Health
Healthand
andSafety
Safety
Executive
Executive
Seveso III Directive
Moving from Seveso II to Seveso III
Sandra Ashcroft, HSE
19 March 2013
Background to Seveso Directive
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Seveso I adopted in 1982 to control major accident hazards
Current COMAH Regs 1999 and planning legislation implement
Seveso II
Seveso III necessary as CHIP being replaced by CLP by 2015
Overall purpose & approach to stay the same
– Identification of sites, controls and mitigation
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European Commission also took opportunity to modernise the
Directive
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Public info
Access to justice
Public participation
Inspections
Current situation
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Seveso III adopted on 4th July 2012
http://ec.europe.eu/environment/seveso/ind
ex.htm
New COMAH Regs to be in force from
1June 2015
Key issues:
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Scope
Public information
Inspection
Lack of correction system for
substances moving in or out of
scope
What will stay the same?
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Lot of changes but many are subtle
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Inspection
– maintained flexible risk/hazard based
inspection frequencies
– BUT need to think about how they can
be linked to other inspections under EU
legislation
Seveso III will continue to ensure high
levels of protection
What are the main changes?
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Scope – some changes eg new named
substances, HFOs
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Information to the Public
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Notifications – who will need to re-notify
Emergency Plans
– because of scope, and
– Requirement to consult
Scope
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Early indications – only a small movement
of sites coming into/going out of scope
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Helpful amendments on named
substances
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Determining whether the Directive applies
will be more complex
Public information
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Culture shift!
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More requirements than before
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Confidentiality & security issues
Available electronically and kept up to
date
Public info on safety measures for all
establishments (not just top tier as
present)
Access to justice
Transitional arrangements
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Notifications
– who will need to re-notify
– Implications for HSC
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Safety Reports
Emergency plans
Confidentiality
Question on notifications
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Do you accept the need to re-notify under
COMAH 2015 with CLP info?
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Can see another way of doing it to reduce
the burden on operators?
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Do you only have on site named
substances from the named substance
list in COMAH?
Timetable
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Now – end of 2013
– informal consultation with industry and
stakeholders
– Research Group for impact assessment
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Early 2014 – formal consultation; heavy fuel oils
amendment to COMAH Regs 1999
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Early 2015 – lay Regulations & publication of
guidance
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1 June 2015 – new COMAH Regs enter into
force
Government policy
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Copy-out
Gold-plating
Government view on guidance
UK influence on original Seveso Directive
Question on inspection
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Would it be beneficial to your site to link
COMAH inspection with environmental
inspection where possible
– Just with Environmental Permitting
Regs & Scottish equivalent?
– More general with other environmental
inspection regimes?
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Do you perceive it to be more
burdensome to link COMAH inspections
with other regimes?
Sources of information
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Seveso website www.hse.gov.uk/seveso/ revised
and will continue to be updated. Current features
include;
- information about Seveso III
- implications for business
- FAQs
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Seveso ebulletin
http://www.hse.gov.uk/seveso/bulletin.htm
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Guidance
http://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/index.htm
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Any questions
Thank you for listening