Dangerous Substances (Flammable Liquids and Fuels Distribution and Commercial Supply Stores) Regulations, 2019.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Dangerous Substances (Flammable Liquids and Fuels Distribution and Commercial Supply Stores) Regulations, 2019.
(2) These Regulations repeal and Replace the Dangerous Substances (Petroleum Bulk Stores) Regulations, 1979 (No. 313 of 1979).
(3) These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 April 2020.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Dangerous Substances Act 1972 (No. 10 of 1972), as amended;
“Act of 2005” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005);
“alternative fuels” means fuels or power sources which serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil oil sources in the energy supply to transport and which have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector, and include, inter alia—
(a) electricity,
(b) hydrogen,
(c) biofuels,
(d) synthetic and paraffinic fuels,
(e) natural gas, including biomethane, in gaseous form (compressed natural gas (“CNG”)),
(f) liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”), and
(g) liquefied natural gas (“LNG”);
“appeals authority” means the Health and Safety Authority;
“appropriate fire authority” means the fire authority, having the meaning assigned by the Fire Services Act 1981 (No. 30 of 1981) with functional responsibilities for the area in which the store concerned is located or the fire authority which gives the services of its fire brigade in relation to fire occurring in the sanitary district (or portion of the sanitary district) in which the store concerned is located;
“appropriate licensing authority” means the licensing authority with functional responsibilities for the area in which the store is located, or a licensing authority or group of licensing authorities designated as an appropriate licensing authority, or a body established to act on behalf of a licensing authority or group of licensing authorities and designated as an appropriate licensing authority. An appropriate licensing authority may also be an appropriate fire authority;
“commercial supply” means the sale of flammable liquids and fuels to commercial operations, or the supply of flammable liquids and fuels for commercial activities, whether the flammable liquids and fuels are supplied to another person or company or within the same company;
“competent person” means a person who, having regard to the task required to be performed and taking account of the inventory, size or hazards (or any combination of these) of the undertaking or establishment concerned, and taking account, as appropriate, of the framework of qualifications referred to in the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 2012 (No. 28 of 2012), possesses sufficient training, experience and knowledge appropriate to the nature of the work to be undertaken;
“emergency works” refer to works which must be carried out as soon as possible due to the immediate potential for risk of injury, whether required by wear and tear, extreme weather, accidents, negligence, or other causes;
“flammable liquid” (and the categories thereof) refer to flammable liquids as defined and classified by criteria set out in Table 2.6.1 in Regulation (EC) No 1272 of 2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (OJ L 353, 31.12.2008, p. 1), which Table is set out below;
(1) For the purpose of this Regulation gas oils, diesel and light heating oils having a flash point between ≥ 55°C and ≤ 75°C may be regarded as Category 3.
“fuel” means a flammable liquid or gas, or alternative fuel, for commercial supply and for use in engines and vehicles intended for use for transport by air, sea, road or rail;
“gas safety officer” means an authorised officer appointed under Section 11(4) of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 (No. 23 of 1999);
“licence” means a licence under the Act in respect of a store for the storage of flammable liquids and fuels at the store for the purposes of distribution or commercial supply, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
“licensee” means a person, company, or other legal entity having a licence under the Act and is hereby deemed to include any person required to have a licence (whether or not that person in fact holds a licence) in respect of any store for the storage of flammable liquids and fuels for the purposes of distribution or commercial supply;
“licensing authority” means (as may be appropriate) a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37 of 2001) (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1 of 2014)) or a harbour authority within the meaning of section 2 (2) of the Act;
“major works” means works which lead to material changes, additions or modifications to the structure, operation, machinery, equipment, buildings or any other aspect of the store, which alter how flammable liquids and fuels are stored, dispensed, or accessed. This includes, inter alia, additional pumps, the stocking of new fuels, the addition of new or differently sized tanks, whether underground or other, transfer or relocation of pumps, tanks or other equipment, the expansion of any structures on the site, the addition of structures/equipment such as car washes and tyre pumps, and changes to the entrance and exit which alter the path of vehicles through the store;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation;
“minor works” means works which do not lead to material changes, additions or modifications to the structure, operation, machinery, equipment, buildings or any other aspect of the store, which do not alter how flammable liquids and fuels are stored, dispensed, or accessed. This includes, inter alia, minor repairs to the premises, painting, hanging or replacing of signs, replacing pumps or tanks (provided that the location and size of the equipment and type of fuel is not altered), changes to the interior layout of any associated shop (where applicable), and changes to the interior layout of private staff areas;
“new store” means a purpose built establishment for which the licensee applies for the first licence after the date of commencement of these Regulations;
“owner” except where the context otherwise requires, means the legal owner of a premises or place at which a store operates, which is used or intended to be used in part or in full for the keeping of flammable liquids and fuels for the purposes of distribution or commercial supply; the owner may operate the premises themselves, designate a manager to operate the premises, or lease the premises to a person or company who carries out operations;
“public road” means a road as defined by the Roads Act 1993 (No. 14 of 1993) and includes public footpaths adjoining or adjacent to a public road;
“risk assessment” means a written assessment identifying the hazards, frequency of occurrence, and actions necessary to mitigate the risk of injury posed by the operation of a store storing flammable liquids and fuels for the purposes of distribution and commercial supply;
“risk of injury” means risk of injury either to people, property or damage to the environment where environmental pollution is an associated hazard from flammable liquids and fuels (or vapours of flammable liquids and fuels) because of ignition, fire, explosion, spillage, escape or leakage, while keeping, dispensing, selling, supplying or conveying such flammable liquids and fuels;
“store” means a location where flammable liquids or fuels are stored for the purpose of either distribution or commercial supply, not exceeding storage capacity of 2,500 tonnes.
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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations apply to stores which hold flammable liquids and fuels for the following purposes:
(a) For supply or sale to commercial enterprises;
(b) For supply to the licensee’s own vehicles; or
(c) for use in any engine under the licensee’s control;
(2) These Regulations shall not apply to any store to which the Chemicals Act (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2015 ( SI No. 209 of 2015 ) apply.
(3) These Regulations do not apply to the keeping or storing of flammable liquids and fuels for use exclusively for the purposes of domestic heating systems or use in private agricultural vehicles or premises.
(4) These Regulations do not apply to the storage of flammable liquids and fuels (after their withdrawal from a storage tank or container) in any manufacturing process, or in the making of any article or substance, or to stores of less than 2,000 litres of Category 1 flammable liquids and/or 5,000 litres of Category 2 and Category 3 flammable liquids.
(5) These Regulations do not apply to any separation, refining or processing of flammable liquids and fuels at a refinery or to any auxiliary tank or vessel used for the temporary keeping of flammable liquids and fuels in respect of such separation, refining or processing, other than any storage tank connected by pipeline to a loading or unloading location or an oil jetty, and used for the immediate keeping of flammable liquids and fuels unloaded from or to be loaded on to a tank, ship or other vehicle.
(6) Every licence issued under the Petroleum Bulk Storage Regulations, 1979 ( SI No. 313 of 1979 ) and valid immediately before the commencement of these Regulations, shall, subject to any other provision of the Regulations, continue in force until the date of expiry of the licence, as though issued under the corresponding provision of these Regulations.