The Motor Fuel (Road Vehicle and Mobile Machinery) Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Regulations 2012

PART 2 The Motor Fuel Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirement

The Motor Fuel Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirement

4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the motor fuel greenhouse gas reporting requirement (“the GHG reporting requirement”) mentioned in paragraph (2) is imposed on every supplier of energy products for relevant use who in a reporting period owns such products at the time when the requirement to pay the duty of excise with which they are chargeable takes effect.

(2) The GHG reporting requirement is a requirement, for each reporting period, for the supplier to produce to the Administrator on or before the reporting deadline, or such later date as the Administrator may notify to the supplier for the purposes of this paragraph, information and evidence in accordance with regulations 13 and 15 in respect of all the energy products it supplied for relevant use during the reporting period.

(3) But the GHG reporting requirement does not apply to a supplier who, in a reporting period, supplies less than 450,000 litres of energy products for relevant use.

Determinations of amounts and greenhouse gas intensity of energy products for relevant use

5.—(1) Where it is shown that a person owns an amount of petrol, diesel fuel, low sulphur gas oil or renewable transport fuel at the time when the requirement to pay the duty of excise upon it takes effect, it is to be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, that that amount of fuel is supplied for relevant use.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy referable to an amount of renewable transport fuel are to be calculated as follows—

(a) where the fuel meets the sustainability criteria, by reducing the fossil fuel comparator by the applicable percentage, that percentage to be calculated in accordance with paragraph 3(3) of the Schedule to the RTFO Order;

(b) where a supplier does not submit a verifier’s assurance report under regulation 6, the emissions referable to the fuel are deemed to be equal to the fuel baseline standard; and

(c) where a supplier submits a verifier’s assurance report under regulation 6 but the fuel fails to meet the sustainability criteria, the greater of—

(i) the actual emissions per unit of energy calculated by reducing the fossil fuel comparator by the applicable percentage, that percentage to be calculated in accordance with paragraph 3(3) of the Schedule to the RTFO Order; and

(ii) a figure equal to the fuel baseline standard.

(3) In the case of partially renewable transport fuel—

(a) the calculations at paragraph (2) only apply to the percentage of the energy content of the fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks; and

(b) the remainder of the fuel is to be treated as if it were fossil fuel for these purposes.

(4) Save in respect of the percentage of the energy content of renewable transport fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks, the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy associated with all energy products are deemed to be equal to the fuel baseline standard.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—

(a) “petrol” has the same meaning as in Article 2(1) of the directive;

(b) “diesel fuel” has the same meaning as “diesel fuels” as defined in Article 2(2) of the directive; and

(c) “low sulphur gas oil” means any petroleum-derived liquid—

(i) which falls within CN codes 2710 19 41 and 2710 19 45; and

(ii) the sulphur content of which does not exceed the level specified in regulation 5B(1)(b) of the Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) Regulations 1999(1).

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (3), where the partially renewable transport fuel is—

(a) fatty-acid-methyl-ester, the percentage of the energy content of the fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks is deemed to be 100%;

(b) bio-ethyl-tertiary-butyl-ether, the percentage of the energy content of the fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks is deemed to be 37%;

(c) bio-methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether, the percentage of the energy content of the fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks is deemed to be 22%;

(d) bio-tertiary-amyl-ethyl-ether, the percentage of the energy content of the fuel which is attributable to relevant feedstocks is deemed to be 29%.

Verifier’s assurance report

6.—(1) Every supplier subject to the requirement imposed by regulation 4 in respect of a reporting period must submit to the Administrator a verifier’s assurance report in respect of the information or evidence provided to the Administrator in accordance with regulations 13 and 15 relating to that reporting period giving details of—

(a) the compliance of the renewable transport fuel supplied with the sustainability criteria; and

(b) the additional sustainability information in respect of that renewable transport fuel.

(2) The report referred to in paragraph (1) must be submitted to the Administrator on or before the reporting deadline or such later date as the Administrator may notify to the supplier for the purposes of this paragraph.

(3) But a verifier’s assurance report need not be submitted in respect of—

(a) any proportion of the renewable transport fuel supplied which the supplier accepts cannot be shown to comply with the sustainability criteria; and

(b) matters already confirmed by a verifier’s assurance report submitted to the Administrator under the RTFO Order.

(4) A verifier’s assurance report must—

(a) confirm that the assurance procedures used in the preparation of the report—

(i) met the requirements in respect of limited assurance engagements prescribed in ISAE 3000(2), or an equivalent standard; and

(ii) were undertaken by a person with appropriate expertise who is not the supplier or a connected person;

(b) be prepared by a person with appropriate expertise who is not the supplier or a connected person and in accordance with the requirements in respect of limited assurance engagements prescribed in ISAE 3000, or an equivalent standard;

(c) consider whether the relevant systems used to collate and report—

(i) information relating to the compliance of renewable transport fuel with the sustainability criteria; and

(ii) the additional sustainability information;

are likely to produce relevant data which is reasonably accurate and reliable and whether there are controls in place to help protect against material misstatements due to fraud or error;

(d) where the verifier intends to use as evidence work performed by the supplier or another party, consider the frequency and methodology of sampling used by that party and the robustness of the relevant data; and

(e) state whether anything has come to the verifier’s attention to indicate that—

(i) the relevant data has not been prepared in accordance with any guidance produced by the Administrator under regulation 16; and

(ii) the information or evidence provided by the supplier under regulation 4 is not accurate.

(5) In paragraph (4)—

(a) “connected person” means, in relation to a supplier, a person connected with the supplier within the meaning of section 1122 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010(3);

(b) “ISAE 3000” means the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 promulgated by the International Federation of Accountants;

(c) “relevant data” means—

(i) the information referred to in paragraph (4)(c); and

(ii) any other information or data on which that information is based;

(d) “relevant systems” means the systems by which the relevant data were produced;

(e) “sampling” means sampling for the purposes of obtaining or checking the relevant data.

(1)

S.I. 1999/3107. The Regulations were amended by S.I. 2001/3896, 2003/3078, 2007/1608, 2010/3035 and 2012/2567.

(2)

The International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 is set out from page 292 of Part II of the publication entitled “Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements” (2010 edition) (ISBN 978-1-60815-052-6) published by the International Federation of Accountants. Copies can be obtained from www.ifac.org.

(3)

2010 c.4.