Changes to the regulation of industrial chemicals
The NSW Government has made changes to the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) to strengthen the regulation of industrial chemicals and align NSW with new national standards for industrial chemical environmental risk management.
The changes have been made under the Environmental Legislation Amendment (Hazardous Chemicals) Act 2024 and commenced on 25 March 2024.
Key changes under the Act include:
- implementing new national standards for managing the environmental risks of industrial chemicals - the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS)
- consolidating requirements for managing the environmental risks of industrial chemicals into one piece of legislation – the POEO Act, and repealing the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985
- introducing a new information-gathering power known as chemical use notices, which require users of specified chemicals to provide information to the EPA about their use of the chemical.
The changes will help reduce the risk of chemical contamination and pollution in NSW by making it easier for businesses to choose and use less harmful chemicals.
Visit Changes to the regulation of industrial chemicals for more information.
