by Tammy J. MurphySchedule 3 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999) is the Export Control List (ECL) which, along with the Export of Substances on the Export Control List Regulations, assist Canada in meeting obligations under the terms of multiple international agreements.  CEPA, 1999 Schedule 3 is composed of three parts and the Regulations "impose controls on the export of substances listed on the ECL." Part 1 - Substances whose use is prohibited in Canada;Part 2 - Substances for which notification or consent for export is required;Part 3 - Substances whose use is restricted in Canada.In May 2016, the Department of the Environment and the Department of Health published a proposed order amending Schedule 3 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999) as well as proposed amendments to the Export of Substances on the Export Control List Regulations.  On 11 January 2017, the "Order Amending Schedule 3 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999" was published which modified the description of Mirex (listed in Part 1 of the ECL) and added “mixtures that contain elemental mercury at a concentration of 95% or more by weight" to Part 2 of the ECL (please see previous blog articles, "Canada Publishes Proposed Amendments to Schedule 3 of CEPA, 1999 and to the Export of Substances on the ECL Regulations" and "Canada Publishes Amendments to Schedule 3 of CEPA, 1999" for details).And, in the 22 February 2017 edition of the Canada Gazette, Part II, the "Regulations Amending the Export of Substances on the Export Control List Regulations" were published.  Canada's international obligations currently fall under the Rotterdam Convention and the Stockholm Convention, and Canada is a signatory of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.  Per the amendment, the Regulations "establish regulatory conditions applicable to the export of substances specified in the Export Control List...".  “Conditions relative to the Minamata Convention,” modification of the prior notification of export time, amended conditions relating to the Rotterdam Convention obligations, etc. are among some of the issues addressed under the amendments.Additional information can be found on Environment and Climate Change Canada's CEPA Registry website.  The full text of the governing Act and/or Regulations should be consulted for complete details.Reference:The full text of the amendment can be found in the February 22, 2017 edition of the Canada Gazette, Part II: http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2017/2017-02-22/pdf/g2-15104.pdf

by Caroline Miller, CIH, CSPOn January 9, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) amended its existing standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds.  See our previous blog article entitled “U.S. OSHA Publishes Updated PELs for Beryllium,” which was posted February 8, 2017, for additional information.On March 2, 2017, OSHA recommended postponing the effective date of the regulation from March 21, 2017 to May 20, 2017.  There will be a ten-day comment period and comments will be accepted until March 13, 2017.  This proposed delay of the effective date will not change the implementation dates of the final beryllium regulation.Reference:Occupational Exposure to Beryllium: Proposed Delay of Effective Date. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-03-02/pdf/2017-04040.pdf

Steve Schulte, ChemADVISOR’s Senior Dangerous Goods specialist, recently attended the IoPP (Institute of Packaging Professionals), Chemical Packaging Committee’s (CPC) Winter Conference in Sarasota.  Mr. Schulte was elected Secretary/Treasurer for 2017 – 2019. The Winter Conference included a regulatory update on specific Hazardous Materials packaging issues, blocking and bracing of Hazardous Materials loads on trucks and sea containers.  Other topics discussed were self-auditing of sites manufacturing hazardous materials, issues relating to the delay of HM-215N which is intended to harmonize the International regulations with those of the U.S.  In addition, an environmental update was also presented as well as other informative regulatory topics. Representatives from PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) provided a presentation on the Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting database.  The representatives from PHMSA also provided individual sessions for CPC members to have one-on-one demonstrations of the database and its functionality.The Chemical Packaging Committee (CPC) is the only industry group focused on the packaging aspects of chemical manufacturing.  For over four decades, the CPC has been the recognized expert committee for safe and secure chemical packaging practices.     For additional information on CPC, please visit www.IoPP.org/cpc. For additional information on ChemADVISOR products and services, please visit www.chemadvisor.com, or contact [email protected].

by Steve Schulte, DGSA, CHMM, CPPThe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a notice with regards to the use of the 2017-2018 ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Technical Instructions and the IMDG (International Maritime Dangerous Goods) Code Amendment 38-16. The notice is to inform offerors or carriers that enforcement action will not be taken against them for the use of the 2017-2018 ICAO Technical Instructions or the IMDG Code Amendment 38-16.In the absence of the final rule HM-215N being published, PHMSA had to issue this notice to ensure that offerors and carriers can comply with the new regulations prior to the issuance of HM-215N.The full text of the notice should be consulted for complete details.Reference:A copy of this notice can be found under the “News and Updates” section of PHMSA’s homepage at phmsa.dot.gov.

