The Seveso II experience in the application of generic substance criteria to identify major hazard sites

Abstract

Europe is currently in the process of finalising legislation to align its criteria for classifying and labelling dangerous substances with the new Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), replacing the criteria that have been in place within the European Union since the establishment in 1967 of Directive 67/548/EC on the Classification and Labelling of Dangerous Substances. The Seveso II Directive is potentially the piece of EU legislation most affected by this re-classification because coverage of sites under the Directive is determined to a large extent on the basis of the presence of certain generic categories of substances on site as defined by 67/548/EC. The European Commission in concert with the Member States has launched an initiative to review the current Seveso generic classifications with the view to adjusting these provisions as appropriate in light of the pending GHS-EU harmonisation. In doing so, it must foresee and take into account the inevitable inequalities that may result when the general conditions of a generalised approach are altered. This paper gives an overview of the Seveso qualifying criteria and corrective measures that have been used in the past to address its limitations in relation to specific substances and categories of substances. Adaptation of the criteria to the GHS classification is not likely to alter these limitations, but could generate new cases where they are again in evidence. Therefore, this analysis offers insight on what types of potential unforeseen and unintended consequences that changes to the current generic criteria (i.e., certain sites are inappropriately covered or not covered, as the case may be) may entail, while also highlighting how well different structural and administrative elements may function to address these situations.