Book Description

Article 29 of the Directive 2013/30/EU (otherwise known as Offshore Safety Directive - OSD) requires Member States to prepare external emergency response plans (EERPs) covering all offshore oil and gas installations or connected infrastructure and potentially affected areas in their jurisdiction. The Directive requires the EERPs to be prepared in compliance with Annexes VII and VIII and to be made available to the European Commission, potentially affected Member States and the public. Member states are thus in charge of the fulfillment of Article 29 requirements for the preparation of EERPs. In a number of cases, the requirements of Article 29 are reflected (or partly reflected) in the existing national operational procedures and plans in place, such as National Contingency Plans, Marine Pollution Response Plans, Search and Rescue Plans, etc. However, such plans do not always address the offshore sector explicitly but deal partially with this sector. Moreover, this approach may lead to unclear overall management schemes and lack of clear responsibility. This document provides an overview of best practices of MSs operational plans in place which are relevant to offshore emergency response (Section 2) and proposes a scheme to provide Member States with suggested guidelines to assist them in the preparation, implementation and review of their national external emergency response plans (Section 3). Information on the parties involved in emergency response is provided in Annex 2 to this report. This work does not evaluate the technical solutions for every emergency scenario adopted in each Member State but rather the expected content of EERP and the methodological approach. Compliance of existing external emergency response plans with the Directive is outlined in a separate document.