By: Sydney Sybydlo
Here are a few noteworthy global EHS regulatory changes in November 2023. We cover EHS legislation and standards for over 30 countries and 400 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. Note that descriptions with an asterisk (*) were generated with artificial intelligence.
- Canada – Federal
- Canada – Alberta
- Canada – British Columbia
- Canada – Northwest Territories
- Canada – Nova Scotia
- Canada – Nunavut
- United States – Federal
- United States – Washington
- European Union
- Ireland
- Mexico – Nuevo León
- Poland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United Kingdom – Scotland
Canada – Federal
Amended Document – Output-Based Pricing System Regulations
Amending Document – Regulations Amending the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations and the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations
First Effective Date: 1 January 2023 (certain provisions)
Industry Sector: General Industry
According to the government, changes to the document notably “[introduce] a 2% fixed annual percentage reduction (tightening rate) to most output-based standards (OBSs) from 2023 onwards […] For sectors that are considered at very high risk of competitiveness impacts and of carbon leakage resulting from carbon pricing, the amendments apply an adjusted tightening rate of 1% from 2023 onwards. The amendments also add new OBSs and update current OBSs and make changes to improve implementation, ensure accurate reporting, and streamline voluntary participation.” They also:
- “enable the harmonization of quantification methods for GHG emissions between the [Output-Based Pricing System] and the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)”;
- “improve regulatory implementation by recognizing additional industrial activities”;
- “streamline voluntary participation”;<li>”provide an exemption for remote electricity generation facilities that generate electricity from liquid or gaseous fuels for distribution to remote communities”;
- “modify the method to calculate site-specific OBSs”;
- “clarify requirements for the recognition and remittance of a unit or a credit as a compliance unit and the information to be provided on their remittance”; and
- “make changes to rules related to reporting and verification.”
The Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations are also amended to prescribe violation classes for offences concerning violations of the Output-Based Pricing System Regulations.
Canada – Alberta
New Principal Document – Pipeline Rules
First Effective Date: 15 November 2023
Industry Sector: Oil & Gas Industry
This document applies to businesses and individuals involved with pipelines in Alberta. It outlines the regulations for the administration, materials, design, pressure testing, ground disturbance, warning signs, changes to pipelines, and procedures for discontinuance, abandonment, removal, and resumption of pipelines. Key requirements include compliance with directives, maintaining eligibility for a license, notification of construction commencement, emergency response plans, integrity management programs, financial information provisions, and specific protocols for reporting leaks, breaks, or contact damage.*
Changes to other documents, including Directive 077: Pipelines— Requirements and Reference Tools, were also made.
Canada – British Columbia
New Principal Document – Emergency and Disaster Management Act
First Effective Date: 8 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Public Administration & Institutions
This document applies to various entities, including government ministers, public sector agencies, local authorities, critical infrastructure owners, and volunteers. It outlines the comprehensive framework for emergency and disaster management, detailing roles, principles, planning, response, and recovery phases, as well as agreements with Indigenous governing bodies. It specifies general requirements for these entities, such as emergency management planning, risk assessments, business continuity plans, and coordination with other authorities and Indigenous peoples. The document also addresses compensation, financial assistance, enforcement, and administrative matters related to emergency management.*
It replaces the Emergency Program Act. The new document, according to the government, will:
- “account for all 4 phases of emergency management, which are mitigation, preparation, response and recovery;”
- “streamline and clarify the powers and duties of the minister, provincial emergency management organization, ministries, public sector agencies and local authorities;”
- “facilitate agreements, consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples with respect to emergency management;”
- “clarify the roles of critical infrastructure owners;”; and
- incorporate “lessons learned in recent years in responding to floods, wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Amended Document – Environmental Management Act
Amending Document – Environmental Management Amendment Act, 2023
Published Date: 8 November 2023 (comes into force by regulation)
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably adds rules concerning the decommissioning and closure of facilities, specifically requirements for planning, reporting, and providing security under government order.
Canada – Northwest Territories
New Principal Document – Waste Reduction and Resource Recovery Act
Published Date: 6 October 2023 (comes into force by order of the Commissioner)
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
This document broadens the scope of waste management and recovery. It applies to producers, who are responsible for establishing waste reduction systems and maintaining associated funds. It also details regulations for defining producers, their responsibilities, and the operation of waste reduction systems. The document addresses the prohibition of certain materials, licensing of collection facilities, and the establishment of an Environment Fund. Compliance, enforcement, and penalties for non-compliance, including fines and imprisonment, are specified.
It replaces the Waste Reduction and Recovery Act. According to the government, the new document will “allow regulations to be made respecting waste reduction and resource recovery, including regulations:”
- “prescribing persons as producers of a designated material, or setting out a method for determining producers,”
- “setting out responsibilities of producers of a designated material,”
- “requiring producers of a designated material to establish and operate systems in respect of waste reduction or resource recovery, and to establish and maintain funds associated with those systems,”
- “prohibiting or restricting the disposal of a designated material at certain premises in certain circumstances, and”
- “in respect of licences to operate collection facilities or other facilities in respect of designated or prohibited materials, providing for a maximum number of licences for a geographic area, and allowing the Minister to approve one or more competitive processes to select successful applicants for a licence”.
