German Gas Savings Plan (Germany)

Germany aims to cut energy use by 20% this winter. It’s government has this week adopted a set of immediate short-term and medium measures as a series of Ordinances. The measures amount to 2% to 2.5% gas savings, according to Robert Habeck, minister of economy and climate action. We will add the relevant Ordinances to systems as they are updated.

Although Germany is required to save around 15% as per EU rules, the government estimates that 20% of gas use must be cut to make it through the coming winter without a gas shortage.

The German Embassy has issued this image of some of the short-term energy-saving measures that came into force from yesterday (1 September) in Germany. The short term measures will last six months. The 2-year long medium term measures are planned for 1 October.

Energy White Paper (UK)

I Blog posted this morning re the UK ETS. Publication of the UK ETS (which was already provided for in Law) is contained in the Energy White Paper (published today).

The Energy White Paper (CP 337) “Powering our Net Zero Future” is here.

It is a long document (170 pages) with many promises for consultations and targets.

A few I have singled out –

(1) significant strengthening of the Energy Performance Certificates system with an EPC target of C for domestic buildings by 2035 (and B for rented non-domestic buildings by 2030). Since most domestic properties are D or below, this is huge and will necessitate new law. Involvement of mortgage lenders is also being consulted on.

(2) re the UK ETS no further detail is given (other than is set out in my blog post this morning)

(3) an Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy to be published in Spring 2021

(4) targeting 40GW offshore wind by 2030, including 1GW floating wind, plus growing the installation of electric heat pumps from 30,000 per year to 600,000 per year by 2028

(5) commitment to make the UK continental shelf a net zero basin by 2050. This will necessitate a new legal approach

(6) commitment to join the UK to the World Bank’s ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’

(7) a new strategy for the Oil & Gas Authority by end of 2020

(8) review of the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning

Ships Fuel Oil Sulphur (International)

From 1 January 2020, the limit for sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas is reduced to 0.50% m/m (mass by mass), down from 3.50% m/m (a limit that was in effect since 1st January 2012).

The rules governing this are the regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships (Annex VI) under the international MARPOL Convention. Annex VI seeks to control airborne emissions from ships (sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone depleting substances (ODS), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and shipboard incineration) and their contribution to local and global air pollution, human health issues and environmental problems.

The date of 1 January 2020 was set in the regulations adopted in 2008. However, a provision was adopted, requiring IMO to review the availability of low sulphur fuel oil for use by ships, to help Member States determine whether the new lower global limit on sulphur emissions from international shipping shall come into effect on 1 January 2020 or be deferred until 1 January 2025. IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 70), in October 2016, decided that the 0.50% limit should apply from 1 January 2020.

Further information is found in this useful IMO Q&A – here.

UK Temporary Import Tariff Regime (UK Brexit)

Exit day is 31st October (this date is in a Statutory Instrument)

Today (8th October) the UK republished it’s temporary Import Tariff Regime that will apply in a no-deal Brexit.

Here

[this Blog does not focus on Customs or VAT]

It is mostly unchanged from the March version. Three aspects have changes – affecting HGVs, bioethanol and clothing –

• lower tariffs on HGVs entering the UK market, striking a better balance between the needs of British producers and the SMEs that make up the UK haulage industry, ensuring that crucial fleet replacement programmes that help to lower carbon emissions can continue

• adjusted tariffs on bioethanol to retain support for UK producers, as the supply of this fuel is important to critical national infrastructure

• tariffs applied to additional clothing products to ensure the preferential access to the UK market currently available to developing countries (compared to other countries) is maintained.

Events today 13th March (UK Brexit, Chancellor’s Statement)

Today a number of key events occurred as follows :

(1) (time limited, no deal) UK customs tariffs were published – a Commons Research Paper gives further details – here. [NB : this Blog does not focus on customs tariffs]

(2) time limited (no deal) special arrangements for the international border on the island of Ireland were published – here.

* The UK government would not introduce any new checks or controls on goods at the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, including no customs requirements for nearly all goods.

* The UK temporary import tariff announced today would therefore not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland.

* The UK government would only apply a small number of measures strictly necessary to comply with international legal obligations, protect the biosecurity of the island of Ireland, or to avoid the highest risks to Northern Ireland businesses – but these measures would not require checks at the border.

(3) the UK Chancellor announced :

* Consultation on a new business energy efficiency scheme for SMEs – here.

* A review of the Aggregates Levy (put in place in 2002) – here.

* A call for evidence on the strengthening of the UK’s offshore oil and gas decommissioning industry – here.

Offshore oil and gas decommissioning industry – A call for evidence, as announced at Budget 2018, seeking to identify what more should be done to strengthen Scotland and the rest of the UK’s position as a global hub for safe, environmentally-friendly decommissioning that meets the Oil and Gas Authority’s ambitious cost reduction targets.

