The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025

Regulation 9(2)

SCHEDULE 19 NEW SCHEDULE 28 TO BE INSERTED INTO THE REGULATIONS

Regulation 6(1)

“SCHEDULE 28 PETROL VAPOUR RECOVERY ACTIVITIES

PART 1 Scope and Interpretation

Scope

1.— (1) This schedule applies to petrol vapour recovery activities,

(2) Paragraph 2 applies for the interpretation of—

(a) this schedule,

(b) the definition of a petrol vapour recovery activity.

2.   “Petrol vapour recovery activity” means any of the following—

(a) the storage of petrol in stationary storage tanks at a terminal, or the loading or unloading of petrol into or from a road tanker, a rail tanker or an inland waterway vessel at a terminal,

(b) the unloading of petrol into stationary storage tanks at a service station if the total quantity of petrol unloaded into such tanks at the service station in any 12-month period is likely to be equal to or greater than 500 m³.

(c) motor vehicle refuelling activities at an existing service station if the petrol refuelling throughput at the station in any 12-month period is more than 3000 m³,

(d) motor vehicle refuelling activities at a new service station if the petrol refuelling throughput at the station in any 12-month period is, or is intended to be, 500 m³ or more,

(e) motor vehicle refuelling activities at a new service station if the petrol refuelling throughput at the station in any 12-month period is, or is intended to be, 100 m³ or more and the service station is under permanent living quarters or working areas.

Interpretation

3.   In this schedule—

“API Recommended Practice” means API Recommended Practice 1004, Seventh Edition (November 1988), Bottom loading and vapour recovery for MC-306 tank motor vehicles,

“existing service station” means a service station—

(a)

which was put into operation, or

(b)

for which planning permission under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997(1) was granted,

before 31 December 2011,

“existing terminal” means a terminal—

(a)

which was put into operation, or

(b)

for which planning permission was granted before 31 December 1995,

“gantry” means any structure at a terminal at which petrol can be loaded on to a single road tanker at any one time,

“inland waterway vessel” means a vessel intended solely or mainly for navigation on inland waterways but not including passenger vessels, ferries, floating equipment and installations, pleasure craft, service craft and fire-service vessels,

“intermediate storage of vapours” refers to the intermediate storage of vapours in a fixed roof tank at a terminal for later transfer to and recovery at another terminal, but does not include the transfer of vapours from one storage installation to another at a terminal,

“loading installation” means any facility at a terminal at which petrol can be loaded on mobile containers and loading installations for road tankers comprise one or more gantries,

“new service station” means a service station which is put into operation on or after 1 January 2012, and—

(a)

includes an existing service station where a major refurbishment is completed on or after that date (and for that purpose a major refurbishment means a significant alteration or renewal of the station infrastructure, in particular the tanks and pipes),

(b)

excludes any other existing service station,

“new terminal” means a terminal put into operation after 1 January 1996 and excludes an existing terminal,

“petrol” means any petroleum derivative, with or without additives, having a Reid vapour pressure of 27.6kPa or more which is intended for use as a fuel for motor vehicles, other than liquefied petroleum gas,

“petrol vapour” means any gaseous compound which evaporates from petrol,

“petrol vapour capture efficiency” means the amount of petrol vapour captured by the Stage II petrol vapour recovery system compared to the amount of petrol vapour that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere in the absence of such a system and expressed as a percentage,

“service station” means any premises where petrol is dispensed to motor vehicle fuel tanks from stationary storage tanks, other than premises used in connection with the construction and delivery of new vehicles only,

“Stage II petrol vapour recovery system” means equipment aimed at recovering the petrol vapour displaced from the fuel tank of a motor vehicle during refuelling at a service station and which transfers that petrol vapour to a storage tank at the service station or back to the petrol dispenser for resale,

“Stage I throughput” means the largest total annual quantity of petrol loaded from a storage installation at a terminal or from a service station into mobile containers during the three preceding years,

“Stage II throughput” means the total annual quantity of petrol unloaded from mobile containers into a service station,

“terminal” means any premises which are used for the storage and loading of petrol into road tankers, rail tankers or inland waterway vessels,

“vapour/petrol ratio” means the ratio between the volume at atmospheric pressure of petrol vapour passing through the Stage II petrol vapour recovery system and the volume of petrol dispensed,

“vapour recovery unit” means equipment for the recovery of petrol from vapours including any buffer reservoir systems at a terminal,

“vapours” means any gaseous compound which evaporates from petrol,

“vessel” means an inland waterway vessel.

