Land use plan (zone prohibition)

This LAP refers to the land use plan and analyses the legal requirements for storing hydrogen (including potential zone prohibition), identifies the authority responsible for delivering the land use permit, gives an estimate of the time needed to change the land use plan, and finally highlights if the permit process is uniform throughout the country.

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:

Hydrogen storage units can only be installed in locations where such activities are allowed by applicable land use plans. In most of the countries those locations are industrial areas, or commercial areas.

Limiting the storage of hydrogen to industrial zones, without careful considerations to the amount of hydrogen stored (e.g. below the volume necessary for the well-functioning of a hydrogen refuelling station, micro – CHP or any other application which uses hydrogen outside the “traditional’, industrial uses of the gas is a major barrier to the deployment of these application.
Is it a barrier?
No
Assessment Severity
0
Assessment
Municipal by–laws and land use planning are associated with relatively smooth procedures. This LAP does not appear to constitute a major hindrance to the establishment of hydrogen production facilities in Norway

Questions:

Question 1a - What are the main regulations/requirements regarding land use plans for storing hydrogen (e.g. permitting regime, agreement)?
a - Onshore storing of hydrogen requires a permit from the relevant municipality, according to the Norwegian Planning and Building Act (Lov om planleggings og byggesaksbehandling). In case of facilities where more than 5 tons of inflammable substances are stored, the Major Accident Regulation (Storulykkeforskriften) will come into play, and special consent from the Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) will be required
Question 1b - Are there specific requirements or zone prohibitions for storing hydrogen in the land use plans?
b - There are no specific requirements or zone prohibitions for hydrogen storage facilities in the land use plans, other than those general for inflammable, reactive and pressurized substances. The guideline from the Directorate for Civil Protection on facilities for use of liquid and gaseous fuels (Temaveiledning om bruk av farlig stoff del 1 – Forbruksanlegg for flytende og gassformig brensel), defines safety distances) defines safety distances for LNG tanks, and the zoning and calculation of specific safety distances are to be documented in the risk assessment for the relevant storage facility. Further, references are made to NEK–EN 60079–10–01 and EIGA IGC Document 134/12/E. According to the regulation on handling of inflammable, reactive and pressurized substances, small volumes of inflammable gases may be stored in private homes; inhouse up to 55 litres of inflammable gas (category 1 and 2), and in garage, garden or boathouse up to 10 litres of inflammable liquids (category 1 and 2). Storage of such substances is not allowed in catering, accommodation or assembly buildings, unless special steps have been taken.
Question 2 Which is the authority responsible for delivering the land use permit ?
The municipality is the responsible authority. The municipal planning department may involve other authorities, such as the local fire and rescue agency, as they see fit.
Question 3 Is there a uniform permit process at local level throughout a country? (uniform interpretation?)
Yes. But the local capacity and degree of involving other authorities may vary between municipalities, causing slight differences in practical interpretation.
Question 4 If needed, what is required and how much time does it take to change the land use plan?
Changes to the land use plan can be made by the municipal council or delegated to smaller political committees. The proposed change shall be announced publicly and shall be open for a minimum of 6 weeks, for reactions/feedback from relevant stakeholders. Subsequently, the proposal is placed before the planning committee, which should handle it within 24 weeks. After processing by the committee, the proposal shall be presented for decision by the municipal council, within 12 weeks. In all, this implies that a change should not take more than 42 weeks
Describe the comparable technology and its relevance with regard to hydrogen
The same regulatory framework applies to all inflammable gases, including hydrogen as well as LPG, LNG; and CNG.

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.
    X
  • Directive 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pressure equipment.
    The Pressure Equipment Directive, applies to the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure greater than 0.5 bar.

    Technical requirements and classification according to an ascending level of hazard, depending on pressure, volume or nominal size, the fluid group and state of aggregation, as well as conformity assessment procedures are laid down and required by the Directive

    Hydrogen is a fluid which falls under Group 1. Group 1 consists of dangerous fluids (flammable, toxic and/or oxidizing). As a result, a large part of the equipment for H2 production, storage and distribution must meet the technical requirements set out in the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED).

    The Directive is relevant for the approval of landing / bunkering installations
  • Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.
    Article 6, states the requirement of assessment of plans or projects not connected with the management of, but likely to have a significant effect on the conservation objectives of Natura 2000 sites
  • Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds.
    The main provisions of the Directive include the maintenance of the populations of all wild bird species (article 2), as well as the identification and classification of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for rare or vulnerable species, and the establishment of a general scheme of protection for all wild birds (Article 5). They further define the conditions under which permission may be given for otherwise prohibited activities