* A Review on the Economics of Biodiversity – A new global review, led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, to assess the economic value of biodiversity and to identify actions that will simultaneously enhance biodiversity and deliver economic prosperity. The review will report in 2020, ahead of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity in Beijing in October that year.

* Re Biodiversity and conservation in Overseas Territories – A call for evidence inviting creative ideas from stakeholders on how the government can safeguard the biodiversity found in the Overseas Territories.

* Red Diesel: Response to Call for Evidence – A summary of responses to the May 2018 call for evidence on red diesel and air quality.

* In the Environment Bill (so far we have only seen part of the Environment Bill) – mandate net gains for biodiversity on new developments in England to deliver an overall increase in biodiversity.

(4) the Government’s motion to rule out leaving the EU on 29th March 2019 without a Withdrawal Agreement and associated Political Declaration was amended to make it apply universally, and then agreed.

Tomorrow, a Government motion to seek consensus on a delay in the exit date to 30 June 2019 will be debated in Parliament. Note : any delay will require EU approval.

I will issue a new Blog post on the matter of the exit day, tomorrow.

Remember : in international and domestic law the exit day is 29th March 2019.

More Technical Notices (UK Brexit Preparedness)

The UK has today issued further Brexit Preparedness Notices. The existing online location is updated – here.

Please note particularly :

(1) CE marking – in the “Labelling products and making them safe” group

(2) Driving

(3) BAT standards – in the “Protecting the environment” group

(4) F-gases and ODS – in the “Protecting the environment” group

(5) The three Notices in the “Travelling between the UK and the EU” group

(6) Oil and gas activities – in the “Regulating energy” group

(7) European Works Councils in the “Workplace rights” group (already issued)

Any questions, please email me.

Hydraulic Fracturing (England & Wales)

The Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2016 are made 10th March 2016 and will come into force when section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998 (inserted by s.50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015) enters into force.

Section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998 sets out onshore hydraulic fracturing safeguards. In particular, it creates 11 pre-conditions that have to be complied with before the Secretary of State will issue a well consent authorising the drilling of a well for onshore hydraulic fracturing. In addition to the 11 pre-conditions, the Secretary of State must also be satisfied that it is appropriate to issue the well consent. 

The Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2016 define the terms “protected groundwater source areas” and “other protected areas” for the purposes of section 4A of the Petroleum Act 1998.

Section 50 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 inserts sections 4A and 4B into the Petroleum Act 1998. Section 4B sets out supplementary provisions applicable to section 4A, and is already in force (Infrastructure Act Commencement Order No. 4).

Conditions 5 and 6 (of the 11 conditions in section 4A) provide that associated hydraulic fracturing is not to take place in “protected groundwater source areas” or “other protected areas”. 

The 2016 Regulations are found here.

Section 50 of the Infrastructure Act is found here.

Energy Bill 2015-2016 (UK)

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2016!

I am waiting today for the second reading of the Energy Bill 2015-2016. Further blog posts will be at the end of January.

In the meantime, find here the summary of the Energy Bill as it returned to the Commons from the Lords, for this second reading.

The Energy Bill (when enacted) will:

1. Formally establish the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) as an independent regulator of the UK Oil and Gas industry, which will take the form of a government company, charged with (amongst other matters) the asset stewardship and regulation of domestic oil and gas recovery. 
2. Transfer the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change’s existing regulatory powers in respect of offshore oil and gas to the OGA. It will transfer the Secretary of Stateʹs existing regulatory powers in respect of onshore oil and gas in England to the OGA and in relation to onshore oil and gas in Scotland and Wales will respect the changing devolution position. The Secretary of State’s environmental regulatory functions in relation to oil and gas would not be transferred.
3. Give the OGA additional powers including: access to company meetings; data acquisition, retention and transfer; dispute resolution; and sanctions.
4. Introduce provisions in relation to charges for the offshore oil and gas environmental regulatorʹs services to the industry.
5. Make legislative changes to remove the need for the Secretary of State’s consent for large onshore wind farms (over 50 Mega Watt (MW)) under the Electricity Act 1989, acting in tandem with other measures to, in effect, transfer the consenting of onshore wind farms into the planning regime in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
6. Make an amendment to the Climate Change Act 2008 preventing, from 2028, the net UK carbon account being calculated taking into account carbon units derived from the European Union Emissions Trading System.

