By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
According to a May 6, 2023, Canada Gazette notice, the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), intends to unmask the identities of 132 substances currently on Part 3 of the Domestic Substances List (DSL) in accordance with the Approach to disclose confidential information and promote transparency in chemicals. The annexed proposed Order includes the masked names and confidential accession numbers of the substances proposed for unmasking. The notice states that any person who objects to the unmasking of a substance subject to the notice should submit a masked name application for each substance to the Substances Management Information Line, including a masked name that complies with the Masked Name Regulations and the justification outlined in Section 7.2.2 of the Guidance Document for the New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers).
 
The notice states that any person who conducts commercial activities with a substance that they believe to be subject to the notice of intent may provide the Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number^® (CAS RN^®) to the New Substances program for confirmation. Any person who objects to the unmasking of a substance subject to this notice should submit a masked name application for each substance. Canada will take comments into consideration during the development of the final Order. Comments on the proposed Order are due July 5, 2023.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson, Scott J. Burya, Ph.D., and Carla N. Hutton
 
Under Canada’s New Substances Fees Regulations, fees must be provided with each New Substance Notification (NSN) package submitted under the New Substance Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers).  The amount of the fee is dependent on the annual sales in Canada for the notifier, the specific Schedule being submitted, and other services being requested (e.g., confidential search on the Domestic Substances List (DSL) or Non-Domestic Substances List (NDSL) or masked name application).  As of April 1, 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) modifies NSN fees annually based on the country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).  Based on a decrease in Canada’s CPI over the past 12 months, fees for NSN submissions will decrease by 0.2% starting April 1, 2021.  ECCC has posted a revised fee table, effective April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and Health Canada (HC) have released an educational primer on U.S. and Canadian regulations regarding chemical substances.  EPA states that the purpose of the primer is to compile easy-to-use information for stakeholders potentially regulated under similar U.S. and Canadian regulations -- Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) in the U.S. and Significant New Activity (SNAc) provisions in Canada.  EPA, ECCC, and HC previously collaborated in the implementation of a Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Work Plan on Chemicals Management that focused on SNURs and SNAcs.  The primer states that an overarching issue identified during the roundtable discussions was the need for improved outreach and education, ranging from the basics of the SNUR/SNAc programs to specific requirements for various stakeholders, especially for potentially less-informed stakeholder groups, such as foreign suppliers, and small, niche companies in the U.S. and Canada.  According to EPA, information in the primer will assist the regulated community to determine how to comply and engage their supply chains to help facilitate compliance for meeting SNUR and SNAc requirements.  The primer notes that it does not substitute for any SNUR or SNAc provisions, nor is it a rule itself.  The primer does not impose legally binding requirements on the regulated community or on EPA, ECCC, or HC.

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