OFFSHORE (OIL AND GAS) EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE REGULATIONS (oilandgas)

OFFSHORE (OIL AND GAS)

EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 499.64

OFFSHORE (OIL AND GAS) EXTERNAL

EMERGENCY RESPONSE REGULATIONS

29th May, 2015

LEGAL NOTICE 173 of 2015.

The title of these regulations is the Offshore (Oil and Gas)

External Emergency Response Regulations.

(1) The scope of these regulations is to transpose Directive

2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12

June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations and

amending Directive 2004/35/EC and, for that purpose, to extend the

powers of the Maritime Safety and Pollution Prevention Committee

established under regulation 20 of the Vessel Traffic Monitoring

and Reporting Requirements Regulations.

(2) These regulations shall be without prejudice to European

Union law concerning safety and health of workers at work, in

particular Directives 89/391/EEC and 92/91/EEC.

(3) These regulations shall be without prejudice to Directives

94/22/EC, 2001/42/EC, 2003/4/EC, 2003/35/EC, 2010/75/EU and

2011/92/EU.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"the Act" means the Authority for Transport in Malta Act;

"the Committee" means the Maritime Safety and Pollution

Prevention Committee established under regulation 20 of the Vessel

Traffic Monitoring and Reporting Requirements Regulations;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for transport, and

includes any person authorised by such Minister in that behalf.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions

provided in regulation 3 of the Offshore Safety (Oil and Gas)

Regulations shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to these regulations.

(1) The Committee, without prejudice to the powers

assigned to it under the Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Reporting

Requirements Regulations, shall have the additional powers

assigned to it by these regulations.

(2) When exercising its powers under these regulations, the

a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e C o m m i t t e e ’s p o w e r s s h a l l e x t e n d t o t h e

continental shelf having the same meaning as assigned to it by

article 2 of the Continental Shelf Act.

The Committee shall prepare external emergency response

plans covering all offshore oil and gas installations or connected

infrastructure and potentially affected areas within its jurisdiction.

OFFSHORE (OIL AND GAS)

EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

The Committee shall specify the role and financial

obligation of licensees and operators in the external emergency

response plans.

External emergency response plans shall be prepared in

cooperation with relevant operators and owners and, as appropriate,

licensees and the competent authority and shall take into account

the most up to date version of the internal emergency response

plans of the existing or planned installations or connected

infrastructure in the area covered by the external emergency

response plan.

External emergency response plans shall be prepared in

accordance with Schedule One, and shall be made available to the

European Commission, other potentially affected Member States

and the public. In this respect, the disclosed information shall not

pose risks to the safety and security of offshore oil and gas

installations and their operation and shall not harm the national

economic interests of the Government of Malta or the personal

safety and well-being of its government officials.

The Committee shall take suitable measures to achieve a

high level of compatibility and interoperability of response

equipment and expertise with that of other Member States in a

geographical region, and further afield where appropriate. The

Committee shall consult with the Government to encourage

industry to develop response equipment and contracted services

that are compatible and interoperable throughout the geographical

region.

The Committee shall keep records of emergency response

equipment and services in accordance with item 1 of Schedule Two.

Those records shall be available to the other potentially affected

Member States and the European Commission and, on a reciprocal

basis, to neighbouring third countries.

The Committee shall ensure that operators and owners

regularly test their preparedness to respond effectively to major

accidents in close cooperation with the relevant authorities of other

Member States.

The Committee shall ensure that competent authorities or,

where appropriate, contact points, develop cooperation scenarios

for emergencies. Such scenarios shall be regularly assessed and

updated as necessary.

(1) The operator or, if appropriate, the owner shall notify

without delay the Committee of a major accident or of a situation

where there is an immediate risk of a major accident. That

notification shall describe the circumstances, including, where

possible, the origin, the potential impacts on the environment and

the potential major consequences.

(2) The Committee shall ensure that in the event of a major

accident, the operator or the owner takes all suitable measures to

prevent its escalation and to limit its consequences. The Committee

may assist the operator or owner, including with the supply of

additional resources.

