The Major Accident Off-Site Emergency Plan (Management of Waste from Extractive Industries) (England and Wales) Regulations 2009

Provision and review of information to the public E+W

7.—(1) Information on safety measures and on the action required in the event of an accident, containing at least the elements listed in paragraph (2), must be provided by the operator to the public concerned free of charge.

(2) The elements are—

(a) name of the operator and address of the mining waste facility;

(b) identification, by position held, of the person providing the information;

(c) confirmation that the mining waste facility is subject to these Regulations and, when applicable, that the information relevant to the elements referred to in Article 6(2) of the Mining Waste Directive has been submitted to the competent authority;

(d) an explanation in clear and simple terms of the activity or activities undertaken at the site;

(e) the common names or the generic names or the general danger classification of the substances and preparations involved at the mining waste facility as well as waste which could give rise to a major accident, with an indication of their principal dangerous characteristics;

(f) general information relating to the nature of the major-accident hazards, including their potential effects on the surrounding population and environment;

(g) adequate information on how the surrounding population concerned are to be warned and kept informed in the event of a major accident;

(h) adequate information on the actions the population concerned should take, and on the behaviour they should adopt, in the event of a major accident;

(i) confirmation that the operator is required to make adequate arrangements on-site, in particular liaison with the emergency services, to deal with major accidents and to minimise their effects;

(j) a reference to the off-site emergency plan drawn up to cope with any off-site effects from an accident, which should include advice to co-operate with any instructions or requests from the emergency services at the time of an accident;

(k) details of where further relevant information can be obtained, subject to any duty of confidentiality which prohibits disclosure.

(3) In preparing the information required to be supplied in accordance with paragraph (1), the operator must consult the competent authority in whose area the mining waste facility is situated but the operator remains responsible for the accuracy, completeness and form of the information so supplied.

(4) The operator must review and where necessary update the information referred to in paragraph (1) at least every three years.