INTRODUCTION OF REVISED MAJOR ACCIDENT HAZARDS REGS

13 Jun 2005 01:15 PM

Amendments to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) will come into force on 30 June 2005, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) announced today.

The Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2005 broaden the scope of COMAH to take into account recent industrial accidents and the results of research on carcinogens and substances dangerous for the environment. They implement Directive 2003/105/EC that amends Directive 96/82/EC (known as the Seveso II Directive).

Seveso II aims to prevent major accidents, or limit the consequences for people and environment near establishments that hold or use specific substances.

The key revision to the regulations regard changes to the lists of named dangerous substances or generic categories of substances that are used to determine whether the regulations apply and to what extent. These changes involve:

* a redefinition of ammonium nitrate to cover lower percentage composition, and new classes covering self-sustaining decomposition and reject material;

* a new named category for potassium nitrate fertilisers;

* the specification of seven new carcinogens, and raised threshold limits for all carcinogens;

* a new category for petroleum products to include gas oils such as diesel, naphtha, and kerosene including jet fuels, with thresholds that are half those of the previous automotive petrol category;

* the redefinition of the classes for explosives;

* lower qualifying thresholds for substances dangerous for the environment; and

* a change to the aggregation rule that is applied to all substances classified as toxic, dangerous for the environment, flammable or oxidising.

The amended regulations also broaden the application of COMAH at mines, quarries, boreholes and waste landfill sites, and clarify some requirements in the original regulations. Other amendments are largely administrative, including compliance timescales for establishments affected by the changes, and notification arrangements for petroleum products.

Dr Mike Tonge, Head of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) Major Hazards Policy Group, said: "The changes to COMAH brought about by these amendments reflect the lessons learned from accidents in France, the Netherlands and Romania, and EC recommendations about the major accident potential of high and medium-potency carcinogens and substances dangerous for the environment.

"The amendments ensure that COMAH continues to provide a high level of protection by placing appropriate controls on substances with the potential to cause significant damage to human health and the environment. HSE advises all operators of existing COMAH establishments and other businesses that use or handle dangerous chemicals to check whether they will be affected by the changes."

The full text of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005 No. 1088) is available on the HMSO website at: http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051088.htm. Additional information about chemicals and COMAH can be found on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/chemicals/index.htm

Note to Editors

1. HSC published a Consultative Document (CD193) on 12 July 2004 setting out proposals for the Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations. The CD and a summary of the consultation exercise are available at: www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd193.htm The Commission agreed final proposals in March 2005, after which the regulations were signed and laid before Parliament on 7 April. They will come into force on 30 June 2005.

2. The application of COMAH is determined by the presence of defined dangerous substances in excess of set qualifying quantities. There are two levels or 'tiers' of regulatory oversight according to the quantities of dangerous substances present. The lower tier requires notification, development of a major accident prevention policy, the application of a land-use planning policy and inspection. The upper tier, in addition, requires a detailed safety report, production of emergency plans, and provision of information to the public. A competent authority, consisting of HSE and the Environment Agency for England and Wales, and HSE and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency enforces COMAH.

3. The amendment regulations implement Directive 2003/105/EC and are a broadening of the scope of COMAH rather than a major revision. The most significant amendment regards changes to the thresholds in Parts 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 of COMAH. These take into account:

* reports of two EC technical working groups that considered the scientific and practical basis of the list of named carcinogens and the qualifying quantity assigned to them, and the qualifying quantities for substances dangerous for the environment i.e. substances that present a major accident hazard to the aquatic environment; and

* lessons learned from a number of major accidents that have occurred since Seveso II was adopted. In particular:

- a spill of cyanide that entered the Tisza river in Baia Mare, Romania, in 2000 killing thousands of tonnes of fish following the dam burst of a tailings pond at a gold mine. A similar accident had occurred two years earlier in Aznacollar, Spain, when a dam burst poisoned the environment in a national park;

- a series of explosions at a fireworks factory in Enschede in the Netherlands in 2000 that killed 20 people, injured almost 1,000 more, and caused extensive damage to a large area around the factory; and

- an explosion involving granular ammonium nitrate at a chemicals complex in Toulouse, France, in which 30 people died. The accident - which happened in 2001 - caused damage to premises up to 3km from the site.

4. The regulations also contain a small number of other amendments to clarify or make explicit existing requirements in COMAH.

5. A regulatory impact assessment estimates that up to 158 sites will be brought into the scope of COMAH. The assessment found that due to the changes in threshold categorisation the number of sites subject to the regulations has increased by around 14 per cent. Additionally, between 83 and 91 lower tier sites will move to the top tier. The assessment is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/ria.

6. Directive 2003/105/EC also requires changes to planning law. This is a devolved matter and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales are working on the necessary amendments.

PUBLIC ENQUIRIES: HSE InfoLine, tel: 0845 345 0055, visit: www.hse.gov.uk/contact or write to: HSE InfoLine, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

HSE information and press releases can be accessed on the Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/

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