Effects of the implementation of the Seveso III Directive for plant operators
Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances published by the European Parliament in 2012 was transposed into German law by the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 by an amending law and regulation.
As the material-related scope of application changes due to an amendment of Annex 1 of the Hazardous Incident Ordinance, this can, in practice, have an effect on the evaluation of plant operating with regard to major-accident risks and thus for plant operators and authorities.
Due to the new hazard categories and the differentiated classification of acutely toxic and aquatoxic substances now to be taken into account noise according to the CLP regulation, new operating areas may have to be added or omitted, or the operators may have to fulfull modified duties.
Some companies will now have to deal with the subject of public information on the internet as this is required now according to article 8a for lower-class operating areas. The amended definition on the “presence of dangerous substances” may lead to more and more operating areas of the lower class becoming upper-class operating areas. In future licensing procedures, the new paragraphs 5 a to d of article 3 of the amended version of the Federal Immission Control Act of 30th November 2016 will certainly often be discussed, as well as the question which measures will have to be imposed on plant operators beyond the state-of-the-art of safety technology to be able to reduce the appropriate safety distance.
As some terms, like the considerable increase of risk, have not yet been properly defined, this can have far-reaching consequences on licensing procedures and have a negative effect on the aspired legal certainty of a procedure. The duration of the procedure may increase and cause complications for the authorities and the applicant. An early participation of specialists in project management can save valuable time.
According to the transitional regulations in article 20 of the regulation on the implementation of Directive 2012/18/EU and the amendment and subsequent repeal of Directive 96/82/EG of 9th January 2017, operators of an operating area subject to this regulation are obliged to update their management plans for the event of hazardous incidents until 14th July 2017, as far as required.
If operating areas of the upper class are concerned, the operator has to update the safety report, in addition, as well as the internal emergency and hazard prevention plan, if required, and to submit them to the competent authority until the aforementioned date.
Expert opinions on safety technology and plant safety represent a sound basis for the revaluation of existing plants as well as in case of new authorizations or permits for alteration. Here, the risk minimization concerning operational disruptions or even hazardous incidents which might lead to personal injury, material damage or environmental damage of considerable degree are of primary importance.
§29 b Federal Immission Control Act Experts on Plant Safety