Amended Document – Employment Standards Regulations
Amending Document – Employment Standards Regulations, amendment
First Effective Date: 1 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document provides that certain rules concerning working hours and overtime pay do not apply to specified classes of nurses and nurse practitioners.
Canada – Nova Scotia
Amended Document – Workers’ Compensation Act NS
Amending Document – An Act to Amend Chapter 10 of the Acts of 1994-95, the Workers’ Compensation Act
First Effective Date: 9 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document provides that “stress other than an acute reaction to a traumatic event” may be considered an “accident” and setS out conditions under which a worker is entitled to compensation “for gradual onset or traumatic mental stress”.
Canada – Nunavut
New Principal Document – Food Safety Regulations
First Effective Date: 1 May 2024
IndustRy Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
This document applies to businesses involved in food handling and their employees. It outlines general requirements to ensure food safety, including definitions of key terms, contamination prevention, proper storage, temperature control for various food types, equipment maintenance, cleaning and sanitation protocols, pest management, waste disposal, and the use of chemicals. It emphasizes the importance of preventing contamination, maintaining proper temperatures for storing, cooking, and holding food, and outlines specific temperature requirements for cooking different types of animal products. Additionally, it details procedures for cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces and equipment, managing pests, and safely handling chemicals and waste.*
United States – Federal
New Principal Document – 40 CFR 60 Subpart La Standards of Performance for Secondary Lead Smelters for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification Commenced After December 1, 2022
First Effective Date: 20 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
As stated in its title, this document establishes performance standards for “the following affected facilities in secondary lead smelters: Process fugitive emissions sources, blast (cupola) furnaces, and reverberatory furnaces” constructed or modified after a specified date. It sets out standards for particulate matter, testing methods, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements requirements.
40 CFR 60 Subpart L Standards of Performance for Secondary Lead Smelters for Which Construction, Reconstruction, or Modification Commenced After June 11, 1973, and On or Before December 1, 2022 is also updated to provide that it only applies to affected secondary lead smelter facilities that were constructed, reconstructed, or modified between June 11, 1973 and December 1, 2022.
Amended Document – 46 CFR 150 Compatibility of Cargoes
Amending Document – 2022 Liquid Chemical Categorization Updates
First Effective Date: 21 December 2023
Industry Sector: Water Transportation Industry
The amended document “[aligns] liquid chemical categorization tables in [rules concerning] tank vessels and bulk dangerous cargo […] with the 2020 Edition of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Goods in Bulk. The updated tables provide a list of the liquid hazardous materials, liquefied gases, and compressed gases approved for international and domestic maritime transportation and indicate how each substance is categorized by its pollution potential, safe carriage requirements, chemical flammability, combustibility, and compatibility with other substances.”
United States – Washington
New Principal Document – WAC Chapter 173-925 Post-consumer recycled content in plastic containers
First Effective Date: 1 December 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces
This document establishes a post-consumer recycled content (PCRC) program for certain covered products. It notably requires producers of certain covered products to conduct annual registration, pay agency fees, and submit reports.
European Union
New Principal Document – Regulation (EU) 2023/2405 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on ensuring a level playing field for sustainable air transport (ReFuelEU Aviation)
First Effective Date: 20 November 2023
Industry Sector: Air Transportation Industry
This document, according to its content, “applies to aircraft operators, to Union airports and their respective Union airport managing bodies, and to aviation fuel suppliers.” The document covers “harmonised rules on the uptake and supply of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)”, such as refuelling obligations for aircraft operators, obligations for Union airport managing body to facilitate access to SAF, the promotion of the hydrogen and electricity supply at the Union airports, reporting obligations for aircraft operators and aviation fuel suppliers, as well as the establishment of a voluntary environmental labelling scheme.
First Effective Date: 27 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry
This document outlines the European Commission’s rules for maritime transport companies regarding the monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions. It specifies the use of electronic templates for monitoring plans, emissions reports, partial emissions reports, documents of compliance, and company-level reports. These templates are designed to standardize the submission of data and ensure complete and consistent information across the industry. The document also details the procedures for updating emission factors, managing data gaps, and ensuring the quality of measuring equipment. It applies to companies operating maritime transport services within the scope of EU regulations.*
Ireland
Amended Document – European Union (Road Transport) (Working Conditions and Road Safety) Regulations 2017
Amending Document – European Union (Road Transport) (Working Conditions and Road Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
First Effective Date: 22 November 2023
Industry Sector: Road Transportation Industry, Public Administration & Institutions, Other Industry
The amended document, according to the Irish government, gives effect to the specified European Union Regulations and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement with respect to driving times, breaks, rest periods, and the use of tachographs. The effect of this change is notably to:
- update and insert certain definitions for terms such as “control officer” and “Trade and Cooperation Agreement”;
- specify the exemptions for certain categories of vehicles;
- specify the circumstances in which an approved workshop shall issue a certificate of data un-downloadability to a transport undertaking and the rules respecting the falsification of such certificates;
- update the vehicle owner’s responsibility for checks and inspections;
- specify the obligations of transport undertakings to download vehicle unit and driver card; and
- prescribe offences for creating false records.
