Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of gasoline service stations

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of gasoline service stations

Gasoline service station is a complex of equipment and structures aimed for filling of the vehicles. The construction and maintanance of gasoline station must fulfill the requirements of national law. Modern gasoline filling stations operates using safety technologies of oil products storing. But even under these conditions, gasoline stations can pose a hazard for environment. The main sources of environmental pollution from gasoline stations are accidental and emergency fuel spillages, oil evaporation during storing and filling of vehicles.

Planned activity related with storing and recycling of carbonic materials (conventional gas, shale gas, oil-dissolved gas, gas of central basin type, methane, condensate, oil bitumen and liquefied gas) is a subject of compulsory carrying out of environmental impact assessment in accordance to the article 3, p.4 of the law of Ukraine “On environmental impact assessment”. Also, in the case of business process re-engineering, technical re-equipment, capacity addition or modernization, business entity must carry out environmental impact assessment for gasoline stations. The procedure of environmental impact assessment in case of re-engineering is a similar to one that carried out before construction of the same object.

Below is the procedure of environmental impact assessment for gasoline stations:

development of the notification on planed activity and its publication in mass media;
development of the report on environmental impact assessment including the propositions and comments from community; and uploading of this report in the Unified Register of EIA;
preparation and publication of the advertisement on the start of public hearings and discussions of the report of environmental impact assessment;
organization and official payment for holding of public hearings of the report of EIA;
receiving of statement of the environmental impact assessment.

The statement of EIA is a result of environmental impact assessment. Without statement of EIA is forbidden to construct or refurbish an existing gasoline station.

What other requirements must be complied in accordance to the current legislation? Except environmental impact assessment for safe maintenance of gasoline station is required to fulfill the requirements of environmental legislation:

To develop a project of sanitary-hygienic zone. In accordance to the State Sanitary Rules 173-96 the distance to the closest residential development is at least 50 m.
To have a permission for the emissions of pollutant substances into atmospheric air.
To develop and approval an Emergency Response Assistance Plan.
To carry out an identification of potentially hazardous objects, objects of potentially hazard, safety declaration.
To have the permission for special water use if water supply conducts from the artesian wells.
To have the technical conditions (specifications) for connecting to the electricity and wastewater discharge systems.
To organize the waste management process: separate waste collection (sorting) and transfer for waste disposal.

Carrying out of these tasks requires not only resources, but only experience and sophisticated specialists which could perform these tasks. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) in form «ready-to-operate» is carried out by the specialists of MCL, LLC. It allows controlling all stages of environmental impact assessment. The high-qualified specialists of MCL, LLC could consult you in terms of fulfilment the requirements of environmental legislation in the process of construction and maintenance of gasoline service station.