LIFECYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM FUELS REGULATIONS *

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 643.01

LIFECYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

FROM FUELS REGULATIONS *

24th December, 2010

LEGAL NOTICE 556 of 2010, and by Legal Notices 410 of 2017 and 505 of

2021 and Act XVII of 2024, and by Legal Notice 95 of 2026.

(1) The title of these Regulations is Lifecycle Greenhouse

Gas Emissions from Fuels Regulations.

(2) These regulations transpose Article 7a of Directive 98/70/EC

by setting, in respect of road vehicles, non-road mobile machinery

(including inland waterway vessels when not at sea), agricultural and

forestry tractors, and recreational craft when not at sea, a target for the

reduction of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, and transpose

Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 by laying down rules on calculation

methods and reporting requirements.

ANNEX I of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable in

its entirety as the First Schedule to these regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires

"the Act'' means the Climate Action Act;

"ASTM D287" means the American Society for Testing and

Materials Standard Test Method for API Gravity of Crude Petroleum

and Petroleum Products (Hydrometer Method);

"the Authority" means the Malta Resources Authority

established by article 3 of the Act;

"biofuels" means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced

from biomass;

"Clean Development Mechanism" means the mechanism

established pursuant to Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol;

"conventional crude" means any refinery raw material exhibiting

an API gravity that is higher than 10 degrees when situated in a

reservoir formation at its place of origin as measured per testing

method ASTM D287, and not falling within the definition for CN

code 2714 as set out in Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87;

"Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87" means Council

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and

statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff;

"fuel baseline standard" means a fuel baseline standard based on

the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy from

fossil fuels in 2010;

"greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy" means the total

mass of CO 2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions associated with

the fuel or energy supplied, divided by the total energy content of

*These regulations have been repealed by Legal Notice 96 of 2026.

the fuel or energy supplied (for fuel, expressed as its low heating

value);

"Kyoto Protocol" means the Kyoto Protocol to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

"life cycle greenhouse gas emissions" means all net emissions of

CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O that can be assigned to the fuel (including any

blended components) or energy supplied. This includes all relevant

stages from extraction or cultivation, including land-use changes,

transport and distribution, processing and combustion, irrespective

of where those emissions occur;

"low indirect land-use change-risk biofuels" means biofuels, the

feedstocks of which were produced within schemes which reduce

the displacement of production for purposes other than for making

biofuels and which were produced in accordance with the

sustainability criteria for biofuels set out in regulation 3 of the

Biofuels, Bioliquids and Biomass Fuels (Sustainability Criteria)

Regulations;

"natural bitumen" means any source of refinery raw material

that

(a) has an American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity of

10 degrees or less when situated in a reservoir

formation at the place of extraction as defined

pursuant to the testing method ASTM D287;

(b) has an annual average viscosity at reservoir

temperature greater than that calculated by the

equation: Viscosity (Centipoise) = 518,98 e-0,038T ,

where T is the temperature in Celsius;

(c) falls within the definition for tar sands under combined

nomenclature (CN) code 2714 as outlined in Council

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87; and

(d) where the mobilisation of the source of the raw

material is achieved by mining extraction or thermally

enhanced gravity drainage where the thermal energy is

mainly derived from sources other than the feedstock

source itself;

"oil shale" means any source of refinery raw material as situated

in a rock formation containing solid kerogen and falling within the

d efi ni tio n fo r oil sha le u nd er CN cod e 27 14 as o ut lin ed in

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87. Mobilisation of the source of the

raw material is achieved by mining extraction or thermally

enhanced gravity drainage;

"renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological

origin" means liquid or gaseous fuels other than biofuels whose

energy content comes from renewable energy sources other than

biomass, and which are used in transport;

"starch-rich crops" means crops comprising mainly cereals

(regardless of whether only the grains are used or the whole plant, such

as in the case of green maize, is used), tubers and root crops (such as

potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes, cassava and yams),

and corm crops (such as taro and cocoyam);

"supplier" means the entity responsible for passing fuel or energy

through an excise duty point or, if no excise is due, any other

relevant entity designated by the Authority.

"upstream emissions" means all greenhouse gas emissions occurring

prior to the raw material entering a refinery or a processing plant

where the fuel, as referred to in the First Schedule, was produced.

ANNEX II of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable in

its entirety as the Second Schedule to these regulations.

(1) The Authority shall designate any supplier responsible

for monitoring and reporting life cycle greenhouse gas emissions

per unit of energy from fuel and energy supplied. In the case of

providers of electricity for use in road vehicles, such providers may

choose to become a contributor to the reduction obligation laid

down in sub-regulation (3) if they can demonstrate that they can

adequately measure and monitor electricity supplied for use in

those vehicles.

In the case of suppliers of biofuels for use in aviation, such

suppliers may choose to become contributors to the reduction

obligation laid down in sub-regulation (3) provided that those biofuels

comply with the sustainability criteria set out in regulation 3 of the

Biofuels, Bioliquids and Biomass Fuels (Sustainability Criteria)

Regulations.

