Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard
The Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard or ‘IChEMS’ was developed collaboratively by Commonwealth, state and territory governments to harmonise industrial chemical environmental risk management across Australia.
The Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Instrument 2022 (IChEMS Register) has been established by the Commonwealth, consisting of 7 schedules.
The Commonwealth lists industrial chemicals in one of these 7 schedules according to their environmental risk and assigns risk management measures or other controls to manage specific risks if appropriate. Prohibitions or restrictions may be applied to chemicals where risks cannot be controlled through risk management measures.
IChEMS will deliver more consistent environmental regulation across jurisdictions and make it easier for industry to choose and use less harmful chemicals.
For further information about IChEMS, please visit the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) website Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard IChEMS.
All Australian states and territories have agreed to implement the IChEMS Register through their existing environment protection frameworks. In NSW, the IChEMS Register is implemented through the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act).
IChEMS Register applies in NSW
All NSW users and manufacturers of an industrial chemical listed in the IChEMS Register must comply with the risk management measures or prohibitions and restrictions specified in the register for that chemical.
A chemical user or manufacturer who fails to comply with a risk management measure specified in the IChEMS Register is taken to have caused a ‘pollution incident’ under the POEO Act. This allows the appropriate regulatory authority to take action to limit harm to the environment and human health.
Penalties may apply for failing to comply with the IChEMS Register.
Users of industrial chemicals listed in Schedules 6 or 7 of the IChEMS Register may need an environment protection licence in certain circumstances. See New scheduled activities for environmentally hazardous chemicals.
The changes to the POEO Act support NSW’s participation in the national approach to industrial chemical environmental risk management under IChEMS.
Frequently asked questions
The IChEMS Register is available at IChEMS Register.
Manufacturers or users of an industrial chemical in NSW that is listed in the IChEMS Register must comply with the risk management measures or other restrictions specified for that chemical. Refer IChEMS Register.
All IChEMS scheduling decisions are listed in the IChEMS Register. The register includes the date on which decisions will come into effect.
New IChEMS scheduling decisions are published on the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) website.
In December 2023, the Commonwealth scheduled the following PFAS chemicals on Schedule 7 of the IChEMS register, to come into effect from 1 July 2025:
- perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and related substances
- perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and related substances
- perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) and related substances
These PFAS chemicals will be prohibited from import, manufacture and export from 1 July 2025.
No. The IChEMS Register applies to industrial chemicals, as defined by the Industrial Chemicals Act 2019 (Cth).