PART 2 Amendments to common framework provisions

Authorisation conditions: general

4.   A petrol vapour recovery activity can only be authorised by permit or registration.

Authorisation conditions: storage installations at terminals

5.   SEPA must ensure that an authorisation for a petrol vapour recovery activity includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that storage installations at terminals comply with the following requirements—

(a) the external wall and roof of tanks must, where above ground, be painted in a colour with a total radiant heat reflectance of 70% or more unless sub-paragraph (b) applies,

(b) this sub-paragraph applies to a tank—

(i) in, or visible from, a National Park or an area subject to local landscape designations,

(ii) which is linked to a vapour recovery unit which conforms with the requirements set out in paragraph 6(3), (5) and (6),

(c) requirements under sub-paragraph (a) may be carried out as part of the usual maintenance cycles of the tanks, provided that they are carried out at least every three years,

(d) tanks with external floating roofs must be equipped with a primary seal to cover the annular space between the tank wall and the outer periphery of the floating roof, and with a secondary seal fitted above the primary seal,

(e) seals referred to in sub-paragraph (d) should be designed to achieve an overall containment of vapours of 95% or more as compared to a comparable fixed-roof tank with no vapour-containment controls, which is a fixed-roof tank with only vacuum/pressure relief valve,

(f) new storage installations at terminals where vapour recovery is required must be—

(i) fitted with fixed-roof tanks connected to the vapour recovery unit in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 6(3), (5) and (6) of this schedule, or

(ii) designed with a floating roof (either external or internal) equipped with primary and secondary seals to meet the performance requirements in sub-paragraph (d),

unless sub-paragraph (h) applies,

(g) existing fixed-roof tanks must—

(i) be connected to a vapour-recovery unit as required for the purposes of paragraph 6(3), (5) and (6) of this schedule, or

(ii) have an internal floating roof with a primary seal designed to achieve an overall containment of vapours of 90% or more in relation to a comparable fixed-roof tank with no vapour controls,

unless sub-paragraph (h) applies,

(h) the requirements for vapour-containment controls in sub-paragraphs (f) and (g) do not apply to fixed-roof tanks at terminals where intermediate storage of vapours is permitted according to paragraph 6(4) of this schedule.

Authorisation conditions: loading and unloading installations at terminals

6.— (1) This paragraph applies to—

(a) any existing terminal loading petrol onto road tankers, rail tankers or vessels where the through-put is greater than 10 000 tonnes/year,

(b) any new terminal unless—

(i) the new terminal is located on a small, remote island, and

(ii) the actual or intended throughput in a twelve-month period is less than 5000 tonnes.

(2) Where this paragraph applies, SEPA must ensure that authorisations include such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that the requirements of sub-paragraphs (3) to (11) are met.

(3) Subject to the exceptions in sub-paragraph (4), displacement vapours from the mobile container being loaded must be returned through a vapour-tight connection line to a vapour recovery unit for regeneration at the terminal.

(4) The exceptions are—

(a) the requirement in sub-paragraph (3) does not apply to top-loading tankers where that loading system is permitted,

(b) at terminals which load petrol onto vessels, a vapour incineration unit may be substituted for a vapour recovery unit if vapour recovery is unsafe or technically impossible because of the volume of return vapour, provided that atmospheric emissions requirements in respect of vapour recovery units are applied to the vapour incineration unit, and

(c) at terminals with a throughput of less than 25,000 tonnes/year, intermediate storage of vapours may be substituted for immediate vapour recovery at the terminal.

(5) The mean concentration of vapours in the exhaust from the vapour recovery unit, corrected for dilution during treatment, must not exceed 35 g/normal cubic metre (Nm³) for any one hour.