(2) Suppliers shall report to the Authority on the greenhouse gas

intensity of fuel and energy supplied by providing, as a minimum, the

following information

(a) the total volume of each type of fuel or energy

supplied, indicating where purchased and its origin;

(b) the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of

energy;

(c) on the biofuel production pathways;

(d) volumes of biofuels derived from the feedstocks as

categorised in Part A of the Fourth Schedule; and

(e) the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of

energy, including the provisional mean values of the

estimated indirect land-use change emissions from

biofuels

Provided that

(a) suppliers shall report data using the definitions and the

calculation method set out in the First Schedule

(b) the data shall be reported annually using the template

set out in the Third Schedule;

(c) such report shall

(i)

be submitted annually by the end of March of

each year in respect of the previous calendar

year;

(ii) shall be in accordance to any guidelines that the

Authority may establish or adopt;

(iii) shall be subject to verification; and

(d) for suppliers that are SMEs, the simplified method set out

in the First Schedule shall apply.

(3) Suppliers shall reduce as gradually as possible life cycle

greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy from fuel and energy

supplied by up to 10% by the 31st December 2020, compared with the

fuel baseline standard specified by the Authority based on the life

cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy from fossil fuels.

Such reduction shall consist of

(a) 6% by the 31st December 2020;

(b) an indicative additional target of 2% by the 31 st

December 2020, to be achieved through one or both of

the following methods

(i)

the supply of energy for transport supplied for

use in any type of road vehicle, non-road mobile

machinery, agricultural or forestry tractor or

recreational craft;

(ii) the use of any technology (including carbon

capture and storage) capable of reducing life

cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of

energy from fuel or energy supplied

Provided that such indicative additional target

may be subject to adjustments in order to assess

possible contributions for reaching a greenhouse

gas reduction target of up to 10% by 2020;

(c) an indicative additional target of 2% by the 31 st

December 2020 to be achieved through the use of

credits purchased through the Clean Development

Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol under the conditions

set out in Directive 2003/87/EC, for reductions in the

fuel supply sector

Provided that additional measures may be introduced

by the Authority to allow suppliers to reduce by 2%

life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy,

in comparison with a fuel baseline standard based on

the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of

energy from fossil fuels, through the use of credits

purchased through the Clean Development Mechanism

of the Kyoto Protocol under the conditions set out in

Directive 2003/87/EC.

For the purposes of this sub-regulation, suppliers shall

use the calculation method set out in the First Schedule

to determine the greenhouse gas intensity of the fuels

they supply.

For the purposes of this sub-regulation, suppliers shall

report data using the definitions and the calculation

method set out in the First Schedule. The data shall be

reported annually using the template set out in the

Third Schedule.

For the purposes of verifying compliance by suppliers

with their obligation under this sub-regulation,

suppliers shall compare their achieved reductions of

life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from fuels and

from electricity to the fuel baseline standard set out in

the Second Schedule.

(4) Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels shall be

calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Biofuels

(Sustainability Criteria) Regulations. Life cycle greenhouse gas

emissions from biofuels shall be calculated in accordance with the

provisions of the Biofuels, Bioliquids and Biomass Fuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations.

(5) A group of suppliers may choose to meet the reduction

obligations pursuant to sub-regulation (3) jointly. In such case they

shall be considered as a single supplier for the purposes of sub-

regulation (3).

For the purposes of this sub-regulation, a group of suppliers

choosing to be considered as a single supplier shall meet its

obligation under sub-regulation (3) within the Maltese territory.

(6) The Authority may provide that the maximum contribution

of biofuels produced from cereal and other starch-rich crops, sugars

and oil crops and from crops grown as main crops primarily for

energy purposes on agricultural land for the purpose of compliance

with the target referred to in sub-regulation (3) shall not exceed the

maximum contribution established in point (d) of the second sub-

paragraph of Article 3(4) of Directive 2009/28/EC.

(1)Any person who

(a) wilfully or through negligence acts in breach of any

provision of these regulations;

(b) fails to comply with any lawful order by an inspector,

employee or officer of the Authority in execution of

their duties in terms of these regulations;

(c) hinders, obstructs, molests or interferes or attempts to

hinder, obstruct, molest or interfere with any inspector,

any employee or officer of the Authority in the

execution of his duties in terms of these regulations;

(d) makes a declaration for any of the purposes of these

regulations which is false, misleading or incorrect in

any material respect,

shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations

and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for

not more than eighteen months, or to a fine (multa) of

not more than sixty-nine thousand and eight hundred

and eighty-one euro and twenty cents (69,881.20), or

to one thousand and three hundred and ninety-seven

euro and sixty-two cents (1,397.62) for each day

during which the offence persists, or to both such fine

and imprisonment.

(2) The liability of an offender under sub-regulation (1) shall

be without prejudice to the liability of the offender to pay to the

Authority any cost incurred in removing the cause of the offence

and to undo anything which was done without an authorisation.

(3) The Court, besides awarding the punishment referred to in

this regulation, may order the convicted offenders to close their

activity and, or to undo anything which was done without an

authorisation.

(4) In the prosecution of offences against these regulations

officials of the Authority shall have the right to assist the police,

and to plead the case before the Court.

(5) Officers from the Authority may assist the Police in the

exercise of any of their powers to prevent the commission of an

offence against these regulations and, or to secure evidence

concerning any such offence.

(6) The provisions of these regulations shall not affect any

criminal proceedings and, or any other proceedings that may be

instituted under any other law.

ANNEX IV of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable

in its entirety as the Third Schedule to these regulations.

The Authority may impose an administrative fine upon any

person who infringes any provision of these regulations or who

fails to comply with any directive or decision given by the

Authority in ensuring compliance with these regulations.

ANNEX V of Directive 98/70/EC, as added by ANNEX I (2) of

Directive (EU) 2015/1513, shall be applicable in its entirