Benchmark of European practices for land-use planning around Seveso establishments

Abstract

The authorities in charge of Seveso establishments in the Walloon region of Belgium has organized a benchmark study to understand the practices for land-use planning around Seveso establishments in application of the article 13 of the European Directive 2012/18/UE of 4 July 2012, called Seveso III, concerning the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances. The objectives of the study were to:Analyse the practical implementation of the land use planning (LUP) procedure according to the Seveso III directive in several member statesIdentify the legal basis and the explicit method & criteria for LUPIdentify the measures to control the urbanization around hazardous establishmentsUnderstand the condition of revision of LUP documents in case of modifications of the installations or changes in the determination of the zones (thresholds, calculation software, databases for failure rates…). The benchmark provides detailed information on the implementation of the land-use planning procedure, and it reveal the commonalities and differences in the approach among European countries and regions.