(6) The monitoring and analysis of the mean concentration of vapours in the exhaust from the vapour recovery unit must satisfy the following requirements—

(a) measurements must be made over the course of one full working day (seven hours minimum) of normal throughput,

(b) measurements may be continuous or discontinuous, but if discontinuous measurements are employed, at least four measurements per hour must be made,

(c) the overall measurement error due to the equipment used, the calibration gas and the procedure used must not exceed 10% of the measured value,

(d) the equipment used must be capable of measuring concentrations at least as low as 3g/Nm³, and

(e) the precision must be at least 95% of the measured value.

(7) All terminals with loading facilities for road tankers must be equipped with at least one gantry which meets the specifications for bottom-loading equipment set out in paragraph 7 of this schedule.

(8) Connection lines and pipe installations must be checked regularly for leaks.

(9) Loading operations must be shut down at the gantry in the case of a leak of vapour, and equipment for shut-down operations must be installed at the gantry.

(10) Where top-loading of mobile containers is permitted, the outlet of the loading arm must be kept near the bottom of the mobile container in order to avoid splash loading.

(11) Where intermediate storage of vapours is substituted for immediate vapour recovery in accordance with sub-paragraph (4)(c)—

(a) vapours displaced by the delivery of petrol in fixed-roof tanks used for the intermediate storage of vapours must be returned through a vapour-tight connections line to the mobile container delivering the petrol, and

(b) loading operations may not take place unless the arrangements under head (a) are in place and properly functioning.

(12) SEPA must maintain a list of the addresses of any terminal to which this paragraph does not apply as a result of sub-paragraph (1)(b).

Authorisation conditions: specifications for bottom-loading, vapour collection and overfill protection of European road tankers

7.   SEPA must ensure that an authorisation for a petrol vapour recovery activity includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that the requirements for bottom-loading equipment are complied with in respect of road tanker loading gantries at terminals as specified below—

(a) couplings—

(i) the liquid coupler on the loading arm must be a female coupler which must mate with a 4-inch API (101.6 mm) male adaptor located on the vehicle as defined by section 2.1.1.1 of API Recommended Practice,

(ii) the vapour-collection coupler on the loading-gantry vapour-collection hose must be a cam and groove female couple which must mate with a 4-inch (101.6 mm) cam and groove male adapter located on the vehicle as defined by section 4.1.1.2 of API Recommended Practice,

(b) loading conditions—

(i) the normal liquid-loading rate must be 2,300 litres per minute (maximum 2500 litres per minute) per loading arm,

(ii) when the terminal is operating a peak demand, its loading gantry vapour collection system, including the vapour-recovery unit, may generate a counterpressure of no more than 55 millibars on the vehicle side of the vapour-collection adapter, and

(iii) all approved bottom-loading vehicles must carry an identification plate which specifies the maximum permitted number of loading arms which may be operated simultaneously whilst ensuring that no vapours are released via the compartment P and V valves, when the maximum plant back pressure is 55 millibar,

(c) connection of vehicle earth/overfill detection—

(i) The loading gantry must be equipped with an overfill-detection control unit which, when connected to the vehicle, must provide a fail-safe permission signal to enable loading, providing no compartment-overfill sensors detect a high level,

(ii) the vehicle must be connected to the control unit on the gantry via a 10-pin industry standard electrical connector, with the—

(aa) male connector mounted on the vehicle, and

(bb) female connector attached to a flying lead connected to the gantry-mounted control unit,

(iii) the high-level detectors on the vehicles must be—

(aa) 2-wire thermistor, which must have a negative temperature coefficient,

(bb) 2-wire optical sensors,

(cc) 5-wire optical sensors, or

(dd) a compatible equivalent provided the system is fail-safe,

(iv) the gantry control unit must be suitable for both 2-wire and 5-wire vehicle systems,

(v) the vehicle must be bonded to the gantry via the common return wire of the overfill sensors so that the wire is connected to pin 10 on the male connector via the vehicle chassis, and pin 10 on the female connector is connected to the control-unit enclosure which must be connected to the gantry earth,

