The Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

1.  These Regulations implement Article 30 of Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (O.J. No. L 197, 24.7.2012, p.1) (the Seveso III Directive).

2.  Article 30 of the Seveso III Directive deals with uncertainty in relation to the correct classification of heavy fuel oils, by adding heavy fuel oils to the table in Part 2 of Annex 1 to Council Directive 96/82 (O.J. No. L 10, 14.1.1997, p.13) as amended by Directive 2003/105 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O.J. No. L 345, 31.12.2003, p.97) (the Seveso II Directive) under the heading Petroleum Products with qualifying quantities of 2,500 tonnes for column 2 and 25,000 tonnes for column 3. This removes the uncertainty that existed as regards the appropriate qualifying quantities for heavy fuel oils for the purposes of implementing Seveso II.

3.  Regulation 2 of these Regulations amends the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the 2000 Regulations”) by adding heavy fuel oils to the list of named substances in Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the 2000 Regulations. The effect of this is that an establishment where heavy fuel oils are present in a quantity equal to, or exceeding the qualifying quantity in column 2 (2,500 tonnes) becomes subject to the 2000 Regulations and an establishment where heavy fuel oils are present in a quantity equal to, or exceeding the quantity in column 3 (25,000 tonnes) becomes subject to additional requirements as set out in regulation 3(1) of the 2000 Regulations.

4.  In Great Britain the corresponding Regulations are the Heavy Fuel Oil (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/162). The Great Britain Health and Safety Executive has prepared a full impact assessment in relation to these Regulations. A copy of that assessment together with a Northern Ireland supplement prepared by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland is held at the offices of that Executive at 83 Ladas Drive, Belfast, BT6 9FR, from where a copy may be obtained on request. A copy is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside these Regulations at www.legislation.gov.uk.