- combined operation
means an operation carried out from an installation with another installation or installations for purposes related to the other installation(s) which thereby materially affects the risks to the safety of persons or the protection of the environment on any or all of the installations;
- commencement of operations
means the point in time when the installation or connected infrastructure is involved for the first time in the operations for which it is designed;
- competent authority
means the public authority, appointed pursuant to this Directive and responsible for the duties assigned to it in this Directive.
- connected infrastructure
means, within the safety zone or within a nearby zone of a greater distance from the installation at the discretion of the Member State:
- contractor
means any entity contracted by the operator or owner to perform specific tasks on behalf of the operator or owner;
- entity
means any natural or legal person or any group of such persons;
- exploration
means drilling into a prospect and all related offshore oil and gas operations necessary prior to production-related operations;
- external emergency response plan
means a local, national or regional strategy to prevent escalation or limit the consequences of a major accident relating to offshore oil and gas operations using all resources available to the operator as described in the relevant internal emergency response plan, and any supplementary resources made available by the Member States;
- independent verification
means an assessment and confirmation of the validity of particular written statements by an entity or an organisational part of the operator or the owner that is not under the control of or influenced by, the entity or the organisational part using those statements;
- industry
means entities that are directly involved in offshore oil and gas operations covered by this Directive or whose activities are closely related to those operations;
- installation
means a stationary, fixed or mobile facility, or a combination of facilities permanently inter-connected by bridges or other structures, used for offshore oil and gas operations or in connection with such operations.
- internal emergency response plan
means a plan prepared by the operator or owner pursuant to the requirements of this Directive concerning the measures to prevent escalation or limit the consequences of a major accident relating to offshore oil and gas operations;
- licence
means an authorisation for offshore oil and gas operations pursuant to Directive 94/22/EC;
- licensed area
means the geographical area covered by the licence;
- licensee
means the holder or joint holders of a licence;
- licensing authority
means the public authority which is responsible for granting authorisations or for monitoring the use of authorisations as provided for in Directive 94/22/EC;
- major accident
means, in relation to an installation or connected infrastructure: For the purposes of determining whether an incident constitutes a major accident under points (a), (b) or (d), an installation that is normally unattended shall be treated as if it were attended;
- major environmental incident
means an incident which results, or is likely to result, in significant adverse effects on the environment in accordance with Directive 2004/35/EC.
- major hazard
means a situation with the potential to result in a major accident;
- material change
means:
- non-production installation
means an installation other than an installation used for production of oil and gas;
- offshore
means situated in the territorial sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone or the continental shelf of a Member State within the meaning of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea;
- offshore oil and gas operations
means all activities associated with an installation or connected infrastructure, including design, planning, construction, operation and decommissioning thereof, relating to exploration and production of oil or gas, but excluding conveyance of oil and gas from one coast to another;
- oil spill response effectiveness
means the effectiveness of spill response systems in responding to an oil spill, on the basis of an analysis of the frequency, duration, and timing of environmental conditions that would preclude a response.
- operator
means the entity appointed by the licensee or licensing authority to conduct offshore oil and gas operations, including planning and executing a well operation or managing and controlling the functions of a production installation;
- owner
means an entity legally entitled to control the operation of a non-production installation;
- production
means offshore extraction of oil and gas from the underground strata of the licensed area including offshore processing of oil and gas and its conveyance through connected infrastructure;
- production installation
means an installation used for production;
- risk
means the combination of the probability of an event and the consequences of that event;
- safety and environmental critical elements
means parts of an installation, including computer programmes, the purpose of which is to prevent or limit the consequences of a major accident, or the failure of which could cause or contribute substantially to a major accident;
- safety zone
means the area within a distance of 500 metres from any part of the installation, established by the Member State;
- suitable
means right or fully appropriate, including consideration of proportionate effort and cost, for a given requirement or situation, based on objective evidence and demonstrated by an analysis, comparison with appropriate standards or other solutions used in comparable situations by other authorities or industry;
- the public
means one or more entities and, in accordance with national legislation or practice, their associations, organisations or groups;
- tripartite consultation
means a formal arrangement to enable dialogue and cooperation between the competent authority, operators and owners, and workers’ representatives;
- well operation
means any operation concerning a well that could result in the accidental release of materials that has the potential to lead to a major accident, including the drilling of a well, the repair or modification of a well, the suspension of well operations and the permanent abandonment of a well;