S.I. No. 232/2018 - European Union (National Emission Ceilings) Regulations 2018

1. Where an adjustment to the national emission inventory is proposed in accordance with Regulation 5(1), the proposal to the European Commission shall include, at least, the following supporting documentation

(

a

) evidence that the concerned national emission reduction commitment/s is/are exceeded;

(

b

) evidence of the extent to which the adjustment to the emission inventory reduces the exceedance and contributes to compliance with the concerned national emission reduction commitment/s;

(

c

) an estimation of whether and when the concerned national emission reduction commitment/s is/are expected to be attained based on national emission projections without the adjustment;

(

d

) evidence that the adjustment is consistent with one or several of the following three circumstances. Reference can be made, as appropriate, to relevant previous adjustments

(i) in the case of new emission source categories

— evidence that the new emission source category is acknowledged in scientific literature and/or the EMEP/ EEA Guidebook;

— evidence that this source category was not included in the relevant historic national emission inventory at the time when the emission reduction commitment was set;

— evidence that emissions from a new source category contribute to the State being unable to meet its emission reduction commitments, supported by a detailed description of the methodology, data and emission factors used to arrive at that conclusion;

(ii) in the case of significantly different emission factors used for determining emissions from specific source categories

— a description of the original emission factors, including a detailed description of the scientific basis upon which the emission factor was derived;

— evidence that the original emission factors were used for determining the emission reductions at the time when they were set;

— a description of the updated emission factors, including detailed information on the scientific basis upon which the emission factor was derived;

— a comparison of emission estimates made using the original and the updated emission factors, demonstrating that the change in emission factors contributes to the State being unable to meet its reduction commitments;

— the rationale for deciding whether the changes in emission factors are significant;

(iii) in the case of significantly different methodologies used for determining emissions from specific source categories

— a description of the original methodology used, including detailed information on the scientific basis upon which the emission factor was derived;

— evidence that the original methodology was used for determining the emission reductions at the time when they were set;

— a description of the updated methodology used, including a detailed description of the scientific basis or reference upon which it has been derived;

— a comparison of emission estimates made using the original and updated methodologies demonstrating that the change in methodology contributes to the State being unable to meet its reduction commitment;

— the rationale for deciding whether the change in methodology is significant.

2. The same supporting information for adjustment procedures based on similar preconditions can be submitted.

3. Adjusted emissions shall be recalculated to ensure consistency, to the extent possible, of the time series for every year that the adjustment/s is/are applied.

SCHEDULE 5

OPTIONAL INDICATORS FOR MONITORING AIR POLLUTION IMPACTS REFERRED TO IN REGULATION 8

(

a

) for freshwater ecosystems: establishing the extent of biological damage, including sensitive receptors (microphytes, macrophytes and diatoms), and loss of fish stock or invertebrates

the key indicator acid neutralising capacity (ANC) and the supporting indicators acidity (pH), dissolved sulphate (SO4), nitrate (NO3) and dissolved organic carbon

frequency of sampling: from yearly (in lake autumn turnover) to monthly (streams).

(

b

) for terrestrial ecosystems: assessing the soil acidity, soil nutrients loss, nitrogen status and balance as well as biodiversity loss

(i) the key indicator soil acidity: exchangeable fractions of base cations (base saturation) and exchangeable aluminium in soils

frequency of sampling: every 10 years;

supporting indicators: pH, sulphate, nitrate, base cations, aluminium concentrations in soil solution

frequency of sampling: every year (where relevant);

(ii) the key indicator soil nitrate leaching (NO3,leach)

frequency of sampling: every year;

(iii) the key indicator carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N) and the supporting indicator of total nitrogen in soil (Ntot)

frequency of sampling: every 10 years;

(iv) the key indicator nutrient balance in foliage (N/P,N/K, N/Mg)

frequency of sampling: every four years.

(

c

) for terrestrial ecosystems: assessing ozone damage to vegetation growth and biodiversity

(i) the key indicator vegetation growth and foliar damage and the supporting indicator carbon flux (Cflux)

frequency of sampling: every year;

(ii) the key indicator exceedance of flux-based critical levels

frequency of sampling: every year during the growing season.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

29 June 2018.

DENIS NAUGHTEN,

Minister for Communications, Climate Action andEnvironment.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations transpose Directive 2016/2284/EU of the European Parliament and the Council relating to national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants.

