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Environment Protection Act (Cap. 435) Control Of Volatile Organic Compound-Voc Emissions (Storage And Distribution Of Petrol From Terminals To Service Stations) Regulations, 2009 (Ln 54 Of 2009 )

VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA

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BY virtue of the powers conferred by articles 3, 9 and 28 of the Environment Protection Act, the Prime Minister has made the following regulations:-

“approved auditor” means an auditor which has been approved by the Competent Authorities and by the Malta Standards Authority, who holds a warrant to practice the profession of an engineer under the Engineering Profession Act or the equivalent professional qualification as provided under the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications Act, who has suitable training, sufficient knowledge and experience and capability as approved by the competent Authorities to certify that terminals, service stations and road tankers are compliant with the standards set by the relevant technical Schedules of these regulations, and who is duly registered with the joint competent authorities;
“existing petrol storage installations, loading installations, service stations and mobile containers” means such installations, service stations and mobile containers which were granted development planning consent before the 30 June 2012;
“gantry” means any structure at a terminal at which petrol
can be loaded on to a single road tanker at any one time;
“hydrocarbon capture efficiency” means the fraction of petrol vapour captured by the Stage II petrol vapour recovery system compared to the amount of petrol vapour that would

Citation.

Definitions and scope.

Cap. 321. Cap. 451.

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otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere in the absence of such a system and expressed as a percentage;
“intermediate storage of vapours” means the intermediate storage of vapours in a fixed roof tank at a terminal for later transfer to and recovery at another terminal. The transfer of vapours from one storage installation to another at a terminal shall not be considered as intermediate storage of vapour within the meaning of these regulations;
“loading installation” means any facility at a terminal at which petrol can be loaded onto mobile containers. Loading installations for road tankers shall comprise one or more
‘gantries’;
“mobile container” means any tank transported by road, rail or waterways used for the transfer of petrol from one terminal to another or from terminal to a service station;
“new petrol storage installations, loading installations, service stations and mobile containers” means such installations, service stations and mobile containers which were granted development planning consent after the 30 June 2012;
“petrol” means any petroleum derivative, with or without additives, having a Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) of 27.6 kilopascals or more, which is intended for use as a fuel for motor vehicles with the exception of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG);
“Stage II petrol vapour recovery system” means equipment aimed at recovering the petrol vapour displaced from the fuel tank of a motor vehicle during refilling at a service station and which transfers petrol to an underground storage tank at the service station or back to the petrol dispenser for resale;
“storage installation” means any stationary tank at a
terminal used for the storage of petrol;
“target reference value” means the guideline given for the overall assessment of the adequacy of technical measures in the Schedules and is not a limit value against which the performance of individual installations, terminals and service stations will be measured;

“terminal” means any facility which is used for the storage and loading of petrol onto road tankers, rail tankers, or vessels, including all storage installations on the site of the facility;
“the competent authority” means the Environment Protection Directorate within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority;
“throughput” means the largest total annual quantity of petrol loaded from a storage installation at a terminal or from a mobile containers into a service station during the three preceding years;
“vapour recovery unit” means equipment for the recovery of petrol from vapours including any buffer systems at a terminal;
“vapour” means any gaseous compound which evaporates from petrol;
“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;
“vessel” means an inland waterway vessel as defined in
Chapter 1 of Council Directive 82/714/EEC of 04th October,
1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels.
(2) These regulations transpose European Parliament and Council Directive 94/63/EC of 20 December 1994 on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations.
(3) These regulations apply to the operations, installations, vehicles and vessels used for storage, loading and transport of petrol from one terminal to another or from a terminal to a service station.

Authority the information listed in Schedule I, part A.
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Requirements for terminals.

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(2) Terminals shall not be allowed to store, load and unload petrol in Malta, unless they are in possession of a permit from the Competent Authority.
(3) The Competent Authority shall not grant a permit to store, load and unload petrol unless an approved auditor certifies that:-
(a) the storage installations at these terminals operate in accordance with the technical provisions of Schedule IV, in order to reduce the total annual loss of petrol from the storage installations of the terminal to below the target reference value of 0.01% mass by mass (m/m) of the throughput.
(b) loading and unloading equipment at terminals is designed and operated according to the technical provisions of Schedule V, in order to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading and unloading of mobile containers at terminals to below the target reference value of 0.005% mass by mass (m/m) of the throughput.
(c) all road tanker loading gantries at the terminal meet
the technical provisions of Schedule VIII.
(3) In order to calculate the mass of petrol lost from the storage installation at the terminal the procedure outlined by Schedule II part C shall be used.
(4) In order to calculate the mass of petrol lost from the loading and unloading of mobile containers at the terminal the procedure outlined by the relevant parts of Schedule II part B shall be used and wherever relevant reference shall be made to Schedule III.
(5) Sub-regulations (3)(b) and (c) are not applicable to existing terminals with a throughput less than 10,000 tons per year.
(6) Mobile containers shall not be loaded with petrol at any terminal unless the containers have been registered with the Competent Authority.
(7) The operator is required to monitor continuously the mean concentration of vapours in the exhaust from the vapour recovery unit according to the method established by the following standard MSA EN 12619:2000.