by Tammy J. MurphyThe Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) authorizes the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Health to conduct research and collect information on a wide variety of substances that may contaminate the environment or cause adverse effects on human health and/or the environment.  If a substance is determined to be ''toxic,'' as per CEPA 1999, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada are then responsible for implementing preventive and/or control actions for any or all phases of that substance's ''life cycle.''  This is done to prevent or control the substance's release into the environment; the substance(s) are subsequently added to CEPA, 1999, Schedule 1, List of Toxic Substances. Through a screening assessment, it was determined that Natural Gas Condensates (NGCs) meet at least one of the CEPA, 1999 toxic criteria.  NGCs constitute "a class of substances related to the petroleum sector that share similar sources, properties, and use."  The proposed amendment would add "Natural gas condensates (a complex combination of hydrocarbons primarily in the carbon range of C5 to C15 that are condensed during production at a well head, in a natural gas processing plant, natural gas pipeline or straddle plant), including any of their liquid distillates that are primarily in the carbon range of C5 to C15" to CEPA, 1999, Schedule 1.There is a 60-day public comment period which commenced on the date of publication (February 18, 2017) of the proposed amendment.  The notice of objection period is the same as the public comment period.Additional information, including the screening assessment, may be found on the Government’s Chemical Substances website.  Information may also be found on Environment and Climate Change Canada’s CEPA Registry website.  The full text of the proposed amendment can be found in the respective issue of the Canada Gazette.Reference:Canada Gazette, Part I, February 18, 2017 edition: http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2017/2017-02-18/pdf/g1-15107.pdf

by Jennifer HaggertyInitial steps have been taken towards developing a global list of classified chemicals using the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).With the GHS, the United Nations (UN) established a system aimed at harmonizing hazard classification criteria around the world. The GHS provides a framework for classifying hazardous chemicals, but the Competent Authority of each adopting country can make specific decisions about what is enforced in their implementing regulations. Along with their regulations implementing GHS, a number of countries also opted to develop lists of chemicals with published GHS classifications. Some countries or regions (such as the EU and Korea) have made these published classifications mandatory. Others (such as Japan and Thailand) have issued such lists of chemical classifications for reference purposes only. Different decisions made by Competent Authorities have led to chemical classification not being truly harmonized worldwide.To help address this lack of harmonization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UNSCEGHS) came together to run a pilot project on potentially developing a global list of classified chemicals. The objectives of the pilot project were to define a process for evaluating chemicals and to address the feasibility of determining non-binding agreement on classification and labeling for the pilot substances. Three substances were chosen for the project: Dimethyltin dichloride (CAS No. 753-73-1), Dicyclopentadiene (CAS No. 77-73-6), and Di-n-butyl phthalate (CAS No. 84-74-2). A participating country took the lead in the classification process for each chemical; this was performed by the European Chemicals Agency, Russia and the United States, respectively. The results of the non-binding classification agreement are given below, along with information on how various countries have classified the same substances.

by Dennis J. DeilyOn January 19, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule to use its authority under TSCA Section 6 to restrict the manufacture (and Import), processing and distribution in commerce of Methylene Chloride (MC) and N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP) for consumer and most types of commercial paint and coating removal. Manufacturers, processors and distributors must keep records of MC and NMP transactions and provide downstream user notifications of the prohibitions. Note: retailers of MC and NMP for ANY use are exempted.A time limited exemption is proposed for both MC and NMP in coating removal processes critical to national security.An alternative proposal is offered for NMP that allows users to establish worker protection programs (dermal and respiratory) and NOT use formulations containing NMP in excess of 35%. Processors would also have an opportunity to reformulate products to contain 35% or less of NMP and to provide workers with effective glove protection. Products would also need to have labelling with warning and instructions.NOTE:1. This action proposing a TSCA Section 6(a) Rule would make NMP and MC subject to TSCA Section 12(b) Export Notification requirements and could affect TSCA Section 13 Import Certifications for some entities.2. The proposed Sct. 6 rule is significant in that EPA’s use of its Sct. 6 authority has rarely been exercised since the promulgation of TSCA.Comments on this proposed rule must be received by the EPA on or before March 19, 2017.ReferenceEnvironmental Protection Agency: Methylene Chloride and N-Methylpyrrolidone; Regulation of Certain Uses Under TSCA Section 6(a), Federal Register 82 (January 19, 2017) 7464-7533: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/19/2017-01222/methylene-chloride-and-n-methylpyrrolidone-regulation-of-certain-uses-under-tsca-section-6a

