Development of an easy and flexible risk assessment tool as a part of the planning of environmental inspections linked to European environmental law and the RMCEI (easyTools)

Project description and aims

Phase I

A key issue of the “Recommendation on minimum criteria for environmental inspections” (RMCEI) and the IMPEL “Step by step guidance book for planning of environmental inspection” is the prioritisation of environmental inspections. An essential part of this prioritisation is the assessment of the probability of environmental disruptions caused by industrial or comparable activities. These risk assessments also play a key role in inspection planning according to the Seveso II Directive and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

The availability of basic data for quantifying risk criteria differs largely between EU member countries. Already this implies that existing risk assessment tools which require a specific fixed set of data do not fulfill the needs of most member countries. As a consequence, nearly every competent inspection authority needs its own specific risk assessment tool. Based on these conclusions the aim of this project is to develop a flexible and user friendly programme for the environmental risk assessment within the planning of inspections as an advanced interactive IT tool from the Internet.

Phase II

The main objectives and goals of the second phase of the project were to produce a:

• Compilation of assessed risk criteria, their value and practicability in the inspection planning process;
• Flexible and user friendly programme for the risk assessment within the planning of environmental inspections as an advanced interactive IT tool from the internet available from the IMPEL homepage;
• Final report and risk assessent guidance book.

It has developed a flexible and user friendly programme for the risk assessment within the planning of environmental inspections as an application from the internet. The risk assessment tool will be part of the “planning cycle” described in the “Step by step guidance book for planning of environmental inspection” developed by the “Doing The Right Things” project (DTRT). It will take into account the needs of the IMPEL member countries as well as the requirements of European environmental law like the upcoming Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and it will be linked to the Recommendation on Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections (RMCEI). It will be based on results of an evaluation of risk assessment tools currently used in IMPEL member countries. There will also be an evaluation of risk criteria used until now and of the criteria listed in the IED proposal. This will be done in the light of the IMPEL assessment of the IPPC recast proposal and the IMPEL input for the further development of the RMCEI with the aim to make them more practicable.