The first technical workshop on hazard management was organized under the project on hazard and crisis management in the Danube Delta (Danube Delta Project – DDP) for the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and with participation of Romania. The project aims at enhancing and where possible harmonizing the mechanisms and approaches for efficient and effective hazard and crisis management between the three project countries in the Danube Delta. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and by the German Federal Environment Agency with means of the Advisory Assistance Programme for Environmental Protection in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Additional support is provided by other donors.
The first technical workshop on hazard management was designed to set the scene for the hazard management component of the project by analyzing the existing national frameworks regarding hazard identification, prevention and public participation. It brought together representatives from the three project countries, observers from Belarus and international experts from various institutions. The latter shared with the participants their experience regarding international standards and best practice for legal frameworks, licensing and checklist systems in hazard management, aimed, in particular, at protecting international rivers from the effects of industrial accidents.
In preparation for the technical workshop, each country analyzed its legal bases and procedures for the identification of hazardous activities, the prevention of industrial accidents and the participation of the public. During the workshop the countries presented their self-assessments conducted according to the indicators and criteria specified in the ‘Benchmarks for the implementation of the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents’ and discussed in working groups differences, similarities and gaps in the three focus areas.
As a result of the workshop, the countries acquired basic knowledge on each others legal bases, procedures and measures for the prevention of industrial accidents. They also found that: (i) there was neither a common basis for the identification of activities hazardous to waters between the three project countries, nor a protocol on data exchange between the competent authorities, (ii) there are several legal provisions formally in force which, however, need to be supported by effective measures and procedures applied by trained personnel, and (iii) there are major shortcomings in the existing national frameworks.
Based on the findings of the first technical workshop on hazard management, the project countries agreed to establish inventories of hazardous activities in the Danube Delta. They also emphasized the need to verify the level of implementation of the legislation through capacity building, such as training for personnel and inspectors at hazardous installations, and to strengthen the public participation in hazard prevention, thereby, also learning from the good practice of other countries.