!!! Raw Machine Translation !!!



Note: This document is a raw machine translation of the report “metodologia para el analisis de riesgos ambientales en el marco de la directiva Comunitaria 96/82/CE – Seveso II”. For technical reason, the pictures and figures included in the Spanish version have not been incorporated in the raw machine translated document. The annexes of the report, that contain in particular the bibliographic references and sources of information have not been included in this translated version.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

Directive 96/82/EC (SEVESO II), of 9 September 1996, related to the control of the risks inherent to serious accidents in which dangerous substances are involved, full its area of implementation to the substances dangerous for the environment that can alter the environment due to different events as consequence of an uncontrolled development of an industrial activity.

In Spain, Royal Decree 1254/1999 transposes Directive 96/82/EC to the Spanish legislation, considering in the same sense the induced risks on the environment associated with possible serious accidents in which dangerous substances take part.

Likewise, the Basic Directive for the Preparation and Authorisation of the Special Plans in Chemical Sector, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of the Interior, of 30 January 1991, consider among its contents the events associated with:

- Dumping of contaminating products in surface waters, being able to derive from that the pollution from drinking waters or serious damages for the environment and the people.

- Filtration of contaminating products in the area and underground waters leaving unsuitable them for its agricultural, cattle and consumption holding.

- Discharge of pollutants to the atmosphere that determine the quality of the air causing you tax disturbances in the receiving ecosystems with possible after incorporation the trophic chain.

- Those accidents, of any type, capable of aggravating national monuments or other elements of Artistic Historical Heritage located in the territory forming the object of planning.

With a general nature, the establishments affected by R.D. 1254/1999 are regulated, with respect to their introduction and performance, by the current legislation regarding protection of the environment, that imposes limits and conditions to avoid that its impact surpasses certain levels considered as tolerable. However, it is necessary to coordinate the technician- legal development derived from R.D. 1254/1999, so that the effective protection of the environment in view of the risk of serious accident is guaranteed regarding civil protection. That is to say, there are an environmental quality value limits defined in the current legislation regarding environmental protection and other values guides of acute exhibition in view of a serious accident of an installation affected by the legislation to do with civil protection (Seveso II).

This aspect, novel in Management Seveso II, ensured that the European Commission created a Working party (Gt-7), in the area of the Competent Authority Committee for the implementation of the mentioned Directive, in order to study the impact that this new arrangement would produce in the Member States. Essentially, the aims of the mentioned study were to know the number of establishments that might have been incorporated the Community Directive because of this new category of substance. On the other hand, was aimed to research the possible effect that would have a change of the amounts thresholds in relation to the number of establishments and its typology (ex: hospitals, laboratories, etc.).

The results of this working party rose the European Commission for its possible definition of, or not, change of the values thresholds.

However, the reality of the transposition of Management Seveso II, means important challenges to the Member States that, finally, are final those responsible for their fulfilment and, at this point, the problem put forward when using a methodology has been demonstrated that defines the guidelines to follow clearly to be able to determine the inherent risk of a serious accident in the environment, as final receiver and not as leather strap of transmission to man, that is to say, effect deferred to being human through the receiving means of the serious accident.

The Directorate-General of Civil Protection began a consultation to the rest of Member States in order to receive information of the methods that in each State were being used. The result was very unequal and, in any case, a coincidence in the need to deal with this subject more deeply in a suitable forum for it was seen.

Coinciding with the Spanish Presidency, in Spain (Huelva Matalascañas –), the seventh meeting of Competent Authorities for the transposition of the Management Seveso II was held, that was preceded, at the request of the Spanish authorities, of a Technical Seminar on the analysis of environmental risks in the framework of Management Seveso II.

The methodology described in this document was presented by Spain in the mentioned Seminar, by having a large acceptance among the different Member States, being offered as a technical basis of interest for the European Commission and the different Competent Authorities in this matter.

The Directorate-General of Civil Protection, previous to development, approval and publication of the New Basic Directive for the Preparation and Authorisation of the Special Plans in the Chemical Sector, that develops the new technical aspects considered in R.D. 1254/1999, has considered it vitally important to carry out an exhaustive technical analysis on the affection and vulnerability of the environment that, obtained as a result a technical basis valid, with a recomendatorio nature, for the resolution of representative variables of damage caused by the release of dangerous products for the environment and that permitted the definition of the Planning Areas by Damage to the Environment of Serious Accidents occurred in affected establishments by

The scheme of work carried out to make this study has consisted of a technician- legal, national and Community exhaustive analysis, of the valuation of the environmental affection of possible serious accidents on the following resources:

- ATMOSPHERE.

- SURFACE WATERS.

- UNDERGROUND WATERS.

- GROUND.

