/akn/sg/act/sub_leg/1999/EPMA-RG4

Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations

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Type: Subsidiary Legislation
Status: In force
Enacted: 1999
Sections: 25

Quick answer

About this subsidiary legislation

Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations is Singapore Subsidiary Legislation, cited as Subsidiary Legislation EPMA-RG4 1999, currently marked in force and first recorded in 1999.

Part I

PRELIMINARY

Regulation 1

Citation

These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations.

Regulation 2

Definitions

Amended byS 82/2023 wef 21/08/2023S 360/2018 wef 01/01/2019

Subregulation 1

Amended byS 82/2023 wef 21/08/2023S 360/2018 wef 01/01/2019

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

Definition

“carrier” means any person undertaking the transport of hazardous substances and includes both carriers for hire or reward and carriers on own account;

Definition

“Chemical Weapons Convention” means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction concluded at Paris on 13 January 1993;

Amended byS 82/2023 wef 21/08/2023

Definition

“code of practice” means a standard which —

(a)

sets out the method of installation of equipment and the procedure to be followed for the efficient use and maintenance of such equipment;

(b)

recommends precautions to be taken in making, using and maintaining such equipment; or

(c)

specifies the measures or precautions to be taken in designing, planning and constructing such equipment in order to ensure that the requirements laid down in respect of the design, plan and construction of such equipment are complied with;

Definition

“consignment” means any load or multi-load of hazardous substances presented by a consignor for transport;

Definition

“consignor” means any person who presents a consignment of hazardous substances for transport or on whose behalf such consignment is presented;

Definition

“emergency action plan” means such plan of action to be taken in the event of any emergency situation involving any hazardous substance as approved by the Director-General;

Definition

“freight container” means an article of transport equipment designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport without intermediate re-loading of the contents;

Definition

“hazardous substance” does not include any hydrofluorocarbon, including any mixture containing any hydrofluorocarbon, and any ozone depleting substance specified in Part I of the Second Schedule to the Act other than methyl bromide;

Amended byS 360/2018 wef 01/01/2019

Definition

“multi-load” means a load consisting of 2 or more hazardous substances in separate compartments or containers (whether or not a substance which is not a hazardous substance is being conveyed at the same time);

Definition

“owner”, in relation to any hazardous substance, includes any person acting as agent for the owner;

Definition

“transport” means transport by road and includes any operation incidental to the whole course of carriage, such as loading, unloading and storage in transit;

Definition

“vehicle” means any mechanically propelled vehicle or otherwise intended or adapted for use on roads and includes a road tanker and a trailer which does not form part of the vehicle.

Subregulation 2

For the purposes of these Regulations, a combination of a vehicle and one or more trailers shall be treated as one vehicle for so long as they remain attached.

Subregulation 3

For the purposes of these Regulations, a vehicle shall be deemed to be used for the transport of a hazardous substance throughout the period, whether or not the vehicle is on a road at the material time —

(a)

in the case of a road tanker, from the commencement of loading for the purpose of conveying the substance on a road until the tank or compartment of the tank has been cleaned or purged so that any of the substances or its vapour which remains in it is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person; or

(b)

in the case of a vehicle carrying a tank container from —

(i)

the time at which the tank container containing the hazardous substance is placed on the vehicle; or

(ii)

if the tank container was placed on the vehicle before loading was commenced, the commencement of loading,for the purpose of conveying the substance on a road until —

(A)

the tank container is removed from the vehicle; or

(B)

the tank container or compartment of the tank container has been cleaned or purged so that any of the substances or its vapour which remains in it is not sufficient to create a risk to the health or safety of any person.

Part V

MISCELLANEOUS

Regulation 22

Establishment of emergency action plan to deal with accidents and emergencies

Subregulation 1

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall establish and keep up-to-date an adequate emergency action plan to deal with any spillage, leakage, release, accident or emergency which may arise from the transport or storage of the hazardous substance.

Subregulation 2

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall submit an emergency action plan to the Director-General for approval.

Subregulation 3

The emergency action plan shall cover off-site impact, if any, and shall include the following:

(a)

identification of likely accident scenarios and establishment of the likely impact zones;

(b)

notification and activation procedures;

(c)

response actions to control and contain the release and to mitigate the impact of the release;

(d)

monitoring of the affected areas, including the off-site affected areas;

(e)

procedures for decontamination and clean-up of affected areas;

(f)

names of personnel with their assigned roles and responsibilities in dealing with the emergency; and

(g)

list of emergency response equipment, including protective gears, fire fighting equipment, oversized drums, emergency containers/tankers, absorbents, neutralising agents, monitoring equipment, clean-up equipment, etc., made available for dealing with the emergency.

