Here are a few noteworthy global EHS regulatory changes in December 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 – British Columbia
- Canada – New Brunswick
- Canada – Ontario
- Canada – Quebec
- United States – Federal
- United States – Georgia
- United States – Washington
- United States – Vermont
- European Union
- Australia
- Australia – New South Wales
- Bailiwick of Guernsey
- Belgium
- Germany
- Germany – Frankfurt
- Ireland
- Italy
- South Africa
- China
Canada – Federal
Amended Document – Pest Control Products Regulations
Amending Document – Regulations Amending the Pest Control Products Regulations (Applications and Imports)
First Effective Date: 7 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document, according to the government, notably:
- streamlines various regulatory or administrative burdens relevant to the registration of pest control products;
- “[removes] the reference to ‘true seed’ from the definition of ‘seed'”;
- “[prescribes] that active ingredients are pest control products that are ‘manufactured, represented, distributed or used to directly or indirectly control, destroy, attract or repel a pest or to mitigate or prevent the injurious, noxious or troublesome effects of a pest'”;
- “[prescribes] electronic document delivery as acceptable, both for communication from regulated parties to Health Canada and vice versa”;
- removes the duplicative provision concerning the “limit on the permissible amount of a single impurity, N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine (NDPA), in pest control products containing the herbicidal active ingredient trifluralin”; and
- “[clarifies] that the mandated health and safety documents [for a pest control product stored in a railway tank car or a transport truck tanker-trailer or if the tank car or tanker-trailer is being used to dispense the product directly] must be affixed ‘within reach of and clearly visible to the person operating the control valve’.”
It also codifies certain processes currently implemented by policy within the regulation by:
- removing “the word ‘article’ from the definition of ‘device’ and then explicitly define and prescribe a ‘treated article’ as a pest control product”;
- “[exempting] antimicrobials used for preservation from the application of the [regulation], when those antimicrobials are used in treated articles regulated under the Feeds Act, the Fertilizers Act or the Food and Drugs Act“;
- allowing any person to manufacture, possess, handle, store, transport, import, distribute or use unregistered certain pest control products that are preservatives set out as Class 2 (antibacterial) and Class 3 (antifungal) substances in Health Canada’s List of Permitted Preservatives, provided that the product is used as an antimicrobial preservative product, the sole purpose of the treatment is to protect or preserve the article, and the quantity of preservative protects or preserves the article, but does not exceed the quantity necessary to do so;
- “[denying] an application pertaining to a product that is or contains an active ingredient that Canada has, through the ratification process, agreed to prohibit pursuant to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants“; and
- “aligning import declaration requirements with current information-collection practices.”
Canada – British Columbia
Amended Document – Integrated Pest Management Regulation
Amending Document – Code of Practice for Agricultural Environmental Management; Integrated Pest Management Regulation 2022-12-06 Amendments
Amending Document – Integrated Pest Management Regulation 2022-12-06 Amendments
First Effective Date: 21 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance, Chemical Industry
The amended document notably:
- prohibits the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGAR) without a permit or licence, with certain exceptions;
- establishes a set of rules governing the use of pesticides by agricultural operations;
- sets out reporting and recordkeeping requirements for licensees who sell SGAR pesticides;
- establishes rules governing the sale of SGARs, including SGAR-specific conditions for pesticide vendor licences, and
- establishes the facilities that fall into the category of “essential service locations” within which SGARs may be used (by permitted or licenced parties).
Canada – New Brunswick
Amended Document – General Regulation
Amending Document – General Regulation 2022-12-05 Amendments
First Effective Date: 5 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably:
- modifies requirements on the use, storage, handling, and transportation of compressed gas containers;
- adds the restriction for employees not to work close to a rock face until it has been examined and declared safe to carry out work;
- adds requirements for conducting critical lifts and hot tapping; and<li>add requirements concerning pedestrian safety (near forklifts).
- updates requirements concerning mechanical safety, including equipment and machines lock-out procedures, welding, cutting, burning or soldering operations, use and operation of hoisting apparatus, mobile cranes, industrial lift trucks, powered mobile equipment, and personnel carrying devices; and
- adds requirements for works conducted in confined spaces and laboratories; and requirements for works utilizing electrical equipment.
