Proposed EHS regulatory changes – February 2023

Jonathan Brun

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

United States

European Union

Canada – Federal

Bill C-312 – National Renewable Energy Strategy Act

Published Date: 1 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Canada has announced its intention to develop a national strategy to provide that 100% of electricity generated in the country is done so from renewable energy sources by 31 December 2030.

According to the government, the strategy would include incentives for investment and development of “renewable energy projects related to solar, wind, tidal or biomass electricity generation” and for “homeowners and businesses to retrofit their properties with new or more efficient renewable energy technologies to increase the proportion of electricity used by these properties that is derived from renewable energy sources.”

The strategy would be implemented by the enactment of the National Renewable Energy Strategy Act.

Additional information is available here.

Order Adding a Toxic Substance to Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

The Government of Canada has announced its intention to add Crude tall oil (“CTO”, CAS RN 8002-26-4) to the List of Toxic Substances contained in Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

According to the government, “CTO is typically burned in a recovery boiler or used as a feedstock for refining into various downstream products, including tall-oil pitch, rosin and [distilled tall oil.” Further, “CTO that is imported into Canada may have various industrial applications, including use as a raw material for oil and gas drilling applications. The major sources of emissions for CTO relate to the manufacturing and associated activities for CTO in Canada.”

The change would be implemented by amending the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

Interested parties may submit comments until 19 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxwiqak — Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area Regulations

Published Date: 18 February 2023
Industry Sector: Water Transportation Industry, Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping Industry

The Government of Canada has announced its intention to designate “approximately 133 019 km2 in the Offshore Pacific Bioregion as [a marine protected area (MPA)].” According to the government, rules concerning the MPA would:

  • “establish a general prohibition against activities likely to disturb, damage, destroy, or remove any living marine organism or any part of its habitat from the MPA”;
  • “identify specific exceptions to the general prohibition allowing activities that are compatible with the conservation objective of the MPA,” (to conserve and protect its unique seafloor features);
  • prohibit “recreational and commercial fishing using bottom contact gear as well as oil and gas development”; and
  • permit certain “scientific research, scientific monitoring, and educational activities” within the MPA, subject to approval.

The proposed MPA “extends from the toe of the continental slope westward to the boundary of Canada’s [exclusive economic zone] and southward to the Canada-U.S. border [and] contains the majority of seamounts and all known hydrothermal vents under Canada’s authority.”

The MPA and accompanying rules would be enacted by new Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxwiqak — Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area Regulations.

Interested parties may submit comments until 20 March 2023.

Additional information is available here.

British Columbia

Consultation on proposed amendments to Part 6 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

Published Date: 1 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance

WorkSafeBC has announced its intention to update rules concerning asbestos certification and licensing.

The proposed rules would prohibit “the carrying out of asbestos abatement work unless a person holds a valid certificate for the type of work.” They would require employers to ensure their asbestos abatement workers are both certified to do so and are capable of performing the work “in a competent and safe manner.” Employers would also be required to maintain records of asbestos certificates and ensure conditions of those certificates are being met.

The rules would also establish an obligation “on prime contractors and owners to ensure any asbestos abatement contractors they hire are licensed.”

The changes would be made by amending the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

Interested parties may submit comments until 28 February 2023.

Additional information is available here.

New Brunswick

Amendments to the Designated Materials Regulation – Clean Environment Act

Published Date: 8 February 2023
Industry Sector: Food Industry

The Government of New Brunswick announced its intention to add requirements applicable to manufacturers, sellers, and distributors of certain beverage containers. According to the government, the changes would notably designate certain beverage containers as designated materials under the Clean Environment Act and subsequently restrict certain beverage container brand owners (brand owners) from selling, offering for sale, or distributing certain beverage containers unless they are registered with the stewardship board (Recycle New Brunswick). It would also notably require brand owners to:

  • submit a beverage container stewardship plan with an application for registration and one or more performance measures used to assess the goals and objectives of the brand owner’s stewardship plan and the relevant performance measure targets;
  • attempt to enter into an agreement for the provision of services with a return facility;
  • submit performance measures and targets to the stewardship board;
  • submit annual reports on the effectiveness of their beverage containers stewardship plans; and
  • provide certain information to consumers concerning their stewardship plan, access to return facilities, and the environmental and economic benefits of participating in the beverage containers stewardship program.

These changes would be implemented by amending Designated Material Regulation.

Interested persons are invited to make comments until 28 February 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Quebec

Agricultural operations

Published Date: 22 February 2023
Industry Sector: Animal Production & Aquaculture Industry, Agriculture Industry

The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules concerning agricultural operations. According to the government, the changes would prohibit “the spreading on any parcel of land of sludge from a municipal or industrial wastewater treatment plant or any other wastewater treatment or collection system, as well as de-inking sludge from pulp and paper mills,” and permit “restoring to cultivation certain parcels subject to a prohibition, and [establish] the conditions for doing so.”