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EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

(3) In the course of the emergency response, the Committee

shall collect the information necessary for thorough investigation

pursuant to regulation 18(1).

(1) Where the Committee considers that a major hazard

relating to offshore oil and gas operations that are to take place

under its jurisdiction is likely to have significant effects on the

environment in another Member State, it shall, prior to the

commencement of operations, forward the relevant information to

the potentially affected Member State and shall endeavour, jointly

with that Member State, to adopt measures to prevent damage.

(2) If the Committee considers the area under its jurisdiction to

be potentially affected by offshore oil and gas operations taking

place outside its jurisdiction, it may request the Member State in

whose jurisdiction the offshore oil and gas operation is to take

place, to forward all relevant information to it. Together with such

Member State, the Committee may jointly assess the effectiveness

of the measures, without prejudice to the regulatory functions of

the competent authority with jurisdiction for the operation

concerned under regulation 17(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Offshore

Safety (Oil and Gas) Regulations.

(3) The major hazards identified pursuant to sub-regulation (1)

shall be taken into account in internal and external emergency

response plans to facilitate joint effective response to a major

accident.

(4) Where there is a risk of the foreseeable transboundary

effects of major accidents affecting third countries, the Committee

shall, on a reciprocal basis, make information available to the third

countries.

(5) In the event that the Committee becomes aware of potential

negative effects of offshore oil and gas operations carried out in

areas outside of the European Union, the Committee shall

coordinate measures with its European Union counterparts in order

to prevent such negative effects.

(6) The Committee shall regularly test its preparedness to

respond effectively to major accidents in cooperation with

potentially affected Member States, relevant European Union

agencies and, on a reciprocal basis, potentially affected third

countries.

(7) In the event of a major accident in its jurisdiction, or of an

imminent threat thereof, which has or is capable of having

transboundary effects, the Committee shall, without delay, notify

the European Commission and those Member States or third

countries which may be affected by the situation and shall

continuously provide information relevant for an effective

emergency response.

Operators and owners shall provide the Committee, as a

minimum, with the information described in Schedule Three.

The Committee shall make the information referred to in

Schedule Three publicly available.

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EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

(1) The Committee shall submit an annual report to the

European Commission containing the information specified in item

3 of Schedule Three.

(2) The Committee shall be responsible for exchanging

information pursuant to regulation 15 and for publication of

information pursuant to regulation 16.

(1) The Committee shall initiate thorough investigations

of major accidents occurring in its jurisdiction.

(2) A summary of the findings pursuant to sub-regulation (1)

shall be made available to the European Commission either at the

conclusion of the investigation or at the conclusion of legal

proceedings as appropriate.

(3) A non-confidential version of the findings shall be made

publicly available by the Committee.

(4) The Committee shall ensure that following the

investigations pursuant to sub-regulation (1), the competent

authority implements any recommendations of the investigation

that are within its powers to act.

Any person claiming compensation under these regulations

shall bring such a claim in accordance with the Arbitration Act.

Whosoever knowingly acts in violation of any provisions

of these regulations shall be guilty, by reason merely of having

done so and without prejudice to prosecution under any provision

of law, of an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine

(multa) not exceeding one hundred thousand euro (€100,000) or to

imprisonment which shall not exceed a term of eighteen months, or

to both such fine and imprisonment

Provided that where the act constituting the offence

subsists for more than one day, the Court may in addition impose a

fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand and five hundred euro

(€1,500) for each day during which such act subsists, which fine

(multa) shall also be applicable for the purposes of article 377(3) of

the Criminal Code.

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EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Schedule One

Information to be provided in external emergency response plans

pursuant to regulation 8

External emergency response plans shall include but not be limited to

(a) names and positions of persons authorised to initiate emergency procedures,

and of persons authorised to direct the external emergency response;

(b) arrangements for receiving early warning of major accidents, and the

associated alert and emergency response procedures;

(c) arrangements for coordinating resources necessary to implement the

external emergency response plan;

(d)

arrangements for providing assistance to the internal emergency response;

(e)

a detailed description of the external emergency response arrangements;

(f)

arrangements for providing persons and organisations that may be affected

by the major accident with suitable information and advice relating to it;

(g) arrangements for the provision of information to the emergency services of

other Member States and the European Commission in the event of a major accident

with possible transboundary consequences;

(h) arrangements for the mitigation of the negative impacts on wildlife both

onshore and offshore including the situations where oiled animals reach shore earlier

than the actual spill.

