Seveso Directive Coverage
What does the Seveso Directive cover?
The Seveso III Directive (Directive 2012/18/EU) sets EU rules to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances and to limit their consequences for human health and the environment [1]. It applies to industrial "establishments" where dangerous substances are present at or above the quantities set in Annex I [2]. It replaced Seveso II (Directive 96/82/EC), which was repealed with effect from 1 June 2015 [3].
Approach: I read the enacted English text of Directive 2012/18/EU (CELEX 32012L0018). The points below come from that text as enacted. National transposing laws were not reviewed.
Who is in scope
- Establishment: the whole location under one operator's control where dangerous substances are present in one or more installations. There are two tiers [4]:
- Lower tier: at or above Column 2 of Annex I, but below Column 3.
- Upper tier: at or above Column 3.
- Where applicable, both tiers use the summation rule in note 4 to Annex I.
- Dangerous substances (Annex I) [5]:
- Part 1 works by CLP (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008) hazard category. It has health (H), physical (P), environmental (E) and other (O) sections. For example, Acute Tox. Category 1 is 5 t (lower tier) and 20 t (upper tier); Aquatic Acute 1/Chronic 1 is 100 t and 200 t.
- Part 2 lists named substances with their own thresholds. Examples: chlorine 10 t / 25 t; LPG and natural gas 50 t / 200 t; ammonium nitrate (several grades); methanol 500 t / 5 000 t.
- If a substance appears in both parts, the Part 2 quantities apply.
- "Presence" includes substances reasonably foreseeable to be generated if control of a process is lost, not only stocks actually held [4].
Exclusions (Article 2(2))
The Directive does not cover [2]:
- military sites
- hazards from ionising radiation
- transport of dangerous substances by road, rail, inland waterway, sea or air outside establishments, including temporary storage, loading and unloading at docks or marshalling yards
- pipelines outside establishments
- mining and quarrying of minerals
- offshore exploration and exploitation of minerals, including hydrocarbons
- underground offshore gas storage
- waste landfills
Brought back into scope: onshore underground gas storage, chemical and thermal processing and related storage in mining, and tailings ponds or dams that contain dangerous substances.
Main obligations
| Requirement | Applies to | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| General duty | All operators | Take all necessary measures to prevent major accidents, and be able to prove this to the competent authority at any time [6] |
| Notification | All | Operator identity, the substances and quantities, the activity, and the surroundings (including domino risks); significant changes and closure must be notified in advance [7] |
| Major-accident prevention policy (MAPP) | All | Written policy, put into practice through a safety management system (Annex III), reviewed at least every five years; lower-tier sites may use other proportionate means [8] |
| Safety report | Upper tier | Content set by Annex II; reviewed at least every five years and after a major accident; the authority may prohibit use of the site [9] |
| Emergency plans | Upper tier | Internal plan written by the operator; external plan written by the authorities; both reviewed and tested at intervals of no longer than three years [10] |
| Land-use planning | Member States | Control where new sites go and development nearby; keep appropriate safety distances from homes, public areas and sensitive natural areas [11] |
| Public information | All, plus extra for upper tier | Annex V information must be permanently available. For upper tier: information on safety measures is pushed to people likely to be affected at least every five years, the safety report and substance inventory are available on request, and neighbouring Member States are informed of transboundary risks [12] |
| After an accident | Operators | Inform the authority as soon as practicable: circumstances, substances involved, effects, emergency measures taken, and steps to prevent a recurrence [13] |
| Inspections | Competent authorities | Inspection plans for every site. Site visits at least once a year (upper tier) or every three years (lower tier), unless the programme is based on a systematic risk appraisal. Conclusions go to the operator within four months, with a follow-up inspection within six months after an important non-compliance [14] |
Member States had to apply their transposing measures from 1 June 2015 [15]. In practice, the Directive's obligations reach operators through national law.
I can go further into the Annex I notes (for example the summation rule or the ammonium nitrate grades) or into a particular Member State's implementation.
How do the lower and upper tiers differ?
