Phase III of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) covers the period from 2013 to 2020 and affects large industrial emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In Ireland, ETS participants are obliged to monitor their emissions and report them to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) each year. This obligation is set out as a condition in each participant's GHG emissions permit. The permit also sets out specific deadlines for different actions, declarations and reports that must be completed by operators.
|
Actions required by operators |
Deadline |
|---|---|
|
Capacity / activity level change report |
31 December |
|
Declaration of operability |
21 January |
|
Verified annual emissions report |
31 March |
|
Surrender of allowances |
30 April |
|
Improvement report |
30 June |
Capacity / activity level change report
Operators that received a free allocation of emission allowances at the start of phase III of the EU ETS are required to carry out regular reviews to identify changes to capacity or activity level at their installations. Any change that impacts on the installation’s entitlement to a free allocation must be reported to the EPA by 31 December each year. The report must notify the EPA whether or not the installation ceased operations or if there was a physical change at the installation that significantly increased or decreased production capacity.
Declaration of operability
All operators are required to complete a declaration of operability each year and submit it to the EPA by 21 January. The declaration confirms whether or not the permitted activity was carried out at the installation during the previous year. The declaration of operability must be signed, dated and include a company stamp. The EPA may also require a site visit by a verifier as proof that the installation was operational.
Verified emissions report
All operators are required to report on their annual emissions for the previous year by 31 March. Emissions calculations must be checked by an accredited verifier and the calculated emissions figure must also be entered on the Union Registry by the 31 March. The verified emissions report may include recommendations for improving the monitoring and reporting of emissions at an installation or identify non-conformities that must be addressed.
Surrender of allowances
Operators must surrender emission allowances matching the verified annual emissions that they entered on the Union Registry by the 30 April each year. Any operator that fails to surrender sufficient emissions allowances by the deadline may be required to pay a penalty of €100 per tonne of CO2 emitted.
Improvement report
An improvement report must be submitted to the EPA where the operator’s verified emissions report identifies non-conformities, misstatements or where it includes recommendations for improving the monitoring and reporting of emissions. The improvement report must set out how the operator will rectify the non-conformities and how any recommended improvements will be addressed. The report must be submitted to the EPA by 30 June. Installations that are classified as low emitters are exempt from submitting an improvement report if their verified emissions report includes recommended improvements only i.e. where it does not identify non-conformities.