Subregulation 4

The Director-General may require the consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances to review, test and improve his emergency action plan within such time as the Director-General may specify.

Subregulation 5

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall have in readiness at all times trained personnel and equipment to deal adequately in accordance with the established emergency action plan with any spillage, leakage, release, accident or emergency which may arise.

Regulation 23

Notification of accidents and emergencies

Subregulation 1

In the event of an accidental release of any hazardous substance, the consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall directly or through his agent or employee —

(a)

take immediate actions and mitigating measures in accordance to the established emergency action plan to control and contain the release;

(b)

immediately notify the consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances, whichever person is appropriate; and

(c)

immediately notify the Director-General and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Subregulation 2

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall also have the affected areas decontaminated, cleaned-up and restored to normal.

Subregulation 3

As soon as practicable, the consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substances shall furnish to the Director-General a detailed report in writing —

(a)

as to the circumstances of the accidental release of such hazardous substance;

(b)

the immediate actions and mitigating measures taken by him to control and contain the release and the measures taken to restore the affected areas to normal; and

(c)

the measures taken by him to prevent a recurrence of a similar spillage, leakage, release, accident or emergency.

Regulation 24

Notification of loss or theft of hazardous substances

In the event of discovery of any loss or theft of any hazardous substance, the consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance or any person authorised to transport or store hazardous substance shall directly or through his agent or employee —

(a)

immediately notify the loss or theft (as the case may be) to the police and the Director-General; and

(b)

as soon as practicable, furnish to the Director-General a detailed report in writing on the following:

(i)

the circumstances leading to the loss or theft (as the case may be); and

(ii)

the measures taken by him to prevent a recurrence of the loss or theft (as the case may be).

Regulation 25

Penalty

Any person who contravenes regulation 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14(1), 15, 16, 17(1) or (5), 18, 19, 20, 21(1) or (3), 22, 23 or 24 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $30,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

Regulation 3

Application of this Part

This Part shall apply to the transport or consigning for transport of any hazardous substance exceeding the quantities specified in the Schedule.

Regulation 4

Consignor’s responsibility for safe consignment

Subregulation 1

A person shall not consign for transport of any hazardous substance unless —

(a)

he has obtained the approval in writing of the Director-General in regard to the proposed transport of such substance; and

(b)

the container, tank container, freight container or road tanker to be used for the transport of the hazardous substance is designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with a code of practice approved by the Director-General.

Subregulation 2

It shall not be lawful for any person to transport or consign for transport of any hazardous substance unless the transport or consignment of the hazardous substance is effected in accordance with the provisions of the approval issued to him under paragraph (1) and with any condition specified therein.

Regulation 5

Carrier to obtain information on consignment

Subregulation 1

No carrier shall transport any hazardous substance unless he has been given a statement provided under regulation 6(1) as will enable him to comply with the requirements of these Regulations and to be aware of the risks created by the hazardous substance to the health or safety of any person.

Subregulation 2

The statement shall be supplied by the consignor or owner of the consignment of the hazardous substance to the carrier at the latest when the transport order is given, so as to enable the carrier to take all necessary steps to ensure that the driver of the vehicle used to transport the hazardous substance is aware of the instructions contained in the statement and is capable of carrying them out effectively.

Subregulation 3

For the purpose of this regulation, it shall be the duty of the consignor or owner of any consignment of hazardous substance who supplies any statement relating to a hazardous substance to a carrier to ensure that the information contained therein is accurate and sufficient.

Regulation 6

Transport documents

Subregulation 1

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance shall provide, in the transport documents relating to the hazardous substance, a statement regarding the safety requirements and the actions that must be taken by the carrier which shall include the following instructions:

(a)

supplementary operational requirements for loading, transport, storage, unloading, handling and stowage or a statement that no supplementary operational requirements are necessary;

(b)

restrictions, if any, on the mode of transport and any necessary routing instructions;

(c)

emergency action plan as established in accordance to regulation 22; and

(d)

an indication of the general nature of risk and safety precautions when handling the hazardous substance.

