Land use plan (zone prohibition)

Land-use planning is the general term used for a branch of urban planning encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. This lap examines:
• The main regulations/requirements regarding land use plans for building an HRS (e.g. permitting regime, agreement)?
• The authority responsible for delivering the land use permit?
• Whether there is a uniform permit process at local level throughout a country? (uniform interpretation?)
• The requirements in terms of documentation and time to change the land use plan?

Glossary:

Land-use planning is the general term used for a branch of urban planning encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts.

Pan-European Assessment:

Across the countries analysed, there are very few cases where hydrogen refuelling stations are specifically targeted and regulated from a land use planning perspective. In practice, the rules that would, arguably, be applicable to HRS do not differ significantly from those of conventional refuelling stations (in general) and those using compressed natural gas (CNG) in particular.

Although not explicitly regulated, permitting of HRS (without on-site generation) should generally be allowed by land plan use regulations where such plans also allow conventional refuelling stations.

Nevertheless, in most countries, on-site production of hydrogen (even when produced from non-emitting methods such as water electrolysis) would result in the HRS being classified as an industrial activity, hence such an HRS would only be permitted in an area designated as an industrial zone, significantly reducing the convenience level of users and severely limiting the business case for development of HRS’s with on-site production.
Is it a barrier?
Yes
Type of Barrier
Operational barriers, Regulatory gap
Assessment Severity
2
Assessment
The lack of implementing regulations of the Ministerial Decree 31 August 2006 causing a major obstacle in the diffusion of HRS in Italy has been overcome thank to a new Decree of 2018, allowing for 700 bars and better alignment to ISO 19880. The local Fire Department refers to this Decree to establish the required safety measures and it is responsible for providing an evaluation in terms of safety and fire prevention. Each municipality may apply different rules for installing a hydrogen refuelling station, and these need to be taken into account when applying for permission to build and operate a HRS.
From a land-use perspective, HRS do not differ significantly from conventional refuelling stations (in general) and those using compressed natural gas (CNG) in particular. However, the lack of specific rules regarding HRS raise the risk that legislation applicable to (industrial) hydrogen production (see category 1) or hydrogen storage (see category 2) would be strictly interpreted and applied mutatis mutandis to HRS thus limiting considerably the zones where some HRSs (especially those with on-site production or with high storage capacity) can be located.

Questions:

Question 1a - What are the main regulations/requirements regarding land use plans for building an HRS (e.g. permitting regime, agreement)?
a - Land Use depends on the Municipality Permits, and on the Fire Departments Regulations based on the Ministerial Decree of 23 October 2018, currently in force.
Question 1b - Are there specific requirements or zone prohibitions for HRS in the land use plans?
b - According to the Ministerial Decree of 23 October 2018, art. 5, it is forbidden to build HRS in urban areas, or in areas where the allowed building rate is >3 m3/m2 (urban expansion areas) and in public green or park areas. In particular, Annex 1 of the decree foresees technical regulations for design, construction and exercise of Hydrogen refuelling stations for mobility purposes. In some cases (depending on the size of the HRS) the Region or the Municipality could require the VIA (EIA Environmental Impact Assessment).
Question 2 Which is the authority responsible for delivering the land use permit?
The municipality is responsible for adoption of land use plan however Local Fire Department is responsible for security and for final decision for refuelling station installation.
Question 3 Is there a uniform permit process at local level throughout a country? (uniform interpretation?)
No uniform permitting process, some discretionality by the local Municipality or the Fire Department
Question 4 If needed, what is required and how much time does it take to change the land use plan?
Changing the land use plan is not necessary. According to the Ministerial Decree of 23 October 2018, art. 5, it is forbidden to build HRS in urban areas, or in areas where the allowed building rate is >3 m3/m2 (urban expansion areas) and in public green or park areas. In any case changing the land use plan is a process that could take several years.
Describe the comparable technology and its relevance with regard to hydrogen
Natural gas for refuelling station installation (Decree of Ministry of the Interior 31st August 2006).

National legislation:

EU Legislation:

  • Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (so-called SEVESO Directive)
    The Directive covers situations where dangerous substances may be present (e.g. during processing or storage) in quantities exceeding certain thresholds.

