ChemRegs Newsletter – May 2019
The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2019
The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/598) (CDG 2019) have been published and came into force in mid April 2019 (see also our February 2019 Newsletter).
These regulations amend the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1348) (CDG 2009) in order to transpose the radiological emergency preparedness and response requirements contained in the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive (2013/59/Euratom) in relation to the transport of radioactive materials in the UK by road, rail and inland waterway.
The Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive (“the Directive”) sets out standards in respect of radiation protection in different areas, including in relation to workers (“occupational exposures”), the public (“public exposures”) medical and dental patients (“medical exposures”), as well as for nuclear emergency preparedness and response.
Much of the Directive has already been implemented into UK legislation, including by means of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017, the Ionising Radiations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017, the Ionising Radiations (Medical Exposures) Regulations 2017, the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2018 and the Ionising Radiation (Basic Safety Standards) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018.
As the new Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2019 only transposes new requirements contained in the Directive concerning emergency preparedness and response arrangements for the transport of radioactive materials, a further set of regulations has been made to implement the remaining emergency preparedness and response aspects of the Directive i.e. in relation to nuclear licenced sites and other sites that hold radioactive material.
The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2019 (REPPIR 2019) was laid in Parliament on 27 March 2019 and came into force on 22 May 2019. A draft version of the proposed Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and non-statutory guidance was published alongside it.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also launched a consultation on the new ACOP for REPPIR 2019, which is being managed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as the lead organisation drafting the ACOP. The consultation is running until 5 June 2019.
The finalised versions of both the ACOP and the non-statutory guidance will be available together in a single publication following the consultation.
CDG 2019 also update a cross reference in the Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/3087). The cross-reference was to the original directive which was then consolidated. Because the Directive was a consolidation rather than an amendment, the existing ambulatory provision did not apply properly and this reference needed to be updated.
They will also make minor amendments to the quantities and concentrations of consignments of radioactive waste and spent fuel that will trigger the need for an authorisation under regulation 3 of the Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Regulations 2008. This is in line with changes made at EU level by the Directive and maintains parity with the trigger levels in other Member States.
CDG 2019 also reinstate previously revoked provisions that implement an EU Directive on VOC emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution. The requirements for VOC vapour recovery systems in such tanks are now contained within the Approved Tank Requirements document.
The vapour recovery system consists of equipment fitted to road tankers, service stations and terminals to prevent the release of VOC to the atmosphere. Instead, VOC are processed at an appropriate facility. Whilst loading road tankers, VOC are removed from the tank and transferred to the terminal, and thence onto the processing facility. Whilst unloading road tankers, VOC from service stations are introduced into the tank to maintain an appropriate pressure and prevent formation of a vacuum. The previous provisions were revoked by the Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 following the 2014 consultation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), “CD264 – Consultation on proposals for the consolidation of petroleum legislation.” Reinstating this requirement into legislation provides legal certainty and mitigates the risk of EU challenge.
The new CDG regulations and explanatory memorandum can be found at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/598/contents/made
Other News
The European Union Chemical Legislation Finder (EUCLEF)
ECHA is planning to launch a new online service that will enable companies to find out how their substances are being regulated in the EU and what legal obligations they have.
The European Union Chemical Legislation Finder (EUCLEF) will initially cover 40 pieces of EU legislation and is due to be launched in 2020. The aim is to make legislative information easier to find.
Companies that manufacture, use, distribute or sell chemicals in the EU have to comply with relevant EU law, which may comprise several pieces of legislation. EUCLEF will help companies – especially SMEs – identify which laws apply to their substances by collating information from different pieces of legislation and regulatory processes in one place.
ECHA’s website currently contains information on chemical substances managed by them under the REACH, CLP, BPR and PIC regulations, and the Chemical Agents (CAD) and Carcinogens and Mutagens (CMD) directives. Through EUCLEF, companies will have access to a much wider range of legislative information on areas such as:
- cosmetic products;
- pesticides;
- waste;
- toy safety; and
- food safety and food contact materials.
EUCLEF will also support the work of the European Commission and national authorities, as it will help them identify substances for which there may be regulatory overlaps or gaps.
How will EUCLEF work?
Information on other pieces of chemical legislation will be seamlessly integrated in ECHA’s Information on Chemicals portal. You will be able to search for substances by their names or by their EC or CAS numbers.
As happens now, a search will produce an Infocard whenever one is available with information on the substance, such as details on its classification and labelling (if applicable), manufacture, import and uses. But once EUCLEF is launched, the search result will also show any pieces of legislation relevant to the substance and covered by the service.
The current plan is to also create a EUCLEF landing page on ECHA’s website. This page will list the pieces of legislation covered by the service and not managed by ECHA – 35 at first – and give access to an overview of the scope of the legislation, exemptions, regulatory activities, obligations and substance lists.
ECHA plans to continue developing the service over the next few years, adding further pieces of EU legislation and enriching the kind of information that can be accessed through ECHA’s web pages. For example, there are plans to integrate information on national occupational exposure limits and emission limit values from individual Member States to the service at a later stage.
Further developments of the service will depend on the available budget and resources.
ADR – Linguistic versions and new name
The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) can be downloaded in other languages, including French, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish and now Polish.
The links can be found here: https://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/adr/adr_linguistic_e.html
ADR was adopted at UNECE in 1957 as a European agreement, but is a highly successful example of the positive impact of international harmonization and cooperation on improving safety. In addition to countries of the Pan-European region, Morocco, Tunisia and most recently Nigeria have joined ADR, signalling increasing global demand for solutions for the safe transport of dangerous goods. Other countries including Pakistan, Qatar, Jordan and Lebanon have expressed interest in acceding. Some countries like Thailand are integrating the ADR provisions, either fully or partially, in their national regulations.
Yet while ADR has been open to accession by all United Nations Member States since its entry into force in 1968, the “European” title of the agreement has proven to be a barrier to joining ADR for parliaments and legislative bodies in a number of countries.
For this reason, Contracting Parties to the Agreement have now adopted a Protocol to amend the title of ADR to the “Agreement concerning the International Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road”, removing the “European” prefix.
The change in title for ADR is the result of several years of negotiation by international experts in the transport of dangerous goods under the auspices of UNECE’s Inland Transport Committee. The decision was made at last week’s Conference of the Contracting Parties to ADR, taking place concurrently with the 106th session of the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, held in the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
The change in title of ADR will enter into force on 1 January 2021, provided that no objection from a Contracting Party has been expressed within a 6-month period following notification by the UN Secretary-General to all Parties.
For more information on anything in this Newsletter, please contact us at info@chemregs.co.uk