IHMM Today December 20, 2022

Transport Canada Proposes Harmonization Amendment to TDGR

Transport Canada and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are currently playing a game of “catch-up.” Due to issues such as COVID, our North American regulations have started to fall behind international standards, particularly the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the basis of international dangerous goods regulations.  

Fortunately, these agencies have been working hard to create amendments that will keep North American regulations harmonized with the rest of the world. The DOT has already put an amendment in place, HM-215P, to harmonize the “Hazardous Materials Regulations” of 49 CFR with the 21st edition of the UN Recommendations and is already at work on the next in the HM-215 series. In Canada, Transport Canada has just published a proposed update that would harmonize the “Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations” (TDGR) with that edition and also improve consistency with 49 CFR. Also, this amendment will be used to give Part 12, the requirements for air transport, a long-awaited update.  

The proposed amendment was published in Canada Gazette I on November 26, 2022. Of course, keep in mind that publication in Canada Gazette I means that the amendments are for public discussion by stakeholders, and don’t become finalized until published in Canada Gazette II. So, if you have comments or suggestions, you have until February 9, 2023, to send them to Transport Canada. 

Read more >> https://www.thecompliancecenter.com/transport-canada-proposes-harmonization-amendment-to-tdgr/

OSHA Statement on 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, which recorded 5,190 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2021, a nearly 9 percent increase from 2020. Black and Latino workers also had fatality rates disproportionately higher than their co-workers.

OSHA Assistant Secretary Doug Parker called the findings “a call to action for OSHA, employers and other stakeholders to redouble our collective efforts to make our nation’s workplaces safer.” For more information, please see the OSHA News Release.

Congress Hurries To Finalize FY23 Spending; EPA Poised To Issue Major Rules

After extending funding for EPA and other agencies at fiscal year 2022 levels for another week, lawmakers are expected to vote on an FY23 omnibus package by Dec. 23. EPA could be poised to issue major rules defining the scope of the Clean Water Act and to limit nitrogen oxides from new trucks.

FY23 Budget

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has instructed House lawmakers to expect votes on an FY23 omnibus appropriations bill starting as soon as Dec. 21 and continuing on Dec. 22 until they complete work on the spending package for EPA and other agencies.

While the text of the omnibus bill has yet to be released, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said Dec. 14 that she is encouraged by the agreement the House and Senate appropriations committees have reached on a framework for the omnibus. “The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are working around the clock to negotiate the details of spending bills that will be supported by the House and Senate,” she said.

EPA Rules

At least two major final EPA rules could be issued this week. The White House Office of Management and Budget completed review of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers’ new, interim definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) Nov. 30, setting the stage for a new phase in the decades-long clash over the scope of the Clean Water Act. Additionally, EPA’s top air official Joe Goffman told the agency’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee on Dec. 14 that the administration will seek to release a final rule limiting nitrogen oxides (NOx) from new trucks starting in model year 2027 “within the next week, give or take.”

–Inside EPA

Regan Scraps Trump NSR Memo That Barred EPA ‘Second Guessing’ States

Five years after it was issued, EPA has quietly scrapped a controversial Trump-era memo that barred the agency from “second guessing” states and industry when deciding whether “major source” new source review (NSR) air permits are necessary for new or modified facilities, a move that restores officials’ latitude to object to state permit decisions it sees as flawed.

Administrator Michael Regan in a brief Dec. 9 memo rescinds the 2017 memo written by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt, which barred EPA from questioning calculations undertaken by industry permit applicants and state permit writers when determining whether a project amounts to a “major modification” that would require in-depth NSR review and possibly tougher pollution controls.

The Dec. 9 decision “rescinds in its entirety the December 7, 2017, memorandum from former Administrator E. Scott Pruitt to the regional administrators, titled ‘New Source Review Preconstruction Permitting Requirements: Enforceability and Use of the Actual-to-Projected- Actual Applicability Test in Determining Major Modification Applicability.’”

Regan does not commit to a replacement guidance, saying only that EPA “will continue to implement the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act to protect public health and welfare as authorized by the statute and in accordance with the applicable regulations.”

–Inside EPA

EPA Adds ASTM Standard With PFAS Measure Into ‘Due Diligence’ Rule

EPA has finalized a brownfields “due diligence” rule that incorporates a revised industry site assessment standard that includes PFAS, effectively rejecting industry’s request to exclude the PFAS measure for fear it will prematurely expose parties to liability under the Superfund law.

