On March 26, 2025, Environment and Canada Climate Change (ECCC) promulgated a new federal regulation titled, ‘Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds (Storage and Loading of Volatile Petroleum Liquids)’ in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The rule was originally proposed on February 24, 2024 and the formal public comment period ended April 24, 2024. Kindly refer to our article from March 2024 first for a background on the rulemaking and the proposed regulation. In this article, we highlight some of the key changes made to the final regulation as compared to the proposed regulation from last year.

Applicability

ECCC has clarified the applicability of this regulation to the any of the following facilities:

• Facilities where the sum of the internal volume of all tanks storing volatile petroleum liquids (VPL) is ≥ 500 m³.
• Facilities where the total volume of VPL loaded exceeds 4,000 m³/year.
• Facilities where at least one tank has an internal volume ≥ 5 m³ and is used to store a VPL with a benzene concentration > 20% by weight.
• Facilities where at least one tank has an internal volume ≥ 100 m³ and is used to store a VPL with a vapour pressure greater than 76 kPa.

The definition of a VPL also has been updated to include more details from the proposed rule. ECCC has tweaked several exemption criteria in the final regulation. As one example, facilities whose property boundary is located more than 100 km from any population centre are now exempt if

• the loading racks at the facility are never used to load VPLs with a benzene concentration greater than 2% by weight (was 1% in the proposed rule);
• the sum of the internal volume of all tanks at the facility that are used to store VPLs is less than 10,000 m³ (was 5,000 m³ in the proposed rule);
• the total volume of VPL loaded at the facility does not exceed 30,000 standard m³ in a calendar year, and
• the total volume of volatile petroleum liquids loaded at the facility does not exceed 2,000 standard m³ in a day.

Moreover, tanks with internal volume less than 5 m³ are now exempt (was 4 m³ in the proposed rule) and tanks with an internal volume < 50 m³ that are never used to store VPL with a vapour pressure > 76 kPa or a benzene concentration > 2% by weight are also exempt.

Temporary Vapour Control Systems

In the final regulation, ECCC has expanded and clarified scenarios during which the use of temporary vapour control systems (in lieu of the required standard control systems) is allowed, including:

• use up to 180 days during scheduled maintenance or replacement of emissions control equipment (was 135 days in the proposed rule);
• use up to one year when defects are detected in the emissions control equipment; or
• during tank cleaning and emptying.

The final rule also clarifies allowable scenarios for the use of flares – they are allowed if a flare was already in operation before this rule goes into effect (allowed only if not a high benzene tank or loading rack) or during limited periods to receive excess vapours when the primary vapour control system is inoperative or at over-capacity.

High Benzene Tanks

The final regulation allows the continued use of floating roof tanks instead of a vapour control system for high benzene tanks that are already operational when this regulation comes into effect provided the tanks are located more than 300m from any occupied building, the floating roofs are defect-free, and the facility has established a benzene fence-line monitoring program with measured results below the standards listed in the regulation. If an existing high benzene tank is of external floating roof design, then the regulation allows continued use for only seven years from the effective date of the regulation. The proposed rule had a permit application mechanism to seek approval for continued use of floating roof design for existing high benzene tanks. Extensive recordkeeping and reporting requirements are included in the final regulation for high benzene tanks. The final rule also mandates temporary vapour control to be in place during cleaning and scheduled maintenance of high benzene tanks.

Performance Standard – Vapour Control Systems

For new vapour recovery or vapour destruction systems servicing high benzene tanks or loading racks, the final regulation changes the performance standard from 10 mg VOCs per m³ of vapour vented/liquid loaded (as contained in the proposed rule) to 1 g of VOCs per m³ of vapour vented/liquid loaded. Similarly for existing or temporary control units servicing high benzene tanks or loading racks, the performance standard has been changed from 50 mg VOCs per m³ of vapour vented/liquid loaded (as contained in the proposed rule) to 5 g of VOCs per m³ of vapour vented/liquid loaded.
The final rule also removes the minimum temperature, residence time, and NO_x emission limit requirements for thermal vapour control systems.

Performance Test

Performance tests for vapour control systems are now to be conducted at least once every five years (vs. annual testing required in the proposed rule).

Repair Deadline – Vapour Control Systems

Defects of any vapour control systems are to be repaired within 45 days from the date of detection (vs. 15 days as per the proposed rule).

Inspections

The requirement for conducting visual inspections as part of monthly inspections of internal floating roof tanks has been removed in the final rule. Further, the once every 20-year inspection of external floating roof tanks requirement has been removed in the final rule.

Other Changes

Eligibility criteria for extended repair plan have been simplified in the final rule. The final rule allows for use of boilers, heaters, non-regenerative systems as vapour control devices if all specified criteria are met. Recordkeeping requirements have been reorganized, and contents of reports and submissions are itemized in schedules, rather than throughout the main body of the regulation. The final rule has increased notification for high benzene tanks while decreasing the extent of notifications required for all other tanks and loading racks. Finally, the final rule also provides additional compliance phase-in timelines for some existing loading racks.

The registration date or the effective date of the regulation is March 7, 2025. Trinity is here to help! If you would like to assess how this regulation will impact your facility or want to seek support with the monthly LEL testing requirement or any other facet of compliance for this regulation, please email Sundar Sadashivam in Trinity’s Toronto office or call us at 416.391.2527.