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?
Yes
Type of Barrier
Structural barrier
Assessment Severity
1
Assessment
A hydrogen storage unit cannot be installed everywhere, Local–land use plan for the specific municipality should be analysed before the planning of the project to choose the appropriate area to install the station. Also it would be preferable, to start a discussion with the Municipality prior actions due to the fact that “Public consultancy” process can forbid to deploy a Hydrogen storage units.

There is no specific regulation that determines H2 quantity, thus regarding that H2 is hazardous gas, it is possible to deploy a H2 production facility. Only thing as barrier could be the necessity to explain the origin of hydrogen and the used technical units.

Questions:

Question 1a - What are the main regulations/requirements regarding land use plans for storing hydrogen (e.g. permitting regime, agreement)?
a - There are no specific regulation about hydrogen (quantities etc.) it only refers to “production facility” or “chemical production facility. ”The hydrogen production facility must be located in an area where “industrial construction and use of territory” is allowed according to the local Land–Use–Plan (municipality level)
Question 1b - Are there specific requirements or zone prohibitions for storing hydrogen in the land use plans?
b - Yes. Depending on the quantity present on the site, thus this impacts only the pollution permit type. Although if the Local Land–Use, the building authority may ask for clarifications (risk assessments etc.). A storage unit with substances that, in accordance with fire safety regulatory enactments, are specified as highly flammable, explosive and extremely flammable liquids, gases and mixtures thereof – more than 2,5m3 can be deployed if a specific permit for works with dangerous goods and mixtures is received form Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. C category permit is necessary if 6.7. installations for the storage of packed organic and inorganic chemical substances, chemical products or intermediary products, if more than 10 tonnes of chemical substances, chemical products or intermediary products are stored It is necessary to perform initial “environmental impact assessment” Annex 2 determines all occasions when it is necessary to perform “initial (environmental impact) assessment” 6. Chemical industry: 1) the industrial production of chemical substances and the treatment of intermediate products (all activities to which Annex 1 to this Law does not apply);Yes. Depending on the quantity present on the site, thus this impacts only the pollution permit type. Although if the Local Land–Use, the building authority may ask for clarifications (risk assessments etc.). A storage unit with substances that, in accordance with fire safety regulatory enactments, are specified as highly flammable, explosive and extremely flammable liquids, gases and mixtures thereof – more than 2,5m3 can be deployed if a specific permit for works with dangerous goods and mixtures is received form Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. B 4.2. installations for the storage of unpacked organic or inorganic chemical substances, chemical products or intermediary products, if one tonne or more is stored, for the storage of enzymes – 20 tonnes or more.It is necessary to perform initial “environmental impact assessment” Annex 2 determines all occasions when it is necessary to perform “initial (environmental impact) assessment” 6. Chemical industry: 1) the industrial production of chemical substances and the treatment of intermediate products (all activities to which Annex 1 to this Law does not apply);
Question 2 Which is the authority responsible for delivering the land use permit ?
The authority responsible for the Land–use–Plan and the delivery of the building permit is the Building authority (a local Municipality entity). Responsible for town area or county– area. As soon as the project is defined with main data and scope, it is very important to meet the local authority with respect to buildings, fire handling and environmental permits
Question 3 Is there a uniform permit process at local level throughout a country? (uniform interpretation?)
The permitting process for building the facility and for the “authorization to operate” are treated on an uniform basis throughout the country. NOTE on the number of permits and their interaction: In the Latvian permitting process, the “building permit” and the “permit to operate the facility” are different but are linked: the facility owner or operator has to receive the building permit, build the facility and afterwards to start the commissioning it is necessary to receive the “permit to operate”. To receive the “permit to operate” the facility must met all the fire safety requirements etc.
Question 4 If needed, what is required and how much time does it take to change the land use plan?
Due to the fact that all the changes for the Land–use–plan must go through the “public consultation” process, the overall decision process to change the usability of specific area can take up to two years. Local land–use plans are made for 5–10 years.
Describe the comparable technology and its relevance with regard to hydrogen
Following technologies can be comparable: large capability chemical plants, waste treatment plants. It is unclear whether H2 is somewhere in Latvia as byproduct

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 2014/68/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