The final rule, which will be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 15, incorporates a 2021 American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Phase 1 site assessment standard — known as ASTM E1527-21 standard practice — into the agency’s “Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries” (AAI).

Under the brownfields law, compliance with AAI’s requirements provides prospective purchasers of contaminated properties and other parties with a defense against Superfund liability.

Parties who perform all appropriate inquires include bona fide prospective purchasers, contiguous property owners and so-called innocent landowners who are buying potentially contaminated properties and want to obtain CERCLA liability protection in conjunction with their property purchase, EPA says in the rule.

In addition, any entity, including states and local governments, performing a site characterization or assessment on property with funding from brownfields site assessment grants may be affected by the rule, it says.

The new ASTM standard adds the option of including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when assessing potentially contaminated properties, and also includes other updates that experts say are important to bolstering the quality of site assessments.

–Inside EPA

EPA Toughens Approach To State Water Quality Standards, Driven By FCR

Driven in part by increases in estimated fish consumption rates (FCR), EPA is toughening its approach to ensure states craft water quality standards (WQS) that are more protective of both human health and aquatic life, requiring several states to strengthen some standards or, in the case of Washington state, imposing tougher federal requirements.

In a pair of Dec. 1 decisions, EPA found that Florida’s standards are not protective of human health and must be quickly updated or they will be preempted by tough new federal requirements, while also finding that aquatic life standards set by a group of mid-Atlantic states for the Delaware River Estuary are also not adequately protective of designated uses.

That followed the agency’s November rule imposing tough new standards on Washington state to protect human health for scores of pollutants.

Such decisions are driven in part by the agency’s new stance that subsistence fishermen and others consume fish at much higher rates than previously estimated.

Echoing this approach, the agency has also recently proposed a new rule that aims to require states to consider tribal treaty rights, such as those assuring access to fisheries, in their water quality decisions.

–Inside EPA

Member States plan to evaluate 24 substances in 2023-2025

We have listed 24 substances for evaluation by EU Member States under the Community rolling action plan (CoRAP) for 2023-2025. Five are planned to be evaluated in 2023, with 19 listed for evaluation in 2024 and 2025.

We will adopt and publish the CoRAP for 2023-2025 in March 2023 following the Member State Committee’s opinion. Registrants are encouraged to look at the draft list of substances planned for evaluation in 2023 and update their dossiers to include all relevant information before March 2023.

Draft CoRAP 2023-2025 | CoRAP list of all substances | CoRAP web pages

Assessment of regulatory needs reports published

A report has been published for the alkyl aryl and cyclic diaryl esters of phosphoric acid group of substances.

You can filter the list with the group name to get a full list of the substances in the group and access the report.Assessment of regulatory needs

Authorisation for uses of chromium(VI) substances: register now for online information session

On 15 February 2023, we are organising the first joint online session for companies applying for authorisation to use chromium (VI).

Registration for the session is now open. When registering, you may also submit up to five questions to us.

A Collaborative Culture

There are 820 different conversations going on in the IHMM/HMS Collaboration platform this week.

A collaborative culture is important for every business but is especially important for our hazardous materials, dangerous goods, environment, health, and safety communities of practice. Do you have a problem you need to solve and want the opinions of your colleagues? This is where we come together to help each other.

IHMM credentialed professionals are at the top 1% of their professions and their reach is global. We are at the forefront of environmental protection, health, and safety and this is where collaborating with the best people in their fields, always willing to help one another, lessens the stress of our jobs, and where we strive as a team to make a difference of which we are proud.

We opened COLLABORATION to enable thousands of certificants and supporters to collaborate together. You can collaborate here.

Access to COLLABORATION is through the same username/password you use to access your MYIHMM account. Having a problem? Contact Jimmy Nguyen at [email protected]

Columbia Southern University

The Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] is a partner of Columbia Southern University. Columbia Southern University is an online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama, that strives to change and improve lives through higher education by enabling students to maximize their professional and personal potential.

A subsidiary of Columbia Southern Education Group, CSU offers online degree programs at the associate, bachelor, master, doctorate or certificate levels in a multitude of areas such as occupational safety and health, fire administration, criminal justice, business administration, human resource management, health care administration and more. CSU also features undergraduate and graduate certificate programs to provide focused training in specialized areas for adult learners.

Click on the CSU graphic at left and learn more about the professional development and degree program opportunities at CSU.

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