- FAUNA.

- FLORA.

- HISTORICAL HERITAGE.

Methodologically, the analysis of the each one of the resources has been put forward with the systematic one following work:

- Identification, revision and analysis of the different sources of information existing and available regarding prevention, risk control and environmental protection. The analysis has been made on the national and Community legislation, as well as on rules, technical guides and international databases.

- Analysis of the possible defined and existing values of vulnerability, carrying out the selection and technical justification of the possible suitable criteria.

- Study of the straight guidelines and offered by the sources consulted to carry out evaluations of environmental risk.

1.2 OBJECT

The object of this study is to have a Methodology for the analysis of environmental risks in the framework of Management Seveso II, that would be the base of the legislation related to chemical risk, in a very special way for the Basic Directive of the Chemical Risk.

For this, starting from the Technical Studies previously developed in each middle, the focus adopted and developed in this document has been:

- analyze the technical and economic viability of the implementation of the analysis methods of the different receiving resources.

- obtain an as most homogeneous as possible analysis method of the environmental consequences for the different receiving resources (atmosphere, surface waters, underground waters, ground, flora, fauna and historical heritage).

- offer an analysis methodology that allows the industrialist to value in a simple way the sources of risks of its establishment, the measures stipulated for its control, transport in a half receiver and the affection to the possible affected receivers, and that the Competent Authority has that information when defining the guidelines of action in the area of the Emergency Planning.

This document has been constructed as follow:

- Analysis of the Technical Studies for the Definition of Planning Areas by Damage to the Environment (Chapter 2).

- Study of the technical and economic viability of the analysis methods (Chapter 3).

- Proposal of an environmental risk analysis methodology in the framework of Seveso II (Chapter 4).

- Being collected in end four Annexes with the sources of information consulted for the each one of the studies carried out in the different receiving systems.

2. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE TECHNICAL STUDIES FOR THE DEFINITION OF PLANNING AREAS BY DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

the Technical Studies for the Definition of Planning Areas by developed Damage to the Environment, as it has been already indicated, have contacted the following resources: Atmospheric, Surface Waters, Underground Waters and Soil, Flora, Fauna and Historical Heritage.

Methodologically, each study has been constructed on the basis of the following landmarks:

- Revision of different sources of information on a legislative level as well as regulations and technical reference guides to different countries.

- Analysis of the possible existing values of vulnerability and technical justification of those selected.

- Establishment of the guidelines for the evaluation of the environmental planning areas in the area of Management Seveso II.

Afterwards and in way simplified a brief relation of the specific aspects considered in each of these studies is made.

2.1. TECHNICAL STUDY FOR THE DEFINITION OF PLANNING AREAS BY DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: ATMOSPHERE

After the detailed analysis of the values it guides of acute exposure existing on an international level to guarantee the atmospheric protection, the following evidences have been confirmed:

1. They has established two clearly differentiated scales of values, with respect to its purpose and its magnitude order; an initial scale corresponding to the limits of immission or values of environmental quality defined in the current legislations regarding environmental protection, whose purpose is not another that that to establish levels of permanent concentration that guarantee a suitable welfare and level of quality to the put forward population in a continued way and on those levels of concentration of pollutants; and a second scale in which are defined guidelines of acute exhibition to guarantee that a reliable or short exposure to a chemical substance does not cause a level of non permissible damage

- The area of the values of environmental quality is logically to establish reference levels suitable to guarantee the quality of life of the people put forward permanently to those substances, so that they permit defining if so proofreader measures on the levels of discharge authorised designed to guarantee those reference values.

- The area of the guidelines of acute exhibition is that to establish criteria to develop a suitable emergency planning directed to the protection of the people in view of not desired accidental situations that cause the exposure to reliably chemical agents or in a short space of time. (Area of the Management Seveso II).

2. Generally, in the current legislations regarding atmospheric protection the area is always the protection of the people, being understood as vulnerability criteria in the atmosphere, levels that they bring about a certain affection, inconvenience or damage to the put forward people. From the above, when establishing the criteria thresholds of environmental vulnerability in the atmosphere in the area of planning from the point of view of Civil Protection, the latter on the basis of the possible affections to the human population, as they are collected in the current legislations regarding atmospheric protection, and in the area of the scale of the guidelines of acute exhibition must be established must be defined, by

be the latter the one that considers the possible harmful or adverse effects for a population put forward reliably or for a short period from time to a certain chemical substance brought about by a serious accident.

In the resolution of the possible values thresholds of environmental vulnerability in the atmosphere, to define a suitable emergency planning, the principal conclusion that can to extract of analysis of guidelines of exhibition sharp used internationally, is that directives current find focused towards use of ERPG (Emergency Response Schedule Guidelines) and the AEGL (Acute Exposure Guidelines Levels).

