Opening seminar for the project “Implementation of the Seveso II Directive (96/82/EC)” Bratislava, Slovakia, April 2003 The “Seveso II” Directive – an overview including the ongoing amendment of the Directive

A long history of major accidents : Flixborough, United Kingdom 1976: Seveso, Italy 1982: Original « Seveso Directive » adopted 1984: Bhopal, India 1986: Basel, Switzerland 9 Dec 1996: « Seveso II Directive » adopted 3 Feb 1999: « Seveso II » must be applied in the Member States of the European Union 30 Jan 2000: Baia Mare, Romania 15 May 2000: Enschede, Netherlands 21 Sep 2001: Toulouse, France

Control of products Nuclear Safety Seveso Directives Chemical Plant Safety Control of processes Industrial Risk Management Overview

Seveso II - Aim n prevention of major accidents involving dangerous substances n limitation of the consequences of accidents on man and the environment high level of protection for man and the environment throughout the European Union

Scope and main obligations of Seveso II Excluded Sector? (Article 4) Seveso does not apply What is the quantity of dangerous substances? (Annex I) Lower than lower tier Notification Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP) Domino Effects Land-use planning Inspection Quantity above the lower threshold Additionally: Safety report (including MAPP and Safety Management System) Emergency plans (internal and external) Information to the public Quantity above the higher threshold Yes No

Control measures aimed at Prevention Upper and lower tier: n General obligations n Notification n Major Accident Prevention Policy n Domino Effects n Inspection by Competent Authorities For upper tier only: n Safety Report n Safety Management System

Control measures aimed at limitation of the consequences Upper and lower tier: n General obligations n Land-use planning For upper tier only: n Emergency planning n Information to the public

General Comparison UN/ECE Industrial Accidents Convention n International law n binding for the Parties, i.e. those UN/ECE member countries that ratify accept approve or accede to the Convention SEVESO II n European law n binding for the 15 Member States of the European Union n binding for the EEA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein) EEA = Treaty on the European Economic Area

Ratification/Implementation of the UN/ECE Convention in the EU requires... n within the sphere of competence of the Community according to the EC Treaty: Community legislation = Seveso II Directive (96/82/EC) n outside the sphere of competence of the Community (example: civil protection): national legislation in each Member State

Procedures for Ratification/Implementation n Approval on behalf of the Community decided by Council of Environment Ministers on 23 March 1998 n Deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 24 April 1998 n Ratification by each Member State (so far Luxembourg, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and United Kingdom) n Slovakia has not yet acceded !!

Consistency of “Seveso II” with the UN/ECE Convention Both instruments aim at the n prevention of major industrial accidents involving dangerous substances n limitation of the consequences of such accidents on man and the environment In the case of transboundary effects: Co-operation between UN/ECE countries and/or EU Member States before, during and after an accident

Government Transposition into national laws, regulations and administrative provisions OperatorsAuthorities Practical application and enforcement of laws, regulations and administrative provisions "Implementation" ? What means...

Role of the European Commission n is the “Guardian of the EC Treaty” n does not apply SEVESO II directly n supports and controls transposition of SEVESO II into national laws and their application n reports to Council and European Parliament on implementation n Committee of Competent Authorities (CCA) meets twice each year

Major-Accident Hazards Bureau (MAHB) n MoU between the Commission and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in 1994 n established within IPSC at JRC in Ispra, Italy n has three main tasks: Major-Accident Reporting System (MARS) and Seveso Plant Information Retrieval System (SPIRS) Community Documentation Centre on Industrial Risks (CDCIR) scientific and administrative support for Technical Working Groups (TWG’s)

Guidance documents available from MAHB ( n Guidance on the preparation of a Safety Report to the requirements of the Seveso II Directive n Guidance concerning information to the public n Guidelines on a Major Accident Prevention Policy and Safety Management System n Guidance on Land-use Planning n Explanations and Guidelines for the application of Article 9 (6) of the Seveso II Directive on harmonised criteria for dispensations n Guidance on Inspections

n Objective 1: Give principles of “good practice” n Objective 2: Develop a Technical Database of accident scenarios, event frequencies and risk/hazard assessment data n Objective 3: Examine additional safety measures n Objective 4: Address pre-existing situations of concern between Seveso sites and residential and other sensitive areas n Objective 5: Assess the sufficiency of information in Notification / Safety Report New Working Group on Land-Use Planning Agreed Objectives

Outcome n Agreed Terms-of-Reference n Good progress with all of the Objectives n Initiation of data/information collection New Working Group on Land-Use Planning Meetings Plenary Working Group n 1 st meeting, Plenary Working Group: 9-10 September 2002 Subgroup of Risk Assessment Experts for Objective 2 n 1 st meeting, Subgroup of Risk Assessment Experts for Objective 2: 6-7 February 2003 Plenary Working Group n 2 nd meeting, Plenary Working Group: March 2003 SubgroupPlenary n Next meetings: Subgroup: 8-9 July 2003 / Plenary: November 2003

Other instruments supporting implementation n Seveso Plants Information Retrieval System (SPIRS) European map of Seveso plants also contains a risk assessment tool n Mutual Joint Visits Programme (MJV) in the field of inspections “experts visit experts” 3-4 visits per year of different Member States in a rotation system n Reporting

Amendment of Seveso II n “Baia Mare” - inclusion of certain mining activities, including tailings management facilities n “Enschede” - better definition of explosive and pyrotechnic substances, decrease of qualifying quantities n “Toulouse” - replacement of the two current entries on ammonium nitrate by 4 new categories, with new qualifying quantities n Extension of list of carcinogens in Annex I, Part 1, along with new qualifying quantities n Lower qualifying quantities for substances dangerous to the aquatic environment (Annex I, Part 2)

State of play n Proposal adopted by Commission on 10 December 2001 (COM(2001) 624 final) n European Parliament adopts opinion in 1st reading on 3 July 2002 n Commission adopts Amended Proposal on 26 September 2002 (COM(2002) 540 final) n Council adopts Common Position on 20 February 2003 n To come: 2nd reading in European Parliament

Contact details: J ü rgen Wettig European Commission Environment Directorate-General Unit ENV.D.3 (Civil Protection) B-1049 Brussels Tel/Fax: (+32-2) / ent/seveso/index.htm