Regulatory Review: August 2025
Trudy Watson-Leung, Regulatory Toxicologist
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)
As part of the National Hydrogen Regulatory Review the DCCEEW is inviting public comments on two new regulatory guidance documents for the hydrogen industry – Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Refuelling. Comments are due before 19 August.
Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Based on research on trifluoro-pesticides, the Danish EPA has withdrawn approval of 23 pesticidescontaining active substances that form TFA (Trifluoracetic acid) that can leach into groundwater.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC)
The Government of Canada published The Final Implementation Framework for the Right to a Healthy Environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). The framework provides guidance for ECCC and HC to consider in their decision-making under CEPA to support protection of the right.
The Plan of Priorities under CEPA was published. The Plan will report activities or initiatives in relation to controlling or otherwise managing the risks to the environment or to human health posed by substances.
HC and ECCC published the final Strategy to replace, reduce or refine vertebrate animal testing under CEPA along with the What We Heard report on the comments received during consultation on the draft strategy.
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
ECHA has released an updated the list of substance-product type combinations that can be used in biocide treated articles.
ECHA is proposing to list 1,1'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis[pentabromobenzene] as a substance of very high concern. Consultation is open until 11 August.
Consultation on the classification and labelling of fenazaquin (ISO); 4-[2-[4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenyl]-ethoxy]quinazoline is open until 12 September.
European Union (EU) and European Commission (EC)
The EC amended perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) related provisions of the EU POPs Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/1021) to:
- Change the name from “Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives (PFOS)” to “Perfluroctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and PFOS-related compounds”
- Revise the unintentional trace contaminant limit (UTC) values
- Remove the exemption allowing the use of PFOS as mist suppressants for non-decorative hard chromium (VI) plating in closed loop systems
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The OECD updated eChemPortal to align the chemical property search fields with a newer version of the OECD Harmonised Templates.
The OECD also updated the guidelines for the “Water-Sediment Myriophyllum Spicatum Toxicity Test.”
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
The USEPA releases a proposal to rescind the Endangerment Finding, which determined that six greenhouse gases taken in combination endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations. Absent this finding, USEPA would lack statutory authority under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to prescribe standards for greenhouse gas emissions. Repeal of USEPA’s endangerment finding on greenhouse gases faces hurdles and would threaten regulatory instability.
The USEPA released an update to the Chemical and Products Database (v4.0), adding more chemical exposure-related information and expanding its schema to accommodate new types of data.
National Assembly of Vietnam
The National Assembly of Vietnam passed a Law on Chemicals No. 69/2025/QH15 (“the Law”) that replaces the 2007 law and will come into effect 1 January 2026.
Author’s contact: [email protected]