by Dennis J. DeilyOn February 9th, 2017, we provided an article, Recent U.S. EPA-TSCA Activities: Inventory Reset to CBI Claims, containing a series of recent TSCA activities, one of which was the new TSCA amendments outlining new requirements for the assertion of Confidential Business Information (CBI) claims, their substantiation by submitters and review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The effective date has been changed to March 21, 2017 (instead of March 20, 2017). SO, as of March 21, 2017, all submissions with CBI claims MUST provide substantiation with the submission. Failure to do so will result in the submission being declared deficient. Deficient submissions will be notified they have 30 days to correct the deficiency.Reference:Environmental Protection Agency: Statutory Requirements for Substantiation of Confidential Business Information (CBI) Claims Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Delay of Effective Date. Federal Register 82 (February 20, 2017), 11218: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-02-21/pdf/2017-03352.pdf

By Ray Andrick"Data analytics is the pursuit of extracting meaning from raw data using specialized computer systems. These systems transform, organize, and model the data to draw conclusions and identify patterns."1 Data Analytics lies at the intersection of math, computer science, and subject matter expertise.  Analytics is not a new field, although it has gained prominence in the last decade.  Today, anyone with a desktop computer has the necessary computational horsepower, but meaningful Data Analytics also requires subject matter expertise.  Transforming domain specific problems to work with standard Data Analytics algorithms can be the hardest part.To illustrate, let's transform published GHS Hazard Category classifications into colored dots.  Eleven different countries have published GHS classifications on one or more of 48 of the GHS endpoints.  The countries include Australia, the European Union, Japan, and Thailand.  The endpoints include Acute Dermal Toxicity, Germ Cell Mutagenicity, and Organic Peroxides. If a country publishes a GHS classification for an endpoint, then that country-endpoint pair will have a white dot.  If no information exists for a country-endpoint pair, a black dot.Using this color scheme, we can construct a column of 528 colored dots to represent a single substance. We do this by looping through each country-endpoint pair. Each country will provide 48 dots even though countries do not publish every endpoint.  The top 48 dots correspond to Australia, and the bottom 48 correspond to Thailand.  If we place the columns of dots for different substances side by side, then we create an image.  Such an image appears below for 800 arbitrary substances.   What insights can we get from this very simple analytic method? Insights frequently manifest themselves as patterns. In this example, there are at least two patterns. There are some distinct vertical lines along with horizontal bands.  Both offer some insight.  A substance that has many published classifications appears as a vertical line, so the vertical lines indicate substances that are heavily regulated.  What about the horizontal bands?  The horizontal bands represent countries that publish the most classifications. In other words, the horizontal bands indicate countries that regulate heavily (or at least publish more heavily).Analytics are, of course, not always pictures.  The math becomes more complex.  It gets harder to map data into the canonical forms needed by analytic methods.  Yet the goal does not change. Analytics help us understand data.  This series will discuss some of the analytics that ChemADVISOR uses, and ways that we are making our analytic insights available to our customers.References1- https://www.informatica.com/services-and-training/glossary-of-terms/data-analytics-definition.html

by John J. Kowalski, CHMMOn December 16, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) proposed to regulate certain uses of Trichloroethylene (TCE). See our previous blog article entitled “EPA Proposes to Regulate Certain Uses of Trichloroethylene,” which was posted on 13 January 2017, for additional information.On February 15, 2017, EPA extended the comment period from February 14, 2017 until March 16, 2017. This means that stakeholders who choose to submit comments on the proposed rule have additional time to do so.Reference:Environmental Protection Agency. “Trichloroethylene (TCE); Regulation of Certain Uses Under Toxic Substances Control Act; Extension of Comment Periods.” Federal Register 82 (15 February 2017): 10732-10732. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-02-15/pdf/2017-02965.pdf