Guidance on Technical Land-use Planning Advice for Planning Authorities and Operators of Establishments under the COMAH Regulations

The Seveso Directive [2012/18/EU] requires that the objectives of preventing major accidents and limiting their consequences should be taken into account in land-use policy and this has been implemented by the COMAH Regulations of 2015.

The objectives are to be achieved through controls on:

• the siting and development of new establishments;
• modifications to existing establishments;
• development in the vicinity of establishments.

This proposed new Guidance sets out the policy and practice of the HSA in the provision of technical land-use planning advice to Planning Authorities. It replaces the current guidance document - Policy & Approach of the HSA to COMAH Risk-based Land Use Planning; 19 March 2010.

It reflects the relevant changes in the 2015 COMAH Regulations, especially in relation to land-use planning and significant modifications at COMAH establishments. It sets out a consistent risk-based approach to generating technical LUP advice across all sectors.

New sections have been added on the LNG, Recovered Natural Gas (RNG) and Distillery/Warehouse sectors and provision is made to slot new sections into the framework as new sectors emerge. Many of the parameters required for risk-based modelling have been specified and a revised approach to societal risk has been set out. The Guidance has been developed with input from COMAH technical experts.

A more detailed overview is here and the draft Guidance is here