Australia Consults on Listing 3 groups of PFAS chemicals and PeCB in the IChEMS Register Schedule 7

On 21 July 2023, the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water opened consultations on the proposed scheduling decisions for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) under the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS). The chemicals are all Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) included in the Stockholm Convention, which are likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment if not properly managed. As a party to this international treaty, Australia invites the public to make a submission on these proposed scheduling decisions and risk management measures. The consultations are open for feedback until 1 September 2023 and submissions can be made here.

IChEMS is a national approach that aims to efficiently managing chemical usage, storage, handling, and disposal. By establishing standardized environmental protocols for handling industrial chemicals, IChEMS streamlines the process for industries to opt for less hazardous alternatives. Under IChEMS chemicals will be listed on the IChEMS Register in one of seven schedules based on their risk characteristics to provide information on their relative environmental risk. The IChEMS Register will also include risk-proportionate controls that should be applied to protect the environment. Uses of industrial chemicals that pose greater risks to human health and the environment will have tighter controls.

In the IChEMS Register, Schedules 6 and 7 list the industrial chemicals with the greatest environmental concern, e.g. chemicals that are persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic such as POPs. All uses of chemicals in Schedule 6 and 7 will be phased out except for essential uses. Schedules 2 to 5 list industrial chemicals of intermediate concern for the environment. They have controls that are proportionate to the type and level of risk. Schedule 1 lists the industrial chemicals of lowest concern.

If adopted, the proposed Schedule 7 decisions for PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS will apply from 1 July 2025. For PeCB, the proposed scheduling decision will apply from July 1 of 2024.