Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 6 Major-accident prevention and information

1. This Article shall apply to Category A waste facilities, save for those waste facilities falling within the scope of Directive 96/82/EC.

2. Without prejudice to other Community legislation, and in particular Directives 92/91/EEC and 92/104/EEC, Member States shall ensure that major-accident hazards are identified and that the necessary features are incorporated into the design, construction, operation and maintenance, closure and after-closure of the waste facility in order to prevent such accidents and to limit their adverse consequences for human health and/or the environment, including any transboundary impacts.

3. For the purposes of the requirements under paragraph 2, each operator shall, before the start of operations, draw up a major-accident prevention policy for the management of extractive waste and put into effect a safety management system implementing it, in accordance with the elements set out in Section 1 of Annex I, and shall also put into effect an internal emergency plan specifying the measures to be taken on site in the event of an accident.

As part of that policy, the operator shall appoint a safety manager responsible for the implementation and periodic supervision of the major-accident prevention policy.

The competent authority shall draw up an external emergency plan specifying the measures to be taken off‐site in the event of an accident. As part of the application for a permit the operator shall provide the competent authority with the information necessary to enable the latter to draw up that plan.

4. The emergency plans referred to in paragraph 3 shall have the following objectives:

(a) to contain and control major accidents and other incidents so as to minimise their effects, and in particular to limit damage to human health and the environment;

(b) to implement the measures necessary to protect human health and the environment from the effects of major accidents and other incidents;

(c) to communicate the necessary information to the public and to the relevant services or authorities in the area;

(d) to provide for the rehabilitation, restoration and clean-up of the environment following a major accident.

Member States shall ensure that, in the event of a major accident, the operator immediately provides the competent authority with all the information required to help minimise its consequences for human health and to assess and minimise the extent, actual or potential, of the environmental damage.

5. Member States shall ensure that the public concerned are given early and effective opportunities to participate in the preparation or review of the external emergency plan to be drawn up in accordance with paragraph 3. To that end, the public concerned shall be informed about any such proposal and relevant information shall be made available, including, inter alia, information about the right to participate in the decision-making process and about the competent authority to which comments and questions may be submitted.

Member States shall ensure that the public concerned is entitled to express comments within reasonable time frames and that, in the decision on the external emergency plan, due account is taken of these comments.

6. Member States shall ensure that information on safety measures and on the action required in the event of an accident, containing at least the elements listed in Section 2 of Annex I, is provided, free of charge and as a matter of course, to the public concerned.

That information shall be reviewed every three years and, where necessary, updated.