The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2003

Revocation of greenhouse gas emissions permits

16.—(1) The regulator may at any time revoke a greenhouse gas emissions permit, in whole or in part, by serving a notice (“a revocation notice”) on the operator.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) and subject to paragraph (3), the regulator may serve a notice under this regulation in relation to a greenhouse gas emissions permit where—

(a) the permit holder has ceased to be the operator of the installation which carries out the Schedule 1 activities covered by the permit; or

(b) Schedule 1 activities are no longer carried out in the installation.

(3) The regulator may not revoke a greenhouse gas emissions permit under paragraph (2)(b) until the end of the relevant phase referred to in regulation 18(2) if the national allocation plan for that phase provides for allowances to continue to be issued to the operator in respect of the Schedule 1 activities which were carried out in the installation.

(4) A revocation notice may—

(a) revoke a greenhouse gas emissions permit entirely; or

(b) revoke a greenhouse gas emissions permit only in so far as it authorises the carrying out of particular Schedule 1 activities.

(5) A revocation notice shall specify—

(a) in the case of a revocation mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (4) (a “partial revocation”), the extent to which the greenhouse gas emissions permit is being revoked; and

(b) in all cases, the date on which the revocation shall take effect, which shall be at least 28 days after the date on which the notice is served.

(6) Except where a revocation notice relates to an excluded installation, a revocation notice shall specify that the operator is required to—

(a) submit to the regulator by the date specified in the notice a report specifying the reportable emissions from the beginning of the scheme year in which the revocation notice is served until the date on which the installation to which the revocation notice relates ceased carrying out a Schedule 1 activity or the permit holder ceased being the operator of the installation and such report shall be prepared and verified in accordance with the relevant monitoring and reporting conditions; and

(b) surrender by the date specified in the notice allowances equivalent to—

(i) the reportable emissions specified in that report;

(ii) where an operator has failed to comply with a condition of a greenhouse gas emissions permit imposed pursuant to regulation 10(3) in respect of the previous scheme year, the annual reportable emissions in respect of which the operator failed to comply with that condition in that year;

(iii) where an application to surrender is made in the scheme year following discovery of an error in the report submitted by an operator under a monitoring and reporting condition in relation to any scheme year, the annual reportable emissions in respect of which, as a result of that error, the operator failed to comply with a condition of a greenhouse gas emissions permit imposed pursuant to regulation 10(3) in respect of that scheme year; and

(iv) where a supplementary decision has been made under regulation 19(9), the total number of allowances which have been issued under regulation 20(3)(b) in respect of the installation which would not have been included in a decision under regulation 19(1)(b) or, if applicable, 19(1)(c) in respect of the installation if the statement referred to in regulation 19(9)(a) had not been false or misleading.

(7) Subject to paragraph (8) and regulation 26, a greenhouse gas emissions permit shall cease to have effect, or, in the case of a partial revocation, shall cease to have effect to the extent specified in the revocation notice, from the date specified in the notice.

(8) The greenhouse gas emissions permit shall cease to have effect to authorise the carrying out of a Schedule 1 activity from the date specified in the revocation notice but any monitoring and reporting condition shall continue to have effect in so far as it is not superseded by the requirements of the notice specified pursuant to paragraph (6) until the regulator certifies that the requirements of the notice specified pursuant to paragraph (6) have been complied with.

(9) The requirements specified in a revocation notice pursuant to paragraph (6)(a) shall be treated as if they were monitoring and reporting conditions and the requirements specified in a revocation notice pursuant to paragraph (6)(b) shall be treated as if they were conditions of the greenhouse gas emissions permit imposed pursuant to regulation 10(3).

(10) A regulator which has served a revocation notice may, before the date on which the revocation takes effect, withdraw the notice.