The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2003

Conditions of greenhouse gas emissions permits

10.—(1) There shall be included in a greenhouse gas emissions permit such conditions as the regulator considers appropriate and in particular such conditions as the regulator considers appropriate to comply with paragraphs (2) to (6).

(2) A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall include conditions concerning the monitoring and reporting of specified emissions from the installation to which it relates and, in particular—

(a) such conditions as the regulator considers appropriate to ensure that any specified emissions from the Schedule 1 activity to which it relates are monitored and reported, including conditions—

(i) specifying the monitoring methodology and frequency; and

(ii) requiring the operator to submit reports of the annual reportable emissions to the regulator and concerning the timing of such reports;

(b) a requirement that all reports submitted pursuant to conditions imposed under sub-paragraph (a)(ii) are verified in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex V of the Directive and that the regulator is informed of the results of any such verification; and

(c) a requirement that an operator notifies the regulator as soon as he becomes aware of any factor which might prevent him from complying with any of the conditions included in a greenhouse gas emissions permit pursuant to this paragraph.

(3) A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall contain such conditions as the regulator considers appropriate to ensure that the operator surrenders allowances equal to the annual reportable emissions from the installation within four months of the end of the scheme year during which those emissions arose.

(4) A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall provide that, where an operator fails to comply with a condition imposed pursuant to paragraph (3) in respect of a scheme year (“a non-compliance year”), for the purpose of assessing compliance with that condition in relation to the later scheme year determined in accordance with paragraph (5) the annual reportable emissions from the installation shall be deemed to be increased by an amount equal to the amount of annual reportable emissions in respect of which the operator failed to comply with that condition in the non-compliance year.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), the “later scheme year” shall be the scheme year following the non-compliance year, or where the non-compliance results from an error in the report submitted by an operator under a monitoring and reporting condition, the scheme year following discovery of the error.

(6) A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall contain a condition stating that in relation to any period for which the installation is an excluded installation (the “exclusion period”)—

(a) the operator shall be deemed to be in compliance with any conditions imposed pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3); and

(b) the operator shall be required to notify the regulator of any change in operation during the exclusion period, at least 2 months before the end of that exclusion period.

(7) Where a certificate under regulation 11(3) stating that an installation is an excluded installation is revoked in accordance with regulation 11(4) during a scheme year, the annual reportable emissions from the installation for that scheme year shall be the reportable emissions from the installation from the date that the certificate was revoked to the end of that scheme year.

(8) Regulators shall periodically review the conditions of greenhouse gas emissions permits and may do so at any time.