The Road Tunnel Safety Regulations 2007

PART 1 Preliminary

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Road Tunnel Safety Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 22nd June 2007.

Interpretation etc.

2.—(1) In these Regulations “the Road Tunnel Directive” means Directive No. 2004/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29th April 2004 on the minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network(1), and any reference in the Schedule to “the Directive” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) In these Regulations references to “Annex I” and “Annex II” are references to those Annexes as set out in the Road Tunnel Directive, and the reference in paragraph 2.12 of Annex I to “Annex III” should be read as a reference to the Schedule, which sets out Annex III of the Road Tunnel Directive is set out in a modified form.

(3) In these Regulations—

“administrative authority” means a body designated in relation to a road tunnel pursuant to regulation 4;

“commissioning procedure” means the procedure for authorising the opening of a road tunnel to public traffic set out in paragraph 3 of Annex II;

“construction stage” means the period after the design stage has been completed but before that tunnel is open to traffic;

“design stage” means the stage after a feasibility study has been conducted in relation to a tunnel but before any construction of that tunnel has commenced;

“emergency services” means all local services, whether public or private or any of the road tunnel staff, which intervene in the event of an accident or incident in a road tunnel, including police services, fire brigades, highway authority traffic officers and rescue teams;

“inspection entity” means an entity appointed pursuant to regulation 12;

“modification” means a substantial change in the structure, construction, equipment or operation of a road tunnel which significantly alters any of the constituent components of the safety documentation, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

“operational schemes” means the schemes relating to a road tunnel drawn up pursuant to regulation 5(3);

“risk analysis” means an analysis prepared pursuant to regulation 18;

“risk reduction measure” means a measure to be used instead of adoption of a structural requirement set out in the safety requirements;

“road tunnel” means a tunnel to which these Regulations apply;

“safety documentation” means the documentation compiled pursuant to regulation 9;

“Safety Officer” means an officer designated pursuant to regulation 10;

“safety requirements” means the safety measures specified in Annex I and the Schedule;

“significant incident” has the same meaning as “emergency” in section 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004(2);

“technical approval authority” means the person appointed pursuant to regulation 14;

“trans-European road network” means the road network identified in Section 2 of Annex I to Decision No. 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network(3) and illustrated by maps and described in Annex II to that Decision; and

“Tunnel Manager” means a person designated pursuant to regulation 8.

Application of the Regulations

3.  These Regulations apply in relation to a road tunnel in the United Kingdom that is—

(a) over 500 metres in length and that forms part of the trans-European road network, and for the purpose of these Regulations a road tunnel is over 500 metres in length if the longest traffic lane on the fully enclosed part of that tunnel is over 500 metres in length; and

(b) whether it is in operation or at the construction stage or the design stage.

(1)

O.J. No. L 167, 30.4.2004, p 39, the corrigendum to the Road Tunnels Directive is in O.J. No. L 201, 7.6.2004, p. 56.

(2)

2004 c. 36.

(3)

O.J. L. 228, 9.9.1996, p.1 as amended by Decision 884/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Counsel (O.J.L. 167, 30.4.2004, p. 1.).