Canada – Ontario
Amended Document – Conservation Authorities Act
Amending Document – More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022
First Effective Date: 28 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably provides that certain activities that are prohibited by a conservation authority may be permitted if the activities are part of authorized development activities under the Planning Act, requires development projects to consider “the effects on the control of unstable soil or bedrock” instead of the “effects on the control of pollution and the conservation of land” when submitting their request for permissions to carry out their project to decision-making authorities, and prohibits persons “from continuing to carry out a development project if they have not entered into an agreement by the [prescribed] timeline.”
Amended Document – Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Quantification, Reporting and Verification
Amending Document – Amending O. Reg. 390/18 (Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Quantification, Reporting and Verification)
First Effective Date: 13 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably changes the time period in which an accredited verification body is allowed to choose to comply with the ISO Standard 14065:2013 instead of ISO Standard 14065:2020 (in their verification of certain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reports requested by an emissions performance standards (EPS) facility) from “on or before November 30, 2023” to “on or before June 30, 2024.” Other notable updates are made to:
- rules concerning the calculation of amount of GHG emitted by a facility;
- rules concerning a certain EPS facility’s duty to verify its GHG emissions;
- rules concerning report revisions that have been submitted to the relevant authorities, including when the requirement to revise is applicable to the facilities and the formula used to determine the percentage of discrepancy in the GHG emissions verification amount that triggers the requirement;
- the formula used by an accredited verification body in determining the percentage of discrepancy in a verification amount;
- various verification rules conducted by an accredited verification body;
- the list of GHG and global warming potentials related to the regulations; and
- various rules concerning records and documentation of GHG emissions reports.
Additional information is available here.
Amended Document – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standards
Amending Document – Amending O. Reg. 241/19 (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standards)
First Effective Date: 1 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably:
- updates various definitions within the regulation, including removing the definition of “covered facilities” and adding the definition of “licensed engineering practitioner” to replace any mention of “professional engineer”;
- establishes the types of changes that would constitute an eligible modification to an emissions performance standards (EPS) facility;
- establish that the cessation of industrial activities does not necessarily mean it is no longer considered an EPS facility;
- update the EPS facility registration requirements, including mandatory and optional registration of the facility to the relevant authorities;
- update the rules concerning change in ownership of a facility and continuation of the registration of a facility;
- update the requirements on duty to update information submitted in the registration of an EPS facility and add the criteria in which the authority may cancel, and subsequently close, the registration of a facility;
- prohibit the transfer of compliance instruments, unless otherwise authorized by the regulations;
- update various rules concerning the compliance requirements applicable to EPS facilities, including concerning the applicability or eligibility of the compliance requirements, excess emission units, compliance instruments, determination of total annual emissions limit, as well as the reporting and notice submission requirements; and
- update Schedule 1 concerning the information to be provided in the registration of an EPS facility and Schedule 2 concerning the list of industrial activities that are subject to the EPS rules.
New Principal Document – Naloxone Kits
First Effective Date: 1 June 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This document prescribes requirements relating to the provision, maintenance, and the content of naloxone kits for workers in the workplace.
Canada – Quebec
New Principal Document – Order 2022-1001 of the Minister of the Environnement, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks dated 29 November 2022
First Effective Date: 14 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This document, according to its content, notably “[establishes] controlled zones on land in the domain of the State for the development, harvesting and conservation of wildlife or a species of wildlife and for the carrying on of recreational activities incidental thereto.”
New Principal Document – Regulation respecting afforestation and reforestation projects eligible for the issuance of offset credits on privately-owned land
First Effective Date: 29 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This document establishes requirements concerning afforestation and reforestation projects on privately-owned land eligible for receiving greenhouse gas offset credits. It notably includes project eligibility criteria, conditions and methods applicable to the projects, and required documentation for submission to the relevant authority.
United States – Federal
Amended Document – 40 CFR 80 Subpart M Renewable Fuel Standard
Amending Document – Renewable Fuel Standard Program: Canola Oil Pathways to Renewable Diesel, Jet Fuel, Naphtha, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, and Heating Oil
First Effective Date: 3 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
According to the government, the amended document provides that “renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced from canola/rapeseed oil via a hydrotreating process all meet the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction threshold of 50 percent required for advanced biofuels and biomass-based diesel (BBD) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.”