Subregulation 2

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance shall include in the transport documents for the consignment of the hazardous substance —

(a)

the designation and quantity of the hazardous substance;

(b)

the approval of the Director-General in regard to the transport of the hazardous substance;

(c)

an acknowledgment of receipt to be signed by the consignee or his assigns; and

(d)

a declaration that the contents of the consignment are properly described by name and are properly packaged, marked and labelled and are in a proper condition for transport.

Subregulation 3

The declaration made under paragraph (2)(d) shall —

(a)

contain the original or stamped facsimile signature of the consignor or owner of the consignment of the hazardous substance, as the case may be, together with the date; and

(b)

be substantially in such form as may be determined by the Director-General.

Regulation 7

Instructions for drivers

Before any hazardous substance is transported, the carrier shall —

(a)

give the driver of the vehicle used to transport the hazardous substance a copy of the statement referred to in regulation 5(1) relating to the substance being transported; and

(b)

ensure that the driver is adequately trained to carry out the instructions contained in the statement.

Regulation 8

Responsibilities of drivers

The driver of a vehicle used to transport any hazardous substance shall —

(a)

keep in the cab of the vehicle a copy of the statement given to him under regulation 7 where the information will be available at all times while the substance to which it relates is being transported; and

(b)

comply with all instructions contained in the copy of the statement given to him under regulation 7.

Regulation 9

Transport routes

The carrier shall not transport any hazardous substance except at the times and along the routes as determined by the Director-General.

Regulation 10

Hazard warning panels and labels

Subregulation 1

Where a hazardous substance is being transported in a road tanker, a freight container, a tank container or other vehicle, the carrier shall ensure that the appropriate hazard warning panel or label as prescribed in the code of labelling specified by the Director-General is displayed on the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle.

Subregulation 2

The hazard warning panel or label shall be —

(a)

weather resistant and be indelibly marked;

(b)

either rigid or fixed to be rigid;

(c)

marked on or securely attached to the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle in a substantially vertical plane, and if the means of attachment is by a frame, that frame shall carry no other hazard warning panels or labels; and

(d)

kept clean and free from obstruction, except that a rear panel or label may be mounted behind a ladder of light construction which does not prevent the information on the panel or label from being easily read.

Subregulation 3

Where a multi-load is transported in a road tanker, in separate tanks or in compartments of a tank, or in a compartmented tank container, the carrier shall ensure that each such tank or compartment which contains a hazardous substance is provided with and displays the appropriate hazard warning panel or label prescribed in the code of labelling specified by the Director-General and the requirements of paragraph (2) shall apply to such panels or labels.

Subregulation 4

The carrier shall ensure that the hazard warning panel or label is —

(a)

displayed on the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle at all times when a hazardous substance is being transported; and

(b)

removed when the road tanker, freight container, tank container or other vehicle is not used for transporting any hazardous substance.

Regulation 11

Precaution against fire or explosion

Subregulation 1

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance, the carrier and the driver shall ensure that —

(a)

adequate precautionary measures are taken to prevent the hazardous substances from spilling, dropping, or being released during transportation; and

(b)

all precautions necessary for preventing a fire or an explosion are being observed.

Subregulation 2

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance, the carrier and the driver shall ensure that suitable and efficient fire extinguishers are carried in an easily accessible position on every vehicle transporting any hazardous substance.

Regulation 12

Prohibition against overfill

The consignor or owner of any consignment of a hazardous substance shall ensure that any carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or any other container in which the hazardous substance is transported is not overfilled at the time of consigning for transport.

Regulation 13

Prohibition against carriage of multi-loads of hazardous substances

No person shall transport a multi-load of hazardous substances except in accordance with a code of practice approved by the Director-General.

Regulation 14

Supervision of vehicles carrying hazardous substances

Subregulation 1

The driver of a vehicle used to transport any hazardous substance shall ensure that the vehicle when not driven is —

(a)

parked in a safe place; or

(b)

supervised at all times by him or by some other competent person above the age of 18 years.

Subregulation 2

Paragraph (1) shall not apply where any carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or compartment thereof which had contained a hazardous substance is nominally empty.

Subregulation 3

In paragraph (2), “nominally empty”, in relation to a carrying tank of a road tanker, tank container or compartment thereof, means —

(a)

that as much of the hazardous substance as is reasonably practicable has been discharged or unloaded from it; and

(b)

that such hazardous substance remaining within the carrying tank of the road tanker, tank container or compartment thereof is not sufficient to create a risk to the health and safety of any person.

