Regulation 4(5)
1. An operator of an existing plant, new plant or other combustion plant who wishes to operate that plant under an exception in regulation 4(2) may apply to the local authority in whose area that plant is situated for a sulphur content of liquid fuels permit if the operation of that plant does not require—
(a) an authorisation under Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; or
(b) a permit under regulations made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999.
2. An application under paragraph 1 shall be in writing, accompanied by any fee prescribed in respect of the application under section 8 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and shall contain—
(a) the name and address of the applicant and any other address to which correspondence should be sent and the applicant’s telephone number;
(b) the address of the site of the combustion plant, the rated thermal input (in megawatts) and the fuel used in the plant; and
(c) the condition which the applicant wishes to be included in the permit, being a condition referred to in regulation 4(2).
3. An applicant may withdraw his application at any time before it is determined.
4. A local authority which receives a duly made application under paragraph 1 shall grant a sulphur content of liquid fuels permit subject to the condition identified in the application.
5. A sulphur content of liquid fuels permit may be transferred by the holder of the permit to a person who intends to operate the plant to which the permit relates in place of the holder.
6. The person to whom a sulphur content of liquid fuels permit is so transferred shall—
(a) notify the transfer in writing to the local authority which granted the permit; and
(b) do so within 21 days of the date of the transfer.
7. The holder of a sulphur content of liquid fuels permit may surrender it to the local authority which granted it and such a surrender—
(a) shall be notified in writing to the local authority within 21 days of the date of the intended surrender; and
(b) where duly notified shall take effect on the surrender date stated in the notification.
8. In this Schedule “local authority” means—
(a) in Greater London, a London borough council;
(b) in England outside Greater London, a district council or, in relation to an area for which there is a county council but no district council, the county council, and the Council of the Isles of Scilly; and
(c) in Wales, a county council or county borough council.
9. Section 8 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 shall apply for the purpose of prescribing a fee in respect of an application under paragraph 1 as it applies for the purpose of prescribing a fee in respect of an application for an authorisation under Part I of that Act.
Regulation 6(4)
1. The reference method adopted for determining the sulphur content of fuels sampled pursuant to regulation 6(1) shall he defined by—
(a) ISO method 8754 (1992) and PrEN ISO 14596 for heavy fuel oil(12);
(b) EN method 24260 (1987), ISO 8754 (1992) and PrEN ISO 14596 for gas oil(13).
2. The arbitration method shall be PrEN ISO 14596.
3. The statistical interpretation of the verification of the sulphur content of the gas oils used shall be carried out in accordance with ISO standard 4259 (1992)(14).
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations implement, in England and Wales, matters concerning heavy fuel oil (except marine fuels) contained in Council Directive 1999/32/EC (OJ L 121, 11.5.1999, p.13 as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p.1)) relating to a reduction in the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and amending Directive 93/12/EEC as amended by Directive 2005/33/EC (OJ L 191, 22.7.2005, p.59) of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels.
Regulation 3 sets out those matters outside the scope of these Regulations.
Regulation 4 provides, subject to exceptions, that no person shall use any heavy fuel oil which has a sulphur content exceeding 1 per cent by mass.
Regulation 5 provides that no person shall use gas oil with a sulphur content exceeding 0.2 percent by mass and, on or after 1st January 2008, with a sulphur content exceeding 0.1 percent by mass.
Regulation 6 provides that the Secretary of State shall take all necessary measures to ensure that sampling of heavy fuel oil and gas oil is carried out. The Secretary of State must also check that the use of those fuels complies with the restrictions in regulations 4 and 5.
Regulation 7 provides that it is an offence to contravene the restrictions on heavy fuel oil and gas oil in regulations 4 and 5.
Under regulation 8, the Sulphur Content of Liquid Fuels (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 (S.I 2000/1460) are revoked with a saving in respect of applications for permissions submitted under those Regulations.
Schedule 1 provides for a local authority to grant permits to enable an operator of a combustion plant (who would not otherwise require a permit to operate the plant) to be exempt from the restriction on the use of heavy fuel oil in regulation 4.
Schedule 2 sets out technical requirements for the analysis of samples taken under regulation 6.
A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. A transposition note is available from AEQ Division, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zone 7/E14, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE and at www.defra.gov.uk. Copies have been placed in the library of each House of Parliament.
Copies of the British Standards publications referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from any of the outlets operated by the British Standards Institution, or by post from the British Standards Institution at Standards House, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL. The Integrated Customs Tariff of the United Kingdom, which sets out the CN codes used in the definitions of “gas oil” and “heavy fuel oil”, are published by HMSO and available from HMSO Bookshops. The 1999 Annual Book of ASTM Standards is available from the American Society for Testing and Materials, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428, USA.
ISO method 8754 (1992) is described in the British Standard entitled, “Petroleum Products-Determination of Sulphur content-Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence methods”, published under the numbers BS EN ISO 8754:1995 and ISO 8754:1992, which came into effect on 31st July 1995. PrEN ISO 14596 is described in the British Standard entitled, “Petroleum Products-Determination of Sulphur content-Wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry”, published under the numbers BS EN ISO 14596:1998 and ISO 14596:1998, which came into effect on 15th December 1998. Back [12]
EN method 24260 (1987) is described in the British Standard entitled, “Petroleum Products and Hydrocarbons-Determination of Sulphur Content-Wickbold combustion method”, published under the numbers BS EN 24260:1994 and ISO 4260:1987, which came into effect on 30th September 1994. Back [13]
Described in the British Standard entitled, “Petroleum Products-Determination and Application of precision data in relation to methods of test”, published under the numbers BS EN ISO 4259:1996 and ISO 4259:1992, which came into effect on 15th February 1996. Back [14]