Amended Document – 49 CFR 173 Subpart E Non-bulk Packaging for Hazardous Materials Other Than Class 1 and Class 7
Amending Document – Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Safety Provisions for Lithium Batteries Transported by Aircraft (FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018)
First Effective Date: 20 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document has been updated as part of a suite of amendments to rules concerning the transport of lithium cells and batteries by aircraft. According to the government, changes to it are notably to—
- clarify overpack marking and labelling requirements to “reduce the potential for packages of smaller lithium cells or batteries that have been overpacked to be placed on a passenger aircraft”;
- clarify that “quantity limitations for smaller lithium cells and batteries offered by air transportation […] do not apply to batteries packed with or contained in equipment”;
- “indicate the requirement [that only one package of smaller lithium cells and batteries may be placed in an overpack] only applies to those packages prepared in accordance with [rules for small lithium-ion batteries packaged for transport by air (“paragraph (c)(4)(i)”)]”; and
- “state that the limitation of one package in any single consignment is only for those packages prepared in accordance with paragraph (c)(4)(i).”
United States – Georgia
New Principal Document – RRSG Subject 391-4-8 Wild Animals
First Effective Date: 4 December 2022
Industry Sector: Agricultural Industry, Animal Production & Aquaculture Industry, Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping Industry
This document provides a list of wild animals in which importation, transportation, sale, and possession are prohibited or restricted and subject to certain requirements, including license or insurance.
United States – Washington
New Principal Document – WAC Chapter 173-424 Clean Fuels Program Rule
First Effective Date: 29 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
According to its content, this document “establishes requirements for suppliers and consumers of certain transportation fuels in Washington in order to reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit energy (carbon intensity) of transportation fuels used in the state.”
Amended Document – WAC Chapter 296-62 General Occupational Health Standards
Amending Document – WAC Chapter 296-62 General Occupational Health Standards 2022-12-02 Amendments
First Effective Date: 2 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
According to the government, the amended document maintains requirements “for when there is a public health emergency for an infectious or contagious disease” (such as COVID-19). It also simplifies “period of transmission/isolation requirements” and clarifies “requirements for how employees are notified of potential high-risk exposure”.
United States – Vermont
New Principal Document – CVR Chapter 12-030-040 Vermont Low Emission Vehicle and Zero Emission Vehicle Rules
First Effective Date: 16 December 2022
Industry Sector: Road Transportation Industry, Hardware Manufacturing Industry
This document establishes emissions standards for vehicles being sold and leased in the State of Vermont. It sets out various emissions standards that are applicable to different classes and model years of vehicles, and incorporates by reference relevant documents for applicability of the standards and testing requirements. It also contains specific reporting and recordkeeping requirements for manufacturers and rules for inspections.
European Union
First Effective Date: 22 December 2022
Industry Sector: Healthcare Industry, Hardware Manufacturing Industry
This document sets out common specifications for the listed groups of products without an intended medical purpose, including obligations of the product manufacturer with regard to clinical investigation, risk management, evaluation and control, identification of hazards and risk analysis, production and post-production activities, information for safety (such as the work environment consideration where the device is intended to be used), and instructions for use.
Amended Document – Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (Text with EEA relevance.)
Amending Document – Regulation (EU) 2022/2400 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 amending Annexes IV and V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (Text with EEA relevance)
First Effective Date: 29 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably updates and tightens the concentration limits for a number of substances or groups of substances that are persistent organic pollutants with regard to waste management and establish new transitional provisions to enable an appropriate length of time for companies and competent authorities to adjust to the revised requirements.
Additional information is available here.
Australia
Amended Document – Fair Work Act 2009
Amending Document – Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022
First Effective Date: 6 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
According to the Government of Australia, the amended document—
- includes “a new prohibition on sexual harassment … [applicable to] workers, prospective workers and persons conducting businesses or undertakings;
- reduces the number of “requirements that need to be met for an enterprise agreement [a type of collective agreement] to be approved by the Fair Work Commission”;
- expands “the circumstances in which an employee may request flexible work arrangements to include situations where an employee, or a member of their immediate family or household, experiences family and domestic violence,” and
- expands “the employer’s obligations to discuss a request for a flexible work arrangement with the employee [and providing] reasons for any decision to refuse the request.”
Australia – New South Wales
Amended Document – Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021
Amending Document – Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Miscellaneous) Regulation (No 2) 2022
First Effective Date: 25 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably contains new requirements for—
- “written consent of the owner of land if a development application is made by a person other than the owner”;
- “an assessment of the consistency of development with the Macquarie Park Innovation District Place Strategy and Master Plan for development on land in the Macquarie Park Corridor under Ryde Local Environmental Plan 2014”;
- “certification that impacts on roads are, or will be, acceptable as a result of development for the purposes of waste or resource transfer stations carried out by or on behalf of public authorities”;
- “a design statement for certain complying development on Zone E3 Productivity Support, other than development involving only a change of use to premises or internal alterations to a building”; and
- “a report confirming that development is consistent with a performance solution report for a building for development comprising internal alterations or a change of use to an existing building subject to a performance solution under the Building Code of Australia.”