The Regulations provide that the EPA shall prepare an annual inventory report of emissions of 5 specified pollutants (sulphur dioxide (SO

2

), nitrogen oxides (NO

x

), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), ammonia (NH

3

), and fine particulate matter (PM

2.5

)), and in certain years a report on projections of emissions.

The Regulations require the Minister to ensure that emissions of the specified pollutants are limited in accordance with the ceilings set out in Schedule 2. The Regulations also require the preparation of a national air pollution control programme, and the establishment of a network to monitor the negative impacts of air pollution.

1 OJ L 344, 17.12.2016, p. 1-31

2 OJ L156, 25.06.2003, p 17-24

3 OJ L 309, 27.11.2001, p. 22–30

4. Emissions from road transport shall be calculated and reported on the basis of the fuels sold in the State. Emissions from road transport based on fuels used or kilometres driven in the State may also be reported.

5. Annual national emissions shall be reported expressed in the applicable unit specified in the NFR reporting template of the LRTAP Convention.

PART 2

National emission projections

6. (1) The Minister, following consultation with such other Minister of the Government as he or she considers appropriate, shall draw up, adopt and implement a National Air Pollution Control Programme in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 3 in order to limit anthropogenic emissions in accordance with Regulation 4.

(2) When drawing up, adopting and implementing the programme referred to in paragraph (1), the Minister shall

(

a

) assess to what extent national emission sources are likely to have an impact on air quality in Ireland and neighbouring Member States using, where appropriate, data and methodologies developed by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) under the Protocol to the LRTAP Convention on long-term financing of the cooperative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe;

(

b

) take account of the need to reduce air pollutant emissions for the purpose of reaching compliance with air quality objectives in Ireland and, where appropriate, in neighbouring Member States;

(

c

) prioritise emission reduction measures for black carbon when taking measures to achieve national reduction commitments for fine particulate matter; and

(

d

) ensure coherence with other relevant plans and programmes established under source-based air pollution control legislation.

(3) The National Air Pollution Control Programme shall include the emission reduction measures laid down as obligatory in Part 2 of Schedule 3 and may include in those programmes the emission reduction measures laid down as optional in Part 2 of Schedule 3 or measures having equivalent mitigation effect.

(4) The Minister, following consultation with such other Minister of the Government as he or she considers appropriate, shall update the national air pollution control programme at least every four years.

(5) Without prejudice to Regulation 4, the emission reduction policies and measures contained in the National Air Pollution Control Programme shall be updated within 18 months of the submission of the latest national emission inventory or national emission projections if, according to the submitted data, the obligations set out in Regulation 4 are not complied with or if there is a risk of non-compliance.

(6) The Minister shall consult the public, in accordance with Directive 2003/35/EC, and such competent authorities as he considers appropriate, which, by reason of their specific environmental responsibilities in the field of air pollution, quality and management at all levels, are likely to be concerned by the implementation of the national air pollution control programmes, on the draft national air pollution control programmes and any significant updates prior to the finalisation of that programme.

(7) Where appropriate, transboundary consultations shall be conducted.

National emission inventories, projections and informative inventory reports

7. (1)(

a

) The Agency shall prepare and annually update national emission inventories for the pollutants set out in Table A of Schedule 1, in accordance with the requirements set out therein.

(

b

) The Agency may prepare and annually update national emission inventories for the pollutants set out in Table B of Schedule 1, in accordance with the requirements set out therein.

(2) The Agency shall prepare and update every four years spatially disaggregated national emission inventories and large point source inventories and, every two years, national emission projections for the pollutants set out in Table C of Schedule 1, in accordance with the requirements set out therein.

(3) The Agency shall draw up an informative inventory report which shall accompany the national emission inventories and projections referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, in accordance with the requirements set out in Table D of Schedule 1.

(4) Where a flexibility under Regulation 5 is being applied, the informative inventory report of the year concerned shall include the information demonstrating that the use of that flexibility fulfils the relevant conditions set out in Regulation 5(1) and Part 4 of Schedule 4 or in Regulation 5(2), (3) or (4), where applicable.

(5) The Agency shall prepare and update the national emission inventories (including if appropriate adjusted national emission inventories), national emission projections, spatially disaggregated national emission inventories, large point source inventories and the accompanying informative inventory reports in accordance with Schedule 4.

