Regulatory Review: December 2024
Trudy Watson-Leung
This digest provides an overview of some of the latest regulatory news announcements of interest to the SETAC community. Please send your suggestions to [email protected].
Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
The DCCEEW sought feedback on proposed variations to the wastewater method to capture methane from treatment ponds as well as processing waste that would have gone to landfill.
Canadian Water Network (CWN)
The CWN introduced a case studies hub sharing practical knowledge and experience from Canadian municipalities and water utilities on sustainable, equitable and resilient water management, climate change-related infrastructure resiliency, financial sustainability and more.
Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)
The MEE released the Systematic Framework for Technical Standards on Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Chemical Substances. This guidance document is formulated in response to the requirement under Action Plan for New Pollutants Treatment for creating a robust standard system for screening, assessing and controlling the environmental risks of chemicals, thereby accurately identifying new pollutants of high risk for priority management.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC)
A Proposed Plan of Priorities under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) was published for a comment period ending 4 December. A list of proposed or final risk management actions to be taken under the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) is now available online. Upcoming actions anticipated for publication in the 2024-2026 period include amendments to Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations, proposed Coal Mining Effluent Regulations and more.
Under the newly amended CEPA, the Minister of the Environment must maintain a “Watch List” of substances suspected or determined to be capable of becoming toxic. The Proposed Watch List Approach was posted for public comment. In addition, any person may request that the ministers assess a substance to determine if it meets the criteria of section 64 of CEPA. The form for requesting an assessment of a substance is now available online.
An ECCC and HC draft strategy to replace, reduce or refine vertebrate animal testing was released and consultation period was held.
European Chemical Industry Ecology and Toxicology Centre (ECETOC)
ECETOC released a workshop report on the potential impact of timing in Next-Generation Risk Assessments (NGRA) (e.g., in vitro assays) which provides recommendations for how to incorporate time considerations in NGRA toxicity testing.
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
Triphenyl phosphate, used as a flame retardant and as a plasticiser, was added to the EU Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list.
ECHA’s Member State Committee unanimously agreed that the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca Bioconcentration Test (HYBIT) can be used instead of fish to assess bioaccumulation in aquatic environments.
ECHA released a review of the past five years with the Integrated Regulatory Strategy (IRS) and reported successes screening high production volume chemicals. The refocused strategy for 2024–2028 will continue moving substances to risk management and ensure the IRS meets current and future challenges.
ECHA introduced introduces revised hazard classification criteria under the classifying, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation. It specifically addresses endocrine disruptors; persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent, very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances; and persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) substances.
ECHA and authorities from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have released a progress update on the process to restrict PFAS in Europe. It was also announced that from April 2026, PFHxA, its salts and related substances will be restricted in the European Union. The phased transition period will last from 18 months to 5 years to give manufacturers time to adopt safer alternatives.
The ECHA report on Key Areas of Regulatory Challenges identified areas where more scientific research is needed, including a shift away from animal testing, improving read-across approaches and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), and reducing fish toxicity testing.
European Commission (EC)
The EU CLAIM (Cleaning litter by developing and applying innovative methods) project1 released a framework for evaluating innovative technologies that help stop microplastics and macroplastics entering the sea. The framework considers both socio-economic and environmental impacts, and the interests of different sectors.
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)
Keepers of the Circle released a report offering tangible and measurable mitigation measures that Indigenous communities, IAAC, developers, NGOs, small and medium enterprises, and other interested parties can implement to support Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people through all stages of a resource development project. The report addresses call 13.5 of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for justice in resource development planning.
Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF)
The IGF released a briefing note on the current landscape of responsible mining standards and voluntary sustainability initiatives.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD released guidance on reporting elements for the regulatory use of omics data from laboratory-based toxicology studies.
The OECD released the results of a recent survey on the range of human and environmental exposure assessment models available to the OECD member countries as well as the industry and international organisations.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO)
UNEP released a working paper “Critical Transitions: Circularity, Equity, and Responsibility in the Quest for Energy Transition Minerals” that identified 26 minerals that will be critical for the global transition to renewable energy. The paper presents a framework to guide policies and industry practice, as well as recommendations for coordinated government, industry and international efforts to support a circular approach to extraction and use of minerals.
UNEP provides tools and technical expertise to support the integration of Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) into national and local development programs and strategies.
WHO and UNEP launched new guidance on managing wastewater and solid waste from antibiotic manufacturing.
United Kingdom Environment Agency (UKEA)
UKEA updated their land contamination: technical guidance web pages.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
The USEPA has developed a method for detecting 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-q), a toxic chemical from tire wear, now approved for environmental testing, especially in stormwater runoff.
The USEPA released it’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and third-year progress report and announced a no-cost Tackling Emerging Contaminants initiative to help eligible public drinking water systems in small or disadvantaged communities to test water quality and identify next steps and best practices.
Data from weekly integrated wet deposition collections (2020–2022) from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) – National Trends Network (NTN) sites were analyzed for 33 ionic PFAS compounds in more than 500 precipitation samples and is now publicly available.
The USEPA released an updated version of the Aquatic Life Benchmarks for registered conventional and antimicrobial pesticides was released. The update includes benchmarks for 23 new chemicals and revised benchmarks for 11 chemicals.
The USEPA finalized the cancellation of the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal).
The USEPA restored the 2015 pesticide Application Exclusion Zone requirements to protect the health of farmworkers, pesticide handlers, their families and agricultural communities.
The USEPA announced requirements for new chlorpyrifos (organophosphate insecticide) labels to contain additional protection measures and Endangered Species Protection Bulletins that set geographically specific limitations on pesticide use.
The new USEPA “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution: Part Three of a Series on Building a Circular Economy for All” provides an ambitious, equitable approach to reducing and recovering plastics and other materials, as well as preventing plastic pollution from harming human health and the environment.
The USEPA is seeking comments on the draft Interim Framework for Advancing Consideration of Cumulative Impacts document by 19 February 2025. The framework is meant to develop and implement approaches to incorporate cumulative impacts in delivering public health and environmental protections for communities and tribes.
Contact: [email protected]