2.2 TECHNICAL STUDY FOR THE DEFINITION OF PLANNING AREAS BY DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: SURFACE WATERS

In the area of protection of surface waters, the detailed analysis of the guidelines of acute exhibition currently developed and used to an international level permits confirming evidences similar to those established previously:

1. Generally, in the current legislations regarding protection of the sea the framework aim is to guarantee the protection of the most sensitive species than a half receiver, purpose that assures the protection of the ecosystem in its general sense and indirectly of the human being through the trophic chain.

2. Two clearly differentiated scales of values, an initial scale corresponding to the values of environmental quality are defined in the current legislations regarding environmental protection, whose purpose is not another that that to establish levels of concentration that guarantee a suitable protection of the human being in function of the use that it is going to be made of the sea (consumption, recreation or bath) as well as of certain species intended for consumption; and second in which are defined guidelines of acute exhibition to guarantee that a reliable or short exposure to a chemical substance does not cause a level of damage in a half receiver put forward to dumping.

In the particular case of the sea, the environmental vulnerability criteria must be defined on the basis of the possibility of affection of a half receiver. To being the reliable accidental hypothesis object of study, the area more immediate than environmental affection has to be that one in which values of acute exhibition are exceeded characteristics of a half put forward receiver.

In the resolution of the possible values thresholds of environmental vulnerability in surface waters, to define a suitable emergency planning, the principal conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis of the guidelines of acute exhibition used internationally, is that the current directives focused towards the use of values of mergers effective averages/associated with the representative trophic levels of the sea are.

2.3 TECHNICAL STUDY FOR the DEFINITION OF PLANNING AREAS BY DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: SOIL AND UNDERGROUND WATERS

In the specific case of the ground and underground waters the existing directives on an international level differentiate between:

- Levels of quality that guarantee the protection given the use for for which this middle is intended.

- Levels of action/cleanliness criteria of reference concentration established in order to define values above which it is necessary to carry out activities of recovery.

- Generally, in the current legislations the values established thresholds consider jointly the protection so much of the ground as of underground water.

Likewise, the analysis of the risk in floor pays an attention to the protection of human health being the human bodyc the model of receiver used in the determination of the levels that mean a situation at permissible risk.

From the above, when defining criteria thresholds of vulnerability of the ground or underground water in the area of planning of Civil Protection it is necessary to make the following detailings.

- The spill/uncontrolled dumping of a certain substance in the area of a summons takes associate the alteration of the quality of the area and the possible alteration of the quality of underground waters in the environs of the point where the spill has happened. Being the ground a null speed middle, will exist a delay time that will determine the mobility of the substance to inferior substrata or the diffusion of the latter around the point forming the object of study. This peculiarity ensures that intervention in the affected area and the existence or not of containment measures determines the magnitude of the summons that can be altered.

- The existence of values of action established to guarantee the protection of the human being ensures that the latter are considered as the receivers to protect in first scale.

In the resolution of possible values thresholds of environmental vulnerability in underground waters/soil, to define a suitable emergency planning, the principal conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis of the values used internationally, is that the current directives are focused towards the use of values of concentration of action (Action Levels/Intervention Levels) associated with the need to carry out an action in the areas in which they are exceeded.

2.4 TECHNICAL STUDY FOR THE DEFINITION OF PLANNING AREAS BY DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT: FAUNA, FLORA AND HISTORICAL HERITAGE

The detailed analysis so much of the legislation as of the technical references relating to the protection of the biotic environment (fauna and flora) and of historical heritage permits confirming the following conclusions:

1. There are no established values of environmental quality to determine/to guarantee the protection of an ecosystem as a whole, or of historical heritage.

2. The values thresholds (benchmark) defined as mergers of contaminating for certain components of the ecosystem (flora, fauna) are private levels of concentration for a each half physique (atmosphere, water, ground) for a number of compound non high and for specific species.

The use of these levels for the determination of environmental vulnerability areas, in the area of planning of Civil Protection, the following implications takes associated:

- the use of models of dispersal in the different ways (atmosphere, water and ground) in order of looking for many mergers following the compound implied in the accidental assumption and the receiving species, would lead to an analysis of complex detail that would be difficult when completing the valuation of the environmental consequences of the accidental hypothesis put forward in the safety reports. In case the values of concentration were not defined for certain substances might be included

in the valuation of the environmental consequences being necessary the search for a systematic alternative.

- The biodiversity of species in a certain ecosystem would lead to the need the valuation of certain mediates receiver from a joint perspective for its ecological value as "a whole".

3. the vulnerability of historical heritage is linked to its cultural value and the existence of receivers of this type in the environment of installation.