The difference is the quantity of dangerous substances held on site. A lower-tier establishment holds quantities at or above Annex I Column 2 but below Column 3; an upper-tier establishment holds quantities at or above Column 3. Where applicable, both tests use the summation rule in note 4 to Annex I [4]. Some duties apply to both tiers. Upper-tier sites also must produce a safety report, have emergency plans, give the public more information and expect more frequent inspections.
Approach: I read the enacted text of the Seveso III Directive (Directive 2012/18/EU). Articles 3, 7 to 14 and 20 set out these duties. I did not review national transposing laws, which may add requirements.
Duties by tier
| Topic | Lower tier | Upper tier |
|---|---|---|
| Notification (Art. 7) | Required | Required (same content and timing) [7] |
| Major-accident prevention policy (MAPP) (Art. 8) | Written MAPP, reviewed at least every five years. It "may be fulfilled by other appropriate means, structures and management systems" that are proportionate to the hazards and take account of the Annex III principles | Written MAPP put into practice through a safety management system in accordance with Annex III [8] |
| Safety report (Art. 10) | Not required | Required, with at least the Annex II content. Reviewed at least every five years and after a major accident. The authority may prohibit bringing the site into use, or its continued use [9] |
| Emergency plans (Art. 12) | Not required | The operator writes an internal plan and gives the authorities the information they need for an external plan. Plans are reviewed and tested at intervals of no longer than three years. The authority may decide, giving reasons based on the safety report, that no external plan is needed [10] |
| Land-use planning (Art. 13) | Must give risk information for land-use planning "at the request of the competent authority" | Covered through the safety report, which must support decisions on where new activities or developments can go (Art. 10(1)(e)) [11][9] |
| Public information (Art. 14) | Annex V information permanently available, including electronically | Also: safety information is sent to people likely to be affected without them asking, and to schools, hospitals and other public buildings, at least every five years. The safety report (or a non-technical summary) and the substance inventory are available on request. Potentially affected Member States are informed of transboundary risks [12] |
| Routine site visits (Art. 20(4)) | At least every three years | At least every year. Both intervals apply unless the authority bases its inspection programme on a systematic appraisal of the hazards [14] |
Domino effects (Art. 9): this applies to both tiers. Operators of sites the authority identifies as a domino group must exchange information and cooperate in informing the public [16].
Changing tier
- If a site moves from lower to upper tier, or the other way, on or after 1 June 2015 because of changes to its installations or activities that change its substance inventory, it counts as a "new establishment". If it moves tier for any other reason, it is an "other establishment" [4].
- Before a modification that could move a site between tiers, the operator must review and, where necessary, update the notification, MAPP, safety management system and safety report. The operator must tell the authority about these updates in advance [17].
- A site that has just become upper tier must send its safety report and internal emergency plan within two years of the date the Directive starts to apply to it. A new establishment must send them a reasonable time before construction or operation starts [9][10].
How does it apply in Norway and the UK?
Both apply the Seveso III regime through their own national law, not by applying the Directive directly. Norway is bound by Seveso III through the EEA Agreement and implements the operator duties in the Major Accident Regulations (storulykkeforskriften), in force since 1 July 2016 [18]. The UK implemented Seveso III before leaving the EU: through the COMAH Regulations 2015 in Great Britain and a separate Northern Ireland version. These have been kept as domestic law and amended for EU exit.
Approach: For Norway I used DSB's published major-accident guidance, including its commentary on each section of the Regulations. For the UK I used HSE, HSENI and GOV.UK pages. I could not open the regulation texts on legislation.gov.uk, so the UK points come from the regulators' descriptions rather than the regulation text itself.
Norway
-
Legal basis: DSB says the Regulations implement the Seveso III operator requirements, which Norway must follow under the EEA Agreement. The Regulations follow the Directive's structure, with sections and five annexes [18]. They draw their authority from several Acts: the Fire and Explosion Protection Act, the Civil Protection Act, the Product Control Act, the Working Environment Act and the Pollution Control Act [19].
-
Tiers (same columns as Annex I of the Directive):
- Notification-duty sites ("§ 6 sites", lower tier): quantities in Annex I Parts 1 and 2, Column 2.
- Safety-report sites ("§ 9 sites", upper tier): quantities in Column 3.
- The summation rule in note 4 of Annex I applies [18].