Monitoring air pollution impacts

8. (1)(

a

) The Minister shall ensure the monitoring of negative impacts of air pollution upon ecosystems based on a network of monitoring sites that is representative of Ireland's freshwater, natural and semi-natural habitats and forest ecosystem types, taking a cost-effective and risk-based approach.

(

b

) In fulfilling the requirements of sub-paragraph (

b

) the Minister shall ensure coordination with other monitoring programmes established pursuant to Union legislation including Directive 2008/50/EC, Directive 2000/60/EC and Council Directive 92/43/EEC and, if appropriate, the LRTAP Convention and, where appropriate, make use of data collected under those programmes.

(

c

) The Minister may use the optional monitoring indicators listed in Schedule 5.

(2) The Agency may use the methodologies laid down in the LRTAP Convention and its Manuals for the International Cooperative Programmes when collecting and reporting the information listed in Schedule 5.

Reporting

9. (1)(

a

) The first National Air Pollution Control Programme drawn up in accordance with Regulation 6(1) shall be communicated to the European Commission by 1 April 2019.

(

b

) Where a National Air Pollution Control Programme is updated in accordance with Regulation 6(5), the updated programme shall be communicated to the European Commission within two months.

(2)(

a

) The Agency shall provide the national emission inventories and projections, spatially disaggregated national emission inventories, large point source inventories and the informative inventory reports referred to in Regulation 7(1), (2) and (3) and, where relevant, in Regulation 7(4), to the European Commission and to the European Environment Agency in accordance with the reporting dates set out in Schedule 1.

(

b

) The reporting undertaken in accordance with subparagraph (2)(

a

) shall be consistent with the reporting to the Secretariat of the LRTAP Convention.

(3) The Minister shall report the following information referred to in Regulation 8 to the European Commission and the European Environment Agency

(

a

) by 1 July 2018 and every four years thereafter, the location of the monitoring sites and the associated indicators used for monitoring air pollution impacts; and

(

b

) by 1 July 2019 and every four years thereafter, the monitoring data referred to in Regulation 8.

Access to Information

10. (1) The Minister shall, in compliance with Directive 2003/4/EC, ensure the active and systematic dissemination to the public of the National Air Pollution Control Programmes and any updates, by publishing them on a publicly accessible website.

(2) The Agency shall, in compliance with Directive 2003/4/EC, ensure the active and systematic dissemination to the public of the national emission inventories (including, where applicable, the adjusted national emission inventories), the national emission projections, the informative inventory reports and additional reports and information provided to the European Commission in accordance with Regulation 9, by publishing them on a publicly accessible website.

Revocations

11. (1) Regulations 7, 8, 9 and 10 of The European Communities (National Emission Ceilings) Regulations 2004 (

S.I. No. 10 of 2004

) are revoked with effect from 1 July 2018.

(2) The European Communities (National Emission Ceilings) Regulations 2004 (

S.I. No 10 of 2004

) and the European Communities (National Emissions Ceiling) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (

S.I. No. 303 of 2012

) are revoked with effect from 31 December 2019.

SCHEDULE 1

MONITORING AND REPORTING OF ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS

Table A

Annual emission reporting requirements as referred to in the first subparagraph of Regulation 7(1)

Element

Pollutants

Time series

Reporting dates

Total national emissions by NFR (1) source category (2)

-SO

2

, NO

x

, NMVOC, NH

3

, CO- heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) (3)- POPs (4) (total PAHs (5), benzo(a) pyrene, benzo(b) fluoranthene, benzo(k) fluoranthene, indeno (1,2,3-cd) pyrene, dioxins/furans, PCBs (6), HCB (7))

Annual from 1990 to reporting year minus (X-2)

15 February (9)

Total national emissions by NFR source category (2)

PM

2.5

, PM

10

(8) and, if available, BC

Annual, from 2000 to reporting year minus 2 (X-2)

15 February (9)

(1) nomenclature reporting (NFR) as provided by the LRTAP Convention.(2) natural emissions shall be reported in accordance with the methodologies laid down in the LRTAP Convention and the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook. They shall not be included in national totals and shall be reported separately.(3) Cd (cadmium), Hg (mercury), Pb (lead).(4) POPs (persistent organic pollutants).(5) PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).(6) PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls).(7) HCB (hexachlorobenzene).(8) ‘PM

10

’means particles with an aerodynamic diameter equal to or less than 10 micrometres (µm).(9) re-submissions due to errors shall be provided within four weeks at the latest and shall include a clear explanation of the changes made.

