Directive 2000/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2000 amending Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail
Date: 2000-10-10
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: approximation of laws, intra-EU transport, organisation of transport, rail transport, transport of dangerous goods, transport safety

L 279/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.11.2000

DIRECTIVE 2000/62/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 10 October 2000

amending Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with
regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 71(1)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

(7)

The conditions to be fulfilled before a transport opera-
tion may be regarded as an ad hoc transport operation
should be specified.

(8)

Directive 96/49/EC should be amended accordingly,

Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Directive 96/49/EC (4) lays down transitional provisions
which remained valid until 1 January 1999, to allow the
completion of some standardisation work by the Euro-
pean Committee for Standardisation (CEN) on recep-
tacles and tanks; that work has not yet been completed.

The transport equipment covered by the derogation
provided for in Article 5(2)(c) of Directive 96/49/EC
should be better defined.

In order to allow the Member States to use, for a speci-
fied period, rail wagons and tanks that do not comply
with a new provision in the Annex to Directive 96/
49/EC, there should be a transitional provision to cover
rail wagons and tanks constructed on or after 1 January
1997 and used exclusively for national transport.

The deadlines laid down in Article 6(4) of Directive
96/49/EC regarding certain equipment should be put
back; identifying the equipment concerned and the latest
date for the application of Directive 96/49/EC should be
made subject to the procedure laid down in Article 9
thereof.

The derogations provided for in Article 6(9), (11) and
(14) of Directive 96/49/EC should be made subject to
the procedure laid down in Article 9 thereof.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (5).

(1) OJ C 181, 26.6.1999, p. 25.
(2) OJ C 329, 17.11.1999, p. 11.
(3) European Parliament Opinion of 29 October 1999 (OJ C 154,
5.6.2000, p. 353), Council Common Position of 27 June 2000 (OJ
C 254, 25.8.2000, p. 14) and European Parliament Decision of 21
September 2000.

(4) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 25. Directive as last amended by Commis-

sion Directive 1999/48/EC (OJ L 169, 5.7.1999, p. 58).

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

Article 1

Directive 96/49/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1.

the terms

in Article 5(2)(c)
‘operating temperature of
material intended...’ shall be replaced by ‘operating tempera-
ture of materials used for plastic packaging, tanks and their
equipment intended...’;

2. Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3. Within its own territory a Member State may
authorise the use of wagons constructed before 1
January 1997 which do not comply with this Directive,
but were constructed in accordance with national provi-
sions in force on 31 December 1996, provided that
those wagons are maintained to the required safety
levels.

Tanks and wagons constructed on or after 1 January
1997 which do not comply with the Annex but were
constructed in accordance with the requirements of this
Directive that were applicable on the date of
their
construction may continue to be used for national trans-
port until a date determined in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 9.’;

(b) in paragraph 4:

— in the first sentence,

‘31 December 1998’ shall be
replaced by ‘30 June 2001’, and in the second
‘1 January 1999’ shall be replaced by ‘1
sentence,
July 2001’.

— the following subparagraphs shall be added:

‘The dates 30 June 2001 and 1 July 2001 shall be
put back for receptacles and tanks for which there
are no detailed technical requirements or for which
no sufficient references to the appropriate European
standards have been added to the Annex.

The receptacles and tanks referred to in the second
subparagraph and the latest date for the application
of this Directive as regards those receptacles and
tanks shall be determined in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 9.’;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 279/45

(c) paragraph 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘9.
Provided they give the Commission advance noti-
fication no later than 31 December 2002 or until two
years after the last date of application of the amended
versions of the Annex to this Directive, Member States
may adopt provisions less stringent than those in the
Annex for the transport within their territory only of
small quantities of certain dangerous goods, with the
exception of substances having a medium or high level
of radioactivity.

These derogations shall be applied without discrim-
ination.

the

Notwithstanding
above, Member States may,
provided they give the Commission advance noti-
fication, at any time adopt provisions similar to provi-
sions adopted by other Member States with reference to
this paragraph.

The Commission shall examine whether the conditions
laid down in this paragraph have been met and shall
decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 9, whether the Member States concerned may
adopt these derogations.’;

(d) paragraph 10 shall be replaced by the following:

‘10.
The Member States may issue authorisations,
valid for their territory only, to carry out ad hoc trans-
port operations of dangerous goods which are either
prohibited by the Annex or are performed under condi-
tions different from those laid down in the Annex, on
condition that these ad hoc transport operations are
clearly defined and limited in time.’;

(e) paragraph 11 shall be replaced by the following:

‘11.
Provided they give the Commission advance
notification, Member States may authorise the regular
transport on particular designated routes within their
territory of dangerous goods, forming part of a defined
industrial process, which are either prohibited by the
provisions of the Annex or are performed under condi-
tions different from those laid down in the Annex,
where such operations are of a local nature and are
tightly controlled under clearly specified conditions.

The Commission shall examine whether the require-
ments of the first subparagraph have been met and shall
decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 9, whether the Member States concerned may
authorise such transport operations.’;

(f) paragraph 14 shall be replaced by the following:

‘14.
Provided they give the Commission advance
notification Member States may authorise the transport
of dangerous goods under conditions less stringent than
those laid down in the Annex in the case of
local
transport over short distances within the perimeters of
ports, airports or industrial sites.

The Commission shall examine whether the conditions
laid down in the first subparagraph have been met and
in accordance with the procedure laid
shall decide,
down in Article 9, whether
the Member States
concerned may authorise such transport operations.’;

3. Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the “Committee
on the transport of dangerous goods” set up under Article 9
of Directive 94/55/EC. (*)

2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to
the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period referred to in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/
468/EC shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

(*) OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 7. Directive as last amended
by Directive 2000/61/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council (OJ L 279 of 1.11.2000, p. 40).’.

Article 2

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regula-
tions and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
forthwith
this Directive before 1 May 2001. They shall
inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt
they shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied
by such reference on the occasion of their official publica-
tion. The methods of making such reference
shall be
adopted by the Member States.

these measures,

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission
law which they
the text of the main provisions of national
adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Luxembourg, 10 October 2000.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

N. FONTAINE

The President

D. VOYNET