Closure or relocation of gas stations: pain or pleasure
The new decree on External Safety of Installations (EVI) prescribes safety distances between LPG gas stations and neighboring residences and other vulnerable objects. Practically speaking, this implies that many LPG gas stations will have to discontinue sales. Municipalities required to undertake this clean-up are permitted to request subsidy funds for costs to be incurred from the Investment Budget for Urban Renewal (ISV).
The new regulations compel a large number of gas stations to discontinue LPG sales within a certain number of years. This often has significant (financial) consequences for the gas station owners involved. But the municipalities involved, too, will experience adverse effects, since they are responsible for implementing the new rules.
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Adjustments
They will have to arrange adjustments to environmental permitting and agree compensation for damages with the gas station owners concerned. Moreover, in the case of new developments, such as the construction of a residential district near an existing LPG gas station, managerial decision-making must explicitly take into account safety aspects.
ISV and external safety
If there is a question of a high-risk situation involving LPG gas stations, it is useful to know that funds from ISV and the EVI decree can be requested. Not long ago Oranjewoud submitted an ISV subsidy application for a municipality for the removal of two LPG gas stations from the center of the community, since they were hampering the development of the area.
Eliminations risks
After all, external safety is about the control or elimination of risks for the environment that arise from the use, storage and transport of dangerous materials (including LPG). ISV has to do with the spatial and physical aspects of the residential environment. The ISV regulation can contribute to the proper coordination of spatial policy and external safety policy.