(8) The concentration of VOCs (corrected for dilution during treatment) in the exhaust from the vapour recovery unit shall not exceed the hourly average of 35 g/Nm3.

(2) The Competent Authority shall refuse to register mobile containers unless an approved auditor certifies that the mobile container is:
(a) compliant with the technical provisions of Schedule
VII; and
(b) vapour tight and that the mobile container’s vacuum or pressure valves are vapour tight.
(3) If after unloading of petrol the mobile container is subsequently used for products other than petrol, in so far as vapour recovery or intermediate storage of vapours is not possible, ventilation may, after consultation with and permission from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, be allowed in a geographical area where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems.
(4) The provisions of sub-regulation (1) shall not apply to losses of vapours resulting from measuring options using dipsticks in relation to:
(a) existing mobile containers; and
(b) new mobile containers which came into operation from
31 December 1995 to the 31 December 1999;

Authority the information listed in Schedule I, part B.
(2) Service stations shall not load petrol into their storage installations unless they have been registered with the Competent Authority.
(3) The Competent Authority shall refuse to register: (a) all service stations unless an approved auditor
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Requirements for mobile containers.

Requirements for service stations.

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certifies that loading and storage equipment at the service station is designed and operated in accordance with the technical provisions of Schedule VI, part A.
This provision is designed to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading into storage installations at service stations to below the target reference value of 0.01% of the throughput mass by mass (m/m).
(b) all service stations unless an approved auditor certifies that the service station is compliant with the technical provisions of Schedule VI part B.
to:
(4) The provisions of sub-regulation 3(b) shall apply
(a) ‘new’ service stations if their throughput exceeds
500 m3 per annum;
(b) ‘new’service stations irrespective of their throughput
if they are situated under living quarters or in working areas;
(c) ‘existing’ service stations if they have a throughput exceeding 500m3 and if they undergo a major refurbishment after the 30 June 2012.
(d) ‘existing’ service stations having a throughput exceeding 3000 m3 by the 31 December 2020.
(5) In order to calculate the mass of petrol lost from the storage installation at the service station the procedure outlined by Schedule II, part A shall be used.
(6) Mobile containers shall not be allowed to unload petrol into the storage installations at any service station unless they have been registered with the Competent Authority.
(7) The provisions of sub-regulations (1), (3) and (5) are not applicable to service stations with a throughput less than 100 m3/year.

Responsibility for enforcement.

(a) he fails to comply with any order lawfully given in terms of any provision of these regulations; or
(b) he contravenes any restriction, prohibition or requirement imposed by or under these regulations; or
(c) he conspires, attempts, aids, or abets, any other person by whatever means, including advertising, counselling or procurement to contravene the provisions of these regulations or to fail to comply with any such provisions, including any order lawfully given in terms of any of the provision of these regulations, or to contravene any restriction, prohibition or requirement imposed by or under the said regulations.

(a) on a first conviction to a fine (multa) of not less than one thousand two hundred euro (€1,200) but not exceeding two thousand three hundred euro (€2,300);
(b) on a second or subsequent convictions, to a fine (multa) of not less than two thousand three hundred euro (€2,300), but not exceeding eleven thousand six hundred euro (€11,600) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and imprisonment:
Provided that whenever any person is found guilty of committing an offence under these regulations by means of a vehicle, the owner of the said vehicle, where applicable, is held liable in the same manner and degree:
Provided further that the court shall order any person who has been found guilty of committing an offence against these regulations to pay for the expenses incurred by the public entities and, or other persons acting on their behalf involved in the implementation of these regulations and restitution of the environment as a result of the said offence, the revocation of any permit issued by the Competent Authority and the confiscation of the corpus delicti.
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Offences under these regulations.

Penalties.

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Applicability of the

Criminal Code. Cap. 9.

Repeals L.N. 214 of

2001.

9. (1) The provisions of article 23 and subarticle (1) of article 30 of the Criminal Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to proceedings, in respect of offences against these regulations, so that the disqualification from holding or obtain a licence, permit or authority shall in no case be for less than one year.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 370 of the Criminal Code, proceedings for an offence against these regulations shall be taken before the Court of Magistrates (Malta) or the Court of Magistrates (Gozo), as the case may be, and shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code regulating the procedure before the said courts as courts of criminal judicature.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Code, the Attorney General shall always have a right of appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal from any judgement given by the Court of Magistrates (Malta) or the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) in respect of proceedings for any offence against these regulations.

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