Within the Department of Energy and Climate Change (ʺDECCʺ), the offshore Oil and Gas Environment and Decommissioning Unit (ʺOGEDʺ) is the body responsible for environmental regulation functions relating to the offshore oil and gas industry on behalf of the Secretary of State. OGED has been charging fees annually to operators in the territorial sea and the UKCS (UK Continental Shelf) to cover the costs of its functions. OGED recently reviewed the current fees charged by the Secretary of State to ensure they were in line with current Treasury Guidance. As a result of this work, it became clear that whilst the majority of fees that were recovered were properly covered by fee schemes, there were elements that were not provided for by the current legislation. The Bill therefore validates those charges that have already been raised without authority. The Bill also provides that the Secretary of State can charge a fee in future for two sets of functions.

The UK Government made a manifesto commitment to decentralise decision making on new onshore wind farms. Ministers have said that onshore wind energy development should only get the go‐ahead if supported by local people (Written Ministerial Statement). DECC is implementing measures, including through the Energy Bill, to help fulfil the commitment by removing the requirements for a consent from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in relation to the construction, extension or operation of onshore wind farms with a capacity greater than 50MW. In future, local authorities (or potentially the Welsh Ministers in the case of Wales) will be the primary decision‐makers for all onshore wind projects including those with a capacity greater than 50MW.

Infrastructure Act 2015 (England and Wales)

I posted earlier about the passage of the Infrastructure Act through the various stages of law-making. It is now law, and found here.

Non- Native and Invasive Species

Part 4, sections 23 to 25, insert new controls into the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) to provide for species control orders and agreements, and powers of entry, applicable in England and Wales.

Hydraulic Fracturing

Section 43 sets out the right to use deep-level land (land below 300 metres) for the purposes of petroleum extraction and geothermal energy.

Section 44 qualifies this right and details the ways and purposes for which this right may be exercised. Note: Section 44(3) enables the land to be left in a different condition after use, including in respect of any infrastructure on or any chemical residue in the land.

Sections 43 and 44 bind the Crown.

Section 50 inserts new Sections 4A and 4B into the Petroleum Act 1998 (as amended) to provide for specific environmental safeguards in respect of onshore hydraulic fracturing. 

New Section 4B(4) (of the Petroleum Act) stipulates that regulations made by statutory instrument will specify—

(a) the descriptions of the areas that will be “protected groundwater source areas”, and

(b) the descriptions of the areas that will be “other protected areas” for the purposes of section 4A

(a) and (b) are line items 5 and 6 of the Column 1 conditions that must be satisfied before a well consent may be granted as an onshore licence under the Petroleum Act in England and Wales).

New Section 4B(5) (of the Petroleum Act) stipulates that the statutory instrument which contains the regulations under Section 4B subsection (4) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

New Section 4B(6) stipulates that the draft of the first such regulations must be laid before each House of Parliament on or before 31 July 2015.

Please note, the Infrastructure Act does not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Please see the Scottish Government announcement on hydraulic fracturing in Scotland made 28th January – here.

The Infrastructure Act and the changes to existing Laws will be inserted into Cardinal EHS Legislation Registers – which contain Consolidated Law – available to subscribers.

MARPOL Annex VI: Fuel Oil Sulphur

From 1st January 2015, the sulphur content in ships’ fuel must be below 0.1 % in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA).

Background

International regulations for pollution from ships are contained in the IMO “International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships”, known as MARPOL 73/78. On 27 September 1997, the MARPOL Convention was amended by the “1997 Protocol” which includes Annex VI titled “Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships”. In particular, Annex VI regulates emission of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. Annex VI entered into force on 19th May 2005 and in October 2008 the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted a set of amendments to Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention.

The set of amendments to Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention introduces new standards for emission from ships of sulphur oxides (SOx), particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The most stringent changes relate to SOx emission.

Reduction of SOx and particulate matter emission is achieved by limiting the maximum sulphur content of the fuel oils used onboard.

Two sets of emission and fuel quality requirements are defined by Annex VI: (1) global requirements, and (2) more stringent requirements applicable to ships in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA).

On the global level, the sulphur cap is reduced initially to 3.50% (from the current 4.50%), effective from 1st January 2012; then progressively to 0.50 %, effective from 1st January 2020 (or in 2025 at the latest), subject to a feasibility review to be completed no later than 2018.

For SECA, the requirements are – from 1st July 2010, the maximum sulphur limit is reduced to 1.00%, (from 1.50%), while from 1st January 2015, sulphur content in ships’ fuel must be below 0.1 %.

Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA)

Currently, four regions are identified as Sulphur Emission Control Areas. NB: an Emission Control Area can be designated not only for SOx and particulate matter (PM) emission but also for NOx emission, or all three types of emissions from ships. These SECA are:

1. Baltic Sea area – as defined in Annex I of MARPOL (SOx only);

2. North Sea area – as defined in Annex V of MARPOL (SOx only);

3. North American area – as defined in Appendix VII of Annex VI of MARPOL (SOx, NOx and PM); and

4. United States Caribbean Sea area – as defined in Appendix VII of Annex VI of MARPOL (SOx, NOx and PM).