:

• revisions to definitions of “employee” and “employer” to include ‘gig workers’ and ‘dependent contractors’, and an assumption “that a worker should be ‘presumed’ to be an employee unless proven otherwise”;
• the expansion of definitions relating to family as they concern leave allowances to care for family members;
• the removal of exemptions to the standards and revision of their applicability in unionized environments;
• updates to the composition of the Employment Standards Board;
• the establishment of a “transparent, fair and predictable” process for determining wage rates;
• updates to rules around, and number of, paid holidays and annual vacation allowances in the province;
• updates to rules concerning paid sick leave, including the mandatory number of days allowed;
• moving the province “to a standard forty-hour work week (40 hours/ week)”;
• “access to exemptions from the rest day provision for well defined extenuating circumstances,” and the ability for employees to deny such requests;
• clarification on duties to report tips and gratuities;
• changes to timeframes for notices of termination;
• changes to exemptions to rules concerning the employment of youths in certain industries;
• a discussion of employees’ right to disconnect; and
• the establishment of pay equity in the private sector.

The changes would be made by enacting amendments to the Employment Standards Act and the Youth Employment Act.

Interested parties are invited to submit comments until 31 January 2023.

Additional information is available here.

United States

Federal

Changes to Reporting Requirements for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and to Supplier Notifications for Chemicals of Special Concern; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting

Published Date: 5 December 2022
Industry Sector: Chemicals Industry

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to make the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) subject to additional Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements. According to the EPA, all PFAS would be considered as chemicals of special concern and would “eliminate the use of the de minimus exemption,” which “allows facilities to disregard small concentrations of TRI chemicals not classified as chemicals of special concern in mixtures or other trade name products” when determining reporting and waste management calculations. It would also “align reporting requirements for these PFAS with other chemicals of special concern.” Those reporting requirements are available in 40 CFR 372 Subpart B Reporting Requirements.

The “availability of the de minimis exemption for purposes of the Supplier Notification Requirements for all chemicals of special concern” would also be removed to “ensure that purchasers of mixtures and trade name products containing such chemicals are informed of their presence in mixtures and products they purchase.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 3 February 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector Climate Review

Published Date: 6 December 2022
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry, Utilities & Communications Industry

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced updates to a previous proposal to rules that would “significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other harmful air pollutants from the Crude Oil and Natural Gas source category.” Updates to the proposal include:

• introduced standards for certain sources not included in the initial proposal;
• more stringent standards for leak sources;
• more flexibility “to use innovative advanced detection methods”;
• the establishment of a super emitter response program; and
• “details of the timelines and other implementation requirements that apply to states to limit methane pollution from existing designated facilities.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 13 February 2023. EPA is also hosting virtual public hearings on 10 and 11 January 2023.

Additional information is available here and here.

General Provisions; Revised List of Migratory Birds

Published Date: 12 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has announced its intention to update the List of Birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The changes would add 16 species: 11 “based on new distributional records documenting their natural occurrence in the United States” and 5 “newly recognized [species] as a result of recent taxonomic changes”; remove three species either not known to exist within the United States or from taxonomic changes; and update the common and scientific names of various species “to conform to accepted use.”

The lists of species being added, removed, or renamed are available beginning here.

Interested parties may submit comments until 10 February 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons: Restrictions on the Use of Certain Hydrofluorocarbons Under Subsection (i) the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020

Published Date: 15 December 2022
Industry Sector: Hardware Manufacturing Industry

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to adopt rules that would restrict the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in new products from “the following sectors and subsectors: refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pumps; foam blowing; and aerosols.” The restrictions would be implemented in two phases: first, “the manufacture and import of products would be prohibited by either 2025 or 2026, depending on the sector or subsector,” and second, “a prohibition on the sale, distribution, offer for sale or distribution, export, and other activities pertaining to those products” would be effective a year later.

According to the EPA, the rules would also require “petitions [to] be submitted electronically with required minimum information,” and establish “labeling, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements for products imported or manufactured using an HFC”.

Interested parties may submit comments until 30 January 2023.

Additional information is available here and here.

European Union

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC

Published Date: 30 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The European Commission has proposed a new Regulation on the life cycle of packaging. Notably, it concerns—

• sustainability requirements for packaging;
• labeling, marking, and information requirements;
• obligations of economic operators;
• the annual consumption restrictions on lightweight plastic carrier bags;
• the conformity of packaging;
• the management of packaging and of packaging waste, including the extended producer responsibility and the obligations of producer responsibility organizations; and
• safeguard procedures, including the economic operator’s duty to ensure that all necessary corrective measures are taken with regard to all the concerned packaging that has been made available on the market throughout the Union.

Additional information about this initiative is available here and here.

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Union certification framework for carbon removals

Published Date: 30 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

The European Commission has proposed a new Regulation on monitoring, verifying and certifying carbon removals. According to its content, the proposal focuses on the—

• quality criteria of carbon removals and carbon removal activity;
• eligibility requirements for carbon removals under the Union certification framework;
• certification process, including the requirements for operators to submit comprehensive information concerning the carbon removal activity and their expected compliance with the quality criteria; and
• obligations for certification bodies and certification schemes.

Additional information about this initiative is available here and here.

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