Schedule Two

Particulars to be included in the preparation of external emergency response plans

pursuant to regulation 10

1. The authority or authorities responsible for coordinating emergency

response shall make the following available

(a) an inventory of available equipment, its ownership, location, means of

transport to and mode of deployment at the site of the major accident;

(b) a description of the measures in place to ensure equipment and

procedures are maintained in operable condition;

(c) an inventory of industry-owned equipment that can be made available in

an emergency;

(d) a description of the general arrangements for responding to major

accidents, including competencies and responsibilities of all involved

parties and the bodies responsible for maintaining such arrangements;

(e) measures to ensure that equipment, personnel and procedures are

available and up to date and sufficient members of trained personnel are

available at all times;

(f) evidence of prior environment and health assessments of any chemicals

foreseen for use as dispersants.

2. External emergency response plans shall clearly explain the role of the

authorities, emergency responders, coordinators and other subjects active in

emergency response, so that cooperation is ensured in responding to major accidents.

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EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

3. Arrangements shall include provisions for responding to a major accident

that potentially overwhelms Malta’s ability to respond to such an accident or exceeds

its boundaries by

(a) sharing external emergency response plans with adjacent Member States

and the European Commission;

(b) compiling at cross-border level the inventories of response assets, both

industry and publicly owned and all necessary adaptations to make

equipment and procedures compatible between adjacent countries and

Member States;

(c) procedures for invoking the European Union Civil Protection

Mechanism;

(d) arranging transboundary exercises of external emergency response.

Schedule Three

Sharing of information and transparency pursuant to regulations 15, 16 and 17

1. The common data reporting format for major hazard indicators shall make it

possible to compare information from competent authorities and to compare

information from individual operators and owners.

2. The information to be shared by the Committee and operators and owners

shall include information relating to

(a) unintended release of oil, gas or other hazardous substances, whether or

not ignited;

(b) loss of well control requiring actuation of well control equipment, or

failure of a well barrier requiring its replacement or repair;

(c) failure of a safety and environmental critical element;

(d) significant loss of structural integrity, or loss of protection against the

effects of fire or explosion, or loss of station keeping in relation to a

mobile installation;

(e) vessels on collision course and actual vessel collisions with an offshore

installation;

(f) helicopter accidents, on or near offshore installations;

(g) any fatal accident;

(h) any serious injuries to 5 or more persons in the same accident;

(i) any evacuation of personnel;

(j) a major environmental incident.

3. The annual reports to be submitted by the Committee pursuant to regulation

17(1) shall contain as a minimum the following information

(a) the number, age and location of installations;

(b) the number and type of inspections and investigations carried out, any

enforcement actions or convictions;

(c) incident data pursuant to the common reporting system required in

regulation 15;

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EXTERNAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE

(d) any major change in the offshore regulatory framework;

(e) the performance of offshore oil and gas operations in relation to

prevention of major accidents and the limiting of consequences of major

accidents that do occur.

4. The information referred to in item 2 above shall consist of both factual

information and analytical data regarding oil and gas operations, and shall be

unambiguous. The information and data provided shall be such that the performance

of individual operators and owners can be compared and the performance of the

industry as a whole can be compared between Member States.

5. The information collected and assembled referred to in item 2 above shall

enable the Committee to provide advanced warning of potential deterioration of

safety and environmentally critical barriers, and shall enable them to take preventive

action. The information shall also demonstrate the overall effectiveness of measures

and controls implemented by individual operators and owners, and industry as a

whole, in particular to prevent major accidents and to minimise risks for the

environment.

6. In order to meet the requirements of regulation 16, a simplified format shall

be developed to facilitate publication of relevant data pursuant to item 2 above and

preparation of reports pursuant to regulation 17(1) in a way that is easily accessible

to the public and facilitates transboundary comparison of data.