    It establishes:
    • General obligations on the operator (Article 5)
    • Notification (information on the form and amount of substances, the activity, and the surrounding environment) of all concerned establishments (Article 7),
    • The obligation to deploy a major accident prevention policy (Article 8),
    • The obligation to produce a safety report for upper-tier establishments (Article 10);
    • The obligation to produce internal emergency plans for upper tier establishments (Article 12);
    • Authorities to exert control of the siting of new establishments, modifications to new establishments, and new developments including transport routes, locations of public use and residential areas in the vicinity of establishments, (Article 13)
    • The obligation to conduct public consultations on specific individual projects that may involve risk of major accidents (Article 15)

    Annex I, Part 1, establishes Hydrogen as a dangerous substance (therefore within scope) and lists the quantity of hydrogen for the application of lower-tier requirements (≥ 5t) and upper-tier requirements (≥ 50t).

    For quantities of less than 5 tonnes of hydrogen, none of the obligations above would apply.

    The Directive is relevant for both the approval of bunkering / landing installations as well as on board transport of hydrogen
  • ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU - covering equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres
    The Directive defines the essential health and safety requirements and conformity assessment procedures (Article 4) to be applied before products are placed on the EU market and is significant for the engineering of hydrogen production plants. It covers inter alia equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

    The Directive requires employers to classify areas where hazardous explosive atmospheres may occur into zones. The classification given to a particular zone, and its size and location, depends on the likelihood of an explosive atmosphere occurring and its persistence if it does.

    The Directive requires the manufacturers to design their equipment to be suitable for use within their customer’s explosive atmosphere. Therefore, manufacturers of equipment rely upon their customer to give them information about the classification of the zone and the flammable substance(s) within that zone.

    The Directive describes the rules and regulations for all actors in the value chain, with respect to ensuring that only safe equipment for use in potentially explosive atmospheres are sold and applied. It provides regulation of how the equipment shall be constructed, produced and documented, as well as the rules for CE-labelling.

    It also contains, inter alia conformity assessment procedures (Art 13) EU declaration of conformity (Art 14) and General principles of the CE marking (Art 16)

    The Directive is relevant for the approval of landing / bunkering installations
  • Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment).
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
  • Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (EIA Directive)
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
  • Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (SEA Directive)
    The Directives (and their subsequent amendments) define a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. The procedure is summarized as follows: the developer may request the competent authority define what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report – Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

    In line with the EIA Directive, Production and Storage of Hydrogen falls within the projects listed in Annex II (6a and 6c -production of chemicals; and storage facilities for chemical product), for which Member States shall determine whether the project shall be made subject to an assessment or not. In some EU countries, storage of 5 tons of hydrogen or more falls within the scope of the Directives.

    The latest amendment, (Directive 2014/52/EU) introduces minimum requirements with regards to the type of projects subject to assessment, the main obligations of developers, the content of the assessment and the participation of the competent authorities and the public.
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  • Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFID)
    The AFID establishes a common framework of measures for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in the Union in order to minimize dependence on oil and to mitigate the environmental impact of transport.

    The Directive sets out minimum requirements for the building-up of alternative fuels infrastructure, including recharging points for electric vehicles and refuelling points for natural gas (LNG and CNG) and hydrogen, to be implemented by means of Member States' national policy frameworks, as well as common technical specifications for such recharging and refuelling points, and user information requirements.

    Article 2 defines ‘Alternative fuels’ as fuels or power sources which serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil oil sources in the energy supply to transport and which have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector. They include, inter alia: hydrogen.

    It lays down, in Article 5, that Member States which decide to include hydrogen refuelling points accessible to the public in their national policy frameworks shall ensure that, by 31 December 2025, an appropriate number of such points are available, to ensure the circulation of hydrogen-powered motor vehicles, including fuel cell vehicles, within networks determined by those Member States, including, where appropriate, cross-border links.

    Annex II contains technical specifications for hydrogen refuelling points for motor vehicles and additionally lays down that:
    • Outdoor hydrogen refuelling points dispensing gaseous hydrogen used as fuel on board motor vehicles shall comply with the technical specifications of the ISO/TS 20100 Gaseous Hydrogen Fuelling specification.
    • The hydrogen purity dispensed by hydrogen refuelling points shall comply with the technical specifications included in the ISO 14687-2 standard.
    • Hydrogen refuelling points shall employ fuelling algorithms and equipment complying with the ISO/TS 20100 Gaseous Hydrogen Fuelling specification.
    • Connectors for motor vehicles for the refuelling of gaseous hydrogen shall comply with the ISO 17268 gaseous hydrogen motor vehicle refuelling connection devices standard.