Regulation 15

Import of hazardous substances

Any person to whom a licence has been granted under section 22 of the Act to import hazardous substance into Singapore shall ensure that the container or tank container in which the hazardous substance is imported into Singapore is designed, constructed, maintained and labelled in accordance with a code of practice approved by the Director-General.

Regulation 16

Collection of imported hazardous substances

Where a hazardous substance is imported and is to be delivered in Singapore, the importer or an agent duly authorised to act on his behalf shall take delivery of the substance —

(a)

at the Woodlands or Tuas Customs Station if the substance is imported into Singapore by road;

(b)

at a railway station in Singapore if the substance is imported into Singapore by rail;

(c)

at a wharf in Singapore if the substance is imported into Singapore by water; or

(d)

at an air cargo terminal in Singapore if the substance is imported into Singapore by air.

Regulation 17

Permission to store and use hazardous substances

Amended byS 184/2025 wef 24/03/2025S 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026S 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026S 553/2010 wef 01/10/2010S 790/2014 wef 01/01/2015S 202/2021 wef 01/04/2021S 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026

Subregulation 1

A person shall not use, keep or have in his possession or under his control any hazardous substance specified in the Schedule unless he is authorised to store such hazardous substance.

Subregulation 2

Amended byS 184/2025 wef 24/03/2025

A person is authorised to store any hazardous substance if —

(a)

the person is issued with a permit to store and use the hazardous substance;

(b)

the person is in possession of a licence granted under section 22 of the Act to deal in the hazardous substance; or

(c)

the hazardous substance falls within any exclusion specified in the second column of Part I of the Second Schedule to the Act corresponding to that substance or is contained in any substance, preparation or product specified in Part II of that Schedule.

Subregulation 3

Amended byS 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026

A permit to store and use hazardous substances is valid for a period of 5 years starting from the date specified in the permit.

Subregulation 4

Amended byS 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026S 553/2010 wef 01/10/2010S 790/2014 wef 01/01/2015S 202/2021 wef 01/04/2021S 673/2025 wef 01/01/2026

The following fees shall be payable to the Agency in respect of a permit to store and use hazardous substances:

(a)

a fee of $450 for a permit issued or renewed for a period of 5 years;

(b)

a fee of $180 for making amendments to the permit on any one occasion.

Subregulation 5

It shall not be lawful for any person to store or use any hazardous substance specified in the Schedule unless the storage or use of the hazardous substance is effected in accordance with the provisions of the permit and with any condition specified therein.

Regulation 18

Records of storage of hazardous substances

Any person issued with a permit to store and use hazardous substances —

(a)

shall keep a record of the quantity of such substances stored in such form as may be determined by the Director-General; and

(b)

shall not store the substances for any purpose other than for the purpose or purposes stated in the permit.

Regulation 19

Storage requirements

It shall not be lawful to store any hazardous substance except in a container —

(a)

which design, construction and maintenance is in accordance with a code of practice approved by the Director-General;

(b)

which is in an area entry to which is restricted to authorised personnel; and

(c)

which is labelled as prescribed in a code of labelling approved by the Director-General.

Regulation 20

Instruction and training

Every person authorised to store hazardous substances shall ensure that his agents and employees have received adequate instruction and training to enable them to understand —

(a)

the nature of the dangers of all hazardous substances being stored; and

(b)

the emergency action plan to be implemented in the event of any accident or emergency involving any hazardous substance stored.

Regulation 21

Sale and supply of hazardous substances

Subregulation 1

No person shall sell or supply any hazardous substance to any person who is not authorised to store hazardous substances.

Subregulation 2

Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the export of hazardous substances from Singapore.

Subregulation 3

Any person to whom a licence has been granted under section 22 of the Act shall keep a record of all arrivals, sales and supplies of hazardous substances in such form as may be determined by the Director-General.

Common questions

What is Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations?: Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations is Singapore Subsidiary Legislation, cited as Subsidiary Legislation EPMA-RG4 1999, currently marked in force and first recorded in 1999.
Is Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations still in force?: Yes — Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations is currently in force.
When did Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations take effect?: Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations was first recorded in 1999.
How many regulations does Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations have?: Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations contains 25 regulations.
Where can I read the official version of Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations?: The official text of Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations is published at sso.agc.gov.sg.