Mexico – Nuevo León
Amended Document – Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence
Amending Document – Decree No. 424. Article 10 of the Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence of the State of Nuevo León is Reformed
First Effective Date: 26 October 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably expands the scope of violence at work, such as exclusion from managerial positions; unjustified denial of participation in labor organizations; discrimination, exclusion or restriction against a pregnant woman that endangers or is intended to endanger her rights or the rights of her baby; endangering the life or health of both the mother and the baby; and preventing a woman from returning to work after pregnancy.
Poland
Amended Document – Regulation of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy of December 1, 1998 on occupational health and safety at workstations equipped with screen monitors.
Amending Document – Regulation of the Minister of Family and Social Policy of October 18, 2023 amending the regulation on occupational health and safety in positions equipped with screen monitors
First Effective Date: 17 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably:
- updates the definition of “workstation” and removeS the definition of “computer system”;
- clarifies that portable systems not intended for use at a particular workstation for at least half of the daily working time are exempted from the rules;
- clarify employer obligations regarding the provision of preventive health care to employees who work with monitors, including the addition of the option to provide contact lenses;
- update the minimum occupational safety, health, and ergonomics requirements that should be met by workstations equipped with monitors, such as clarifying the list of requirements for monitor screens and their positioning; and
- allow six months from the effective date of the changes for employers to adapt workstations equipped with computer monitors created before the enactment of this amending document to meet the new requirements.
Turkey
Amended Document – Regulation on Health and Safety Precautions for Working with Hazardous Substances
Amending Document – Regulation Amending the Regulation on Health and Safety Measures in Working with Chemical Substances
First Effective Date: 20 October 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably:
- updates certain definitions related to hazardous chemical substances, their use, occupational exposure limit value, and other measures for handling them;
- expands the scope of the risk assessment to be carried out when working with chemical substances, such as the preparation of Turkish Safety Data Sheets and situations that may arise due to chemical exposure;
- introduces rules for the provision of guides and methods to assist and guide employers in handling chemicals and fulfilling their obligations regarding exposure limit values and health surveillance;
- establishes provisions with respect to compliance with European Union legislation; and
- updates the list of occupational exposure limit values.
United Kingdom
Amended Document – Equality Act 2010
Amending Document – Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
First Effective Date: 26 October 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Office Spaces, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document notably imposes obligations on employers to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of their employment, specifies mechanisms for the enforcement of such obligation, and provides compensation rules in cases of harassment.
Amended Document – Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Regulations 2014
Amending Document – The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
First Effective Date: 29 November 2023
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document, according to the Government of the United Kingdom, is to update provisions respecting the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), which “requires large organisations in the UK and their corporate group to carry out an audit of the energy used by their buildings, industrial processes and transport in relation to four-year compliance periods.” In particular, the updated provisions:
- introduce certain new definitions, such as the definition of “energy saving category”, “organisational purpose” and “significant energy consumption”;
- “update the compliance date for the compliance period beginning on 6 December 2019 to 5 June 2024 for some purposes”;
- “extend the requirement that a scheme administrator must publish certain types of information held on the Notification System”;
- “clarify that a lead assessor does not need to be appointed by undertakings that consume less than 40,000kWh over the annual reference period”;
- “provide for how details of estimates used under ESOS must be recorded and notified”;
- “clarify that all participants have a duty to calculate total energy consumption”;
- “require responsible undertakings to identify the proportion of energy consumption that relates to a organisational purpose of transport, industrial processes, buildings and other”;
- “require responsible undertakings to calculate an energy intensity ratio for applicable organisational purposes”;
- “specify requirements as to site visits and additional record-keeping in relation to the energy audit”;
- “require responsible undertakings to conduct further analysis and to identify considerations for implementation of energy saving opportunities”;
- “establish the requirement for a responsible undertaking to produce an ESOS report”;
- “require that responsible undertakings share relevant information with group undertakings”;
- “extend the categories of information that a responsible undertaking is required to include in their notification of compliance”;
- clarify the undertakings’ responsibilities for changes in participant groups; and
- provide details for ESOS report inclusion, notification, and publication.
Amended Document – The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
Amending Document – The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
First Effective Date: 1 October 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry, Building Management & Maintenance
The amended document, according to the Government of the United Kingdom, notably “[increases] the scope of [material facilities (MFs)] that are required to sample and report their waste, extend the types of materials they must identify and measure, including packaging, and require MFs to report more information on suppliers and destinations of waste.”
United Kingdom – Scotland
Amended Document – The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
Amending Document – The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2023
First Effective Date: 1 January 2024
Industry Sector: General Industry
The amended document, according to the Scottish Government, notably “[sets] an overall recycling target as well as material-specific recycling targets for 2024 on obligated producers in Scotland in relation to glass (including the proportion to be recycled by re-melt), plastic, aluminium, steel, paper/board, and wood.”
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