The changes would be made by amending the Agricultural Operations Regulation.

Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Clean air — Halocarbons — Environmental standards for heavy vehicles — Quality of the atmosphere

Published Date: 22 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules concerning atmospheric emission standards. According to the government, the changes would notably–

  • provide that the Minister may request “any data entered into a register or other document, recorded by a continuous emission measurement and recording system, collected, measured, calculated, used or provided in accordance with the [Clean Air Regulation]”;
  • establish a conditional “exception to the standard for the emission of particles for the harvesting of horticultural peat”;
  • update “the method for the calculation of the contaminant concentration […] to specify that all the sources must be included in order to reflect the cumulative effect”;
  • provide an exception “to the application of a standard for above-ground tanks for the storage of volatile organic compounds” for tanks in the Municipalité de l’Île-d’Anticosti;
  • prohibit “sulphur hexafluoride emissions resulting from the use of a magnesium alloy production process”;
  • adjust “the prohibitions related to the repair, transformation or modification of equipment operating with certain types of halocarbons […] particularly to prohibit the transformation or modification of units to allow their operation with halocarbons having a high global warming potential”; and
  • permit heavy vehicles to be modified “to allow the use of electricity”.

The changes would be made by amending the Clean Air Regulation, the Regulation respecting halocarbons, the Regulation respecting environmental standards for heavy vehicles, and the Regulation respecting the quality of the atmosphere.

Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Liquid effluents of petroleum refineries — Pulp and paper mills — Quality of drinking water — Hot mix asphalt plants

Published Date: 22 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules “with respect mainly to wastewater discharge standards and drinking water quality standards”. According to the government, the changes would–

  • replace references to “oil and grease contained in liquid effluents” with references to “petroleum hydrocarbons C10-C50” in rules for petroleum refineries and hot mix asphalt plants;
  • increase the period that “data pertaining to contaminant measurements must be kept” by petroleum refineries and pulp and paper mills to five (5) years;
  • clarify certain terms and applicability of rules for pulp and paper mills “concerning the measurements that must be taken at sampling stations”;
  • specify “the requirement to install a collection and treatment system for water from a landfill site for mill residual materials that flow on the surface or those that resurface”;
  • add a manganese-related standard to rules governing drinking water quality; and
  • update standards concerning petroleum hydrocarbons, suspended matter, and pH for hot mix asphalt plants.

The changes would be made by amending the Regulation respecting the liquid effluents of petroleum refineries, the Regulation respecting pulp and paper mills, the Regulation respecting the quality of drinking water, and the Regulation respecting hot mix asphalt plants.

Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Threatened or vulnerable plant species and their habitats — Pesticides Management Code — Permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides — Dam Safety Regulation

Published Date: 22 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to “reinforce the enforcement of environmental and dam safety legislation, to ensure the responsible management of pesticides, and to implement certain measures of the 2030 Plan for a Green Economy concerning zero emission vehicles.” According to the government, the changes would:

  • “allow wild leek plants to be transplanted under certain conditions”;
  • remove two and add eight plant habitats, and update descriptions of various plant habitats;
  • “restrict the use of pesticides in the urban environment” and update the list of pesticides that are authorized for use in maintaining green areas, indoor plants, and in the vicinity of day care centres and schools;
  • “allow the application of pesticides along watercourses, in particular for research and experimental projects and to control certain plants which are toxic on contact, as well as certain invasive species”;
  • provide that “seeds coated with insecticides of the diamide Class” are subject to agronomic justification and prescription rules that currently apply to seeds coated with neonicotinoids;
  • regulate “the planting of seeds coated with fungicides”;
  • create different work classes of “work on green areas and work on golf courses” and accompanying different requirements for obtaining a permit for each class of work;
  • “simplify the application of certain [dam safety rules], in particular concerning the process for filing emergency action plans and impounded water management plans and the process for declaring ‘low capacity’ dams”; and
  • “adjust the contents […] of dam safety reviews and applications for authorization”.

The changes would be made by amending the Regulation respecting threatened or vulnerable plant species and their habitats, the Pesticides Management Code, the Regulation respecting permits and certificates for the sale and use of pesticides, and the Dam Safety Regulation.

Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Activities in wetlands, bodies of water and sensitive areas — Regulatory scheme applying to activities on the basis of their environmental impact — Environmental impact assessment and review of certain projects — Snow, road salt and abrasives management — Temporary implementation of the amendments made by chapter 7 of the Statutes of 2021 in connection with the management of flood risks

Published Date: 22 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to update rules concerning “activities subject to a government or ministerial authorization, eligible for a declaration of compliance or exempted from a ministerial authorization.” According to the government, the changes would notably–

  • adjust “the conditions for carrying out work requiring the removal and trimming of vegetation in [certain] environments […] and those concerning the laying out or widening of a road,” as well as for activities on a lakeshore or riverbank;
  • “require applicants for [environmental] authorization and authorization holders having conditions for the monitoring, supervision or control of [prescribed] activities” to use a specified data collection tool;
  • require “backfilling activities in a quarry with certain materials” to obtain environmental authorizations;
  • update rules “concerning the storage and handling of road salt and abrasives” and “layout and operation standards applicable to storage and handling centres for road salt and abrasives”;
  • revise “exemptions for work related to a residential building carried out on a lakeshore or riverbank or a flood zone”;
  • adjust “the designation of the hydrogen production process […] to take into consideration greenhouse gas emissions when analyzing the application for authorization for the activity”;
  • add certain activities to and “revise the application of the environmental impact assessment and review procedure with respect to the manufacturing of motorized vehicles”; and
  • “clarify activities related to a residential building that are subject to a municipal authorization.”

These changes would be made by amending the Regulation respecting activities in wetlands, bodies of water and sensitive areas, the Regulation respecting the regulatory scheme applying to activities on the basis of their environmental impact, the Regulation respecting the environmental impact assessment and review of certain projects, the Snow, road salt and abrasives management regulation, and the Regulation respecting the temporary implementation of the amendments made by chapter 7 of the Statutes of 2021 in connection with the management of flood risks.

Interested parties may submit comments until 8 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Yukon

New minerals legislation

Published Date: 8 February 2023
Industry Sector: Mining & Minerals Industry

The Government of Yukon has announced its intention to “renew Yukon’s minerals legislation” by providing “a framework for mineral prospecting, exploration, development, production, reclamation and closure, while recognizing key differences between the quartz and placer sectors.” The new legislation, according to the Yukon Government, would notably:

  • streamline and coordinate licensing rules;
  • create a suite of new enforcement tools and penalties to ensure proponents follow all the requirements that are part of their licence;
  • create ways to enable the greater involvement of Indigenous governments in compliance, monitoring and enforcement;
  • update requirements concerning royalties;
  • update reclamation requirements, including making sure that reclamation requirements are clear for proponents and that Indigenous governments are a part of reclamation planning;
  • update requirements concerning closure and abandonment, including its planning, long-term monitoring and maintenance, and reporting;
  • establish resource revenue funds that can be used to reduce the impacts or increase the benefits of mining; and
  • modify rules concerning mining agreements.

These changes would be implemented by replacing Quartz Mining Act and Placer Mining Act.

Interested persons may submit comments until 9 May 2023.

A discussion paper, with specific questions for feedback, is available here. Additional information is available here.

United States

Reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

Published Date: 27 January 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to update “air quality criteria and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM).” The changes would:

  • lower the level for the primary annual PM2.5 standard “from 12.0 µg/m3 to within the range of 9.0 to 10.0 µg/m3”;
  • retain existing primary 24-hour PM2.5 and PM10 standards, secondary 24-hour PM2.5 and PM10 standards, and the secondary annual PM2.5 standard; and
  • update “key aspects related to the PM NAAQS, including revisions to the Air Quality Index (AQI) and monitoring requirements for the PM NAAQS.”

The proposed changes to ambient monitoring requirements, according to the EPA, “include addressing updates in the approval of reference and equivalent methods, updates in quality assurance statistical calculations to account for lower concentration measurements, updates to support improvements in PM methods, a revision to the PM2.5 network design to account for at-risk populations, and updates to the Probe and Monitoring Path Siting Criteria for NAAQS pollutants.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 28 March 2023.

Additional information is available here and here.

Renewable Energy Modernization Rule

Published Date: 30 January 2023
Industry Sector: Utilities & Communications Industry

The United States Board of Ocean Energy Management (“the Board” or “BOEM”) has announced its intention to “modernize its regulations to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy resources to meet U.S. climate and renewable energy objectives.”

According to the Board, changes would be made to rules concerning the funding of decommissioning accounts, “geophysical and geotechnical survey submission requirements,” approval procedures for meteorological buoys, “project verification procedures,” and the Board’s “renewable energy auction process.” Clarifying changes would also be made to certain safety requirements. Specifically, the Board is proposing to⁠—