(vi) all approved bottom-loading vehicles must carry an identification plate which specifies the type of overfill-detection sensors installed (i.e. 2-wire or 5-wire),

(d) location of the connections—

(i) the design of the liquid-loading and vapour collection facilities of the loading gantry must be based on the following vehicle-connection envelope—

(aa) the height of the centre line of the liquid adapters must be a maximum of 1.4 metres unladen, and a minimum of 0.5 metre laden with a preferred height of between 0.7 to 1.0 metres,

(bb) the horizontal spacing of the adapters must not be less than 0.25 metres with a preferred spacing of 0.3 metres,

(cc) all liquid adapters must be located within an envelope not exceeding 2.5 metres in length,

(dd) the vapour-collection adapter should be located preferably to the right of the liquid adapters and at a height not exceeding 1.5 metres (unladen) and not less than 0.5 metres (laden), and

(ee) the connections referred to in this head must be located on one side of the vehicle only,

(ii) the earth/overfill connector must be located to the right of the liquid and vapour-collection adapters, at a height not exceeding 1.5. metres (unladen) and not less than 0.5 metres (laden),

(e) safety interlocks—

(i) for the purposes of earth/overfill detection—

(aa) loading must not be permitted unless a permissive signal is provided by the combined earth/overfill control unit and

(bb) in the event of an overfill condition or a loss of vehicle earth the control unit on the gantry must close the gantry-loading control valve,

(ii) for the purpose of vapour-collection detection, loading must not be permitted unless the vapour-collection hose has been connected to the vehicle and there is a free passage for the displaced vapours to flow from the vehicle into the plant vapour-collection system.

Authorisation conditions: loading and storage equipment at service stations

8.   SEPA must ensure that an authorisation for a petrol vapour recovery activity includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that—

(a) loading and storage equipment at service stations is designed and operated so that—

(i) vapours displaced by the delivery of petrol into storage installations at service stations must be returned through a vapour-tight connection line to the mobile container delivering the petrol,

(ii) loading operations may not take place unless the arrangements under head (i) are in place and properly functioning,

(b) service stations meeting any of the descriptions set out in heads (i) through (iii) are equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system—

(i) existing service stations where the actual or intended petrol refuelling throughput at the station in any 12-month period is more than 3,000 m^3,

(ii) existing service stations which undergo a major refurbishment where—

(aa) the actual or intended petrol refuelling throughput in any 12-month period is greater than 500 m³, or

(bb) its actual or intended petrol refuelling throughput in any 12-month period is greater than 100 m³ and it is situated under permanent living quarters or working areas,

(iii) any new service stations where the actual or intended petrol refuelling throughput in any 12-month period is greater than 500 m³.

Authorisations: requirements for Stage II petrol vapour recovery systems

9.   SEPA must ensure that an authorisation includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that Stage II vapour recovery systems meet the following requirements—

(a) the petrol vapour recovery capture efficiency of such systems is equal to or greater than 85% as certified by the manufacturer in accordance with relevant British standards or other relevant international standards,

(b) where recovered petrol vapour is transferred to a storage tank at the service station, the vapour/petrol ratio must be equal to or greater than 0.95 but less than or equal to 1.05,

(c) the in-service petrol vapour capture efficiency of Stage II petrol vapour recovery systems is tested at least once a year by—

(i) checking that the vapour/petrol ratio under simulated petrol flow conditions conforms with sub-paragraph (b), or

(ii) using any other appropriate method,

(d) where an automatic monitoring system has been installed—

(i) SEPA must ensure that the petrol vapour capture efficiency is tested at least once every three years,

(ii) any such system must—

(aa) automatically detect faults in the proper functioning of the Stage II petrol vapour recovery system and in the automatic monitoring system itself,

(bb) indicate faults to the service station operator, and

(cc) automatically stop the flow of petrol from the faulty dispenser if the fault is not rectified within seven days,

(iii) a sign, sticker or other notification must be placed on or in the vicinity of the petrol dispenser informing consumers that a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system has been installed.”

(1)

1997 c. 8.