It also “[provides] that a development application for development involving mine grouting works may be made, in certain circumstances, by a person other than the owner of the land to which the development application relates and without the consent of the owner,” specifies the definition of “mine grouting works,” and “[specifies] that development for the purposes of waste or resource transfer stations is not designated development in certain circumstances.”
It replaces the Radiation Protection and Control (Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2015.
Additional information is available here.
Bailiwick of Guernsey
New Principal Document – The Environmental Pollution (Water Pollution) Ordinance, 2022
First Effective Date: 28 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
According to its content, this document specifically lays out rules for prescribed operations of discharges into Guernsey’s water resources, the licensing rules, water quality standards for surface water and groundwater, regulations for other activities that could endanger water quality, and prohibitions regarding water pollution.
It also repeals the Prevention of Pollution (Guernsey) Law, 1989, effective 28 May 2023.
Belgium
New Principal Document – An Act to make various provisions relating to labour
First Effective Date: 10 November 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This document applies to all companies. It establishes rules regarding when and under what conditions specified employers may require workers to work overnight, rules requiring rideshare digital platforms to take out liability insurance for the benefit of drivers, rules requiring employers having more than 20 employees to establish training plans for the employees, and rules giving workers a right to training paid for by their employer each year.
First Effective Date: 2 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry
This document applies to companies handling high-activity radioactive waste and long-life radioactive waste. In addition to setting out a governmental process for setting policy regarding such waste, the document establishes a requirement that companies process such waste in a way that will allow eventual storage deep underground.
Germany
New Principal Document – Carbon Dioxide Cost Allocation Act (Carbon Dioxide Cost Allocation Act – CO2KostAufG)
First Effective Date: 1 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This document sets out rules for the equitable sharing of CO2 expenses between landlords and tenants, based on CO2 emissions per square meter of living spaces in consideration of the energy efficiency of the property. It primarily specifies the fuel suppliers’ reporting and documentation obligations, the expenses associated with emission allowances, the distribution of CO2 costs for residential and non-residential buildings, and the restrictions on energy efficiency improvements.
Germany – Frankfurt
Amended Document – Waste Statute – Statutes of the City of Frankfurt on the Prevention, Recovery and Disposal of Waste
Amending Document – 7th Statute amending the Statutes of the City of Frankfurt am Main on the prevention, recovery and disposal of waste (Waste Act – AbfS)
First Effective Date: 1 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document revises provisions respecting waste containers, including by updating usage requirements for approving underfloor systems to treat waste, increasing the size of provided empty containers to 5,000 litres, updating application requirements with regard to the joint use of underfloor containers, revising provisions relating to the collection of small electrical and electronic devices with an edge length of up to 40 cm, and updating provisions relating to the transfer of waste containers to another location.
Ireland
New Principal Document – European Union (Extended Producer Responsibility) (Tobacco Filters Containing Plastic) Regulations 2022
First Effective Date: 27 November 2022
Industry Sector: Chemical Industry
According to the Government of Ireland, this document provides “for the introduction of an extended producer responsibility scheme for tobacco filters containing plastic and impose obligations on producers, or their nominated authorised representative, who place tobacco filter products containing plastic on the Irish market.”
Italy
New Principal Document – Decree 19 October 2022 Minimum environmental criteria for the event organization and implementation service
First Effective Date: 17 December 2022
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This document sets forth the minimal environmental requirements for contracting authorities and private contractors providing event organization and management services, including but not limited to cultural events, food and wine events, exhibitions, conferences, and sporting events. It essentially lays down rules for waste management, training staff in sustainable management and limiting the negative effects of events on the environment and society, adherence to worker health and safety regulations, and award criteria for contributing to the sustainability of events (examples of such contributions include the adoption of environmental management systems, recycling of plastics, and the use of heavy-duty vehicles powered by alternative fuels).
South Africa
New Principal Document – National Health Act: Regulations relating standards for emergency medical services
First Effective Date: 2 December 2023
Industry Sector: Healthcare Industry
This document applies to both public and private emergency medical services. It lays out provisions for the promotion and protection of the user, healthcare professionals, and general public health and safety, including rules for user rights, clinical governance and clinical care in terms of waste management and safety incidents, operational management requirements regarding occupational health and safety, emergency and disaster preparedness, as well as the rules for facilities and infrastructure.
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