  • remove “unnecessary” requirements for site assessment plans for met buoys and “the limited lease requirement for installing off-lease met towers and met buoys”;
  • increase survey flexibility by “[deferring] certain geotechnical survey requirements, such as engineering site-specific surveys”;
  • expand the role of certified verification agents “to include verification of the design and commissioning of the critical safety systems”;
  • require the government “to publish a schedule of anticipated lease sales that BOEM intends to hold in the subsequent 5 years [which] would include a general description of the area of each proposed lease sale, the anticipated quarter of each sale, and reasons for changes made to the previously issued leasing schedule, if any”;
  • clarify auction procedures, such as rules concerning the use of bidding credits and deterring potential bidder collusion, as well as “[specifying] actions to be taken if a provisional winner fails to meet its obligations, or if an existing lease is relinquished, contracted, or cancelled,” while preserving “the option to use multiple factor auctions”;
  • “tailor the financial assurance requirements to better align those requirements with actual risk by allowing incremental funding of decommissioning accounts in accordance with a BOEM-approved schedule during the lease term and by expanding the acceptable categories of financial assurance instruments”;
  • “clarify the information requirements for safety management systems [and] add two safety reporting requirements”;
  • “restructure commercial lease terms into four periods tied to activities required to develop the lease”;
  • “explicitly allow regulatory departures before and after a lease or grant is issued or made”;
  • “authorize civil penalties without either notice or a time period for corrective action when violations cause or threaten to cause serious, irreparable, or immediate harm or damage”;
  • “add specific procedures regarding lease segregation and consolidation”; and
  • “standardize the annual rental rate per acre across most grants.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 31 March 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Migratory Bird Hunting; Proposed 2023-24 Frameworks for Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations

Published Date: 30 January 2023
Industry Sector: Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping Industry

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced its intention to set hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds for the 2023-2024 hunting seasons by establishing outside limits (also called frameworks) within which States then regulate hunting seasons.

According to the Service, “frameworks specify the outside dates, season lengths, shooting hours, bag and possession limits, and areas where migratory game bird hunting may occur.”

Interested parties may submit comments on the proposed migratory bird hunting frameworks until 1 March 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for Three Petitions To Delist the Grizzly Bear in the Lower-48 States

Published Date: 6 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) is seeking feedback on whether to delist the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) “in two specific ecosystems, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).”

The Service is “requesting new scientific and commercial data and other information regarding the grizzly bear in the NCDE and GYE and factors that may affect its status in those ecosystems, including the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms to address threats now and in the foreseeable future.”

Interested parties may submit such new information electronically or by hard copy.

Additional information is available here.

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Enhancement of Survival and Incidental Take Permits

Published Date: 9 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) has announced its intention to update rules concerning “enhancement of survival and incidental take permits.” According to the Service, the changes would–

  • “clarify the appropriate use of enhancement of survival permits and incidental take permits;
  • “clarify [the Service’s] authority to issue these permits for non-listed species without also including a listed species;
  • “simplify the requirements for enhancement of survival permits by combining safe harbor agreements and candidate conservation agreements with assurances into one agreement type; [and]
  • “include portions of our five-point policies for safe harbor agreements, candidate conservation agreements with assurances, and habitat conservation plans in the regulations to reduce uncertainty.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 10 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources

Published Date: 15 February 2023
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry

The United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced its intention to require the submission of an archaeological report for any oil and gas exploration and development plan for activities proposed on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It would also “define the minimum level of survey information necessary to support the conclusions in the archaeological report, the procedure for reporting possible archaeological resources, the procedure for continuing operations when a possible resource is present, and what to do if an unanticipated archaeological resource is discovered during operation.”

According to BOEM, “an archaeological report is currently required only if the plan covers an area that a BOEM Regional Director has reason to believe may contain an archaeological resource.”

Interested parties may submit comments until 17 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

Clean Water Act Methods Update Rule for the Analysis of Effluent

Published Date: 21 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to update testing procedures used in analyses of wastewater’s chemical, physical, and biological properties for reporting requirements under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program.

The changes would approve revised versions of (1) certain EPA membrane filtration methods “for the detection and enumeration of either enterococci or Escherichia coli bacteria”, (2) certain ASTM methods for detecting various substances within a water sample; and (3) various Standards Methods Committee testing methods for measuring qualities of a water sample (such as color, turbidity, acidity, hardness, and metals content). They would also include two new alternate test procedures.

Interested parties may submit comments until 24 April 2023.

Additional information is available here.

European Union

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Published Date: 7 February 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry

The European Commission has announced its intention to update the provisions of Directive 2012/19/EU (ZEDB2019.en) concerning the extended producer responsibility for financing the costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). According to the European Commission, the changes would notably:

  • clarify that producers of photovoltaic panels for private households or users other than private households must finance the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE resulting from the photovoltaic panels if the photovoltaic panels were placed on the market as of August 13, 2012;
  • require that producers of “open scope” electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) for private households or users other than private households finance the above-mentioned costs when the EEE was put on the market as of August 15, 2018; and
  • update the reference in the Directive to the European standard EN 50419 by replacing the reference to the 2006 version of the standard with the updated version of 2022.

Additional information about this initiative is available here and here.

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