Table B

Annual emission reporting requirements as referred to in the second subparagraph of Regulation 7(1)

Element

Pollutants

Time Series

Reporting date

Total national emissions by NFR source category (1)

-heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Se and Zn and their compounds) (2)-TSP (3)

Annual, from 1990 (2000 for TSP,) to reporting year minus 2 (X-2)

15 February

(1) natural emissions shall be reported in accordance with the methodologies laid down in the LRTAP convention and the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook. They shall not be included in national totals and shall be reported separately.(2) As (arsenic), Cr (chromium), Cu (copper), Se (selenium), Zn (zinc).(3) TSP (total suspended particles).

Table C

Reporting requirements on emissions and projections as referred to in Regulation 7(2)

Element

Pollutants

Time series/target years

Reporting dates

National gridded data of emissions by source category (GNFR)

-SO

2

, NO

x

, NMVOC, CO, NH

3

, PM

10

, PM

2.5

-heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb)-POPs (total PAHs, HCB, PCBs, dioxins/furans)-BC (if available)

Every four years for reporting year minus 2 (X-2) as from 2017

1 May (1)

Large Point Sources (LPS) by source category (GNFR)

-SO

2

, NO

x

, NMVOC, CO, NH

3

, PM

10

, PM

2.5

-heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb)-POPs (total PAHs, HCB, PCBs, dioxins/furans)-BC (if available)

Every four years for reporting year minus 2 (X-2) as from 2017

1 May (1)

Projected emissions by aggregated NFR

-SO

2

, NO

x

, NH

3

, NMVOC, PM

2.5

and if available, BC

Biennial, covering projection years 2020, 2025, 2030 and, where available, 2040 and 2050as from 2017

15 March

(1) re-submissions due to errors shall be provided within four weeks and include a clear explanation of the changes made.

Table D

Annual reporting requirements on informative inventory report referred to in Regulation 7(3)

Element

Pollutants

Time series/target years

Reporting dates

Informative Inventory Report

-SO

2

, NO

x

, NMVOC, CO, NH

3

, PM

10

, PM

2.5

-heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) and BC-POPs (total PAHs, benzo(a) pyrene, benzo(b) fluoranthene, benzo(k) fluoranthene, indeno(1,2,3-cd) pyrene, dioxins/furans, PCBs, HCB)-if available, heavy metals (As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Se and Zn and their compounds) and TSP

All years(as indicated in tables A-B-C)

15 March

SCHEDULE 2

ANNEX II NATIONAL EMISSION REDUCTION COMMITMENTS

Table A

Emission reduction commitments for sulphur dioxide (SO

2

), nitrogen oxides (NO

x

) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC). The reduction commitments have the year 2005 as base year, and for road transport, apply to emissions calculated on the basis of fuels sold (*)

SO

2

reduction compared with 2005

NO

x

reduction compared with 2005

NMVOC reduction compared with 2005

For any year from 2020 to 2029

For any year from 2030

For any year from 2020 to 2029

For any year from 2030

For any year from 2020 to 2029

For any year from 2030

Ireland

65%

85%

49%

69%

25%

32%

(*) The option of calculating the national emission total on the basis of fuels used as a basis for compliance under the LRTAP Convention may be used in order to ensure coherence between international and Union law.

Table B

Emission reduction commitments for ammonia (NH

3

) and fine particulate matter (PM

2.5

).

The reduction commitments have the year 2005 as base year, and for road transport, apply to emissions calculated on the basis of fuels sold (*).

NH

3

reduction compared with 2005

PM

2.5

compared with 2005

Member State

For any year from 2020 to 2029

For any year from 2030

For any year from 2020 to 2029

For any year from 2030

Ireland

1%

5%

18%

41%

(*) The option of calculating the national emission total on the basis of fuels used as a basis for compliance under the LRTAP Convention may be used in order to ensure coherence between international and Union law.

SCHEDULE 3

CONTENT OF NATIONAL AIR POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAMMES REFERRED TO IN REGULATIONS 6 AND 9

PART 1

Minimum content of national air pollution control programmes

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

6

th July

, 2018.

I, DENIS NAUGHTEN, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

Section 3

of the

European Communities Act 1972

(No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016

1

on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC

2

and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC

3

hereby make the following Regulations

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