- Lower-tier sites must meet every duty except § 9, § 12(2)-(3), Annex II and Annex V Part 2 [19].
-
What operators must produce:
- Both tiers: a prevention strategy (§ 7, the MAPP equivalent), an emergency plan (§ 11) and public information (§ 12), published on the company website [18].
- Lower tier: a notification (§ 6), sent to DSB.
- Upper tier: a safety report (§ 9), sent to DSB. It also counts as the § 6 notification [19]. Public information must also be distributed regularly in the local area and attached to the safety report.
-
Norwegian details beyond the Directive's wording (from DSB guidance):
- The notification lists every Annex I chemical held at 2% or more of the relevant threshold.
- The notification must be reviewed and resubmitted at least every five years, even if nothing has changed.
- Even short-term handling above the thresholds brings a site into scope [19].
-
Exclusions: § 2 mirrors Article 2(2) of the Directive. DSB's commentary covers:
- military activities, including civilian tenants on sites under the Armed Forces' control;
- ionising radiation, which is regulated under the Radiation Protection Act instead;
- transport, as defined in ADR/RID (storage for logistics reasons is not "transport" and is in scope);
- pure waste landfills (hazardous-waste landfills are in scope).
Chemical or thermal processing linked to mining is in scope [19].
-
Authorities: Several authorities share oversight through a Coordination Group for the Regulations (KFS), led by DSB [19].
- Onshore petroleum plants are also governed by the petroleum framework and management regulations. Havindustritilsynet and Miljødirektoratet supervise them under the management regulations, but they still report to DSB under the Major Accident Regulations.
- Upper-tier sites are inspected every year and lower-tier sites every three years, unless a long-term inspection plan sets other intervals [18].
-
Authorities' duties under the Directive: The Regulations cover only operators. The Directive's duties on authorities are met through other law and practice [18]:
- land-use planning, mainly through the Planning and Building Act and municipal planning;
- public emergency plans;
- public consultation, through DSB consent procedures;
- reports to the European Commission every four years, and reporting to the EU databases eSPIRS and eMARS.
-
Scale: One DSB page gives two figures: about 330 major-accident sites, and later "about 300". About 90 are upper tier [20]. DSB publishes an official Norwegian translation of the Directive and the EU Seveso Expert Group Q&A as guidance [21][22].
United Kingdom
| Great Britain | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|
| Site-safety law | Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH 2015). In force 1 June 2015, replacing COMAH 1999. Implements Seveso III except land-use planning | COMAH Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 |
| Competent authority | HSE (or ONR for nuclear sites), jointly with the Environment Agency (England), SEPA (Scotland) or Natural Resources Wales | HSENI jointly with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency |
| Tiers | Lower tier: notification and MAPP. Upper tier adds a safety report, internal emergency plan and public information (HSE) | Lower tier: MAPP. Top tier: safety report (HSENI) |
| Land-use planning | England and Wales: Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990 with the 2015 Regulations for each nation. Scotland: Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997 and 2015 Regulations | Planning Act (NI) 2011 and Planning (Hazardous Substances) (No.2) Regulations (NI) 2015 |
| EU-exit changes | Operability amendments. HSE took over several functions the European Commission had held in relation to COMAH (Common Framework) | Amended by the Health and Safety (Amendments and Revocation) (EU Exit) Regulations (NI) 2020, which HSENI says "ensure that existing protections and regulatory frameworks are maintained" (HSENI, 16 Dec 2020) |
On how far the UK nations can now diverge, the Hazardous Substances (Planning) Common Framework says:
- Each administration now has wider scope to change its planning rules.
- They "must not lower standards on what constitutes a dangerous substance": no removing substances or categories, and no raising thresholds.
- The UK remains bound by the Aarhus Convention and the UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.
- Divergence is described as unlikely, because HSE and HSENI provide a common evidence base.
Not confirmed:
- Exact GB amendments: Government sources point to the Health and Safety (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/1370) for GB, but I could not open that text.
- Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework: none of the official pages I opened say whether Directive 2012/18/EU is one of the EU acts that still apply in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. Neither the HSENI pages nor the NI Department for the Economy's divergence mapping mention it, so I can't say whether later EU changes to Seveso III would reach Northern Ireland.