European Union officials last week announced new guidelines for member nations and other countries to assess risks near chemical facilities.
The EU required members to outline safe distances between industrial sites and public spaces more than two decades ago, but regulators did not provide instructions for implementing it.
As a result, a diverse range of criteria and methods emerged, which subjected regulators to complaints about regulations — largely characterized as either too stringent or too lenient — relative to their neighbors.
The standards issued this week were produced by the EU's Joint Research Center along with industry experts and other members of its Land-Use Planning Task Force.
The handbook aims to promote similar legislation throughout the bloc, especially in countries without a current systemic approach to hazardous industrial sites. It includes a common regulatory framework and describes routine scenarios for authorities to consider when evaluating sites.
Officials said the standards could also be used in emergency planning and should reassure citizens that appropriate safety measures are in place in their communities.
The latest iteration of the hazardous site mandate — called the Seveso Directive after a 1976 chemical plant explosion in Italy — applies to more than 10,000 facilities across the European Union.
