• Published: May 2015
• REF/ISBN: 9780852937266
• Edition: 3rd
• Status: Current

This publication provides guidance on managing environmental issues involved in the design, construction and commissioning, operation and decommissioning of bulk storage facilities. It provides management, technical and operational guidance to minimise the impact of bulk storage facilities on the environment, and in doing so, to help meet regulatory requirements.

This publication is aimed at facility owners/operators, designers, regulators and environmental specialists who are working with bulk stores of petroleum, petroleum products, or other fuels. In addition to covering bulk stores at petroleum distribution installations, the guidance contained in this publication can be used as a basis for environmental management at refinery off-sites, authorised distributor depots and bulk stores of LPG, bitumen, aviation fuels and lubricants.

The 3rd edition supersedes EI Environmental guidelines for petroleum distribution installations, first produced in 1996 and revised in 2007. This revision has been produced to take account of new guidance and standards released since the publication of the 2nd edition, including the HSE Process safety leadership group (PSLG) final report: safety and environmental standards for fuel storage sites (2009) and CDOIF guidance: Environmental risk tolerability for COMAH establishments (2013).

The 3rd edition is restructured to assist the reader by aligning with their different needs, which are primarily driven by:

• Where the facility is in its life cycle (design, construction and commissioning, operation or decommissioning).
• The COMAH tier of the facility (sub-, lower or top-tier).
• The site use (e.g. bulk storage only, bulk storage and rail loading/unloading facility, etc).

Other key changes include addressing:

• inherent environmental protection;
• tertiary containment;
• alternative fuels (e.g. biofuels);
• loading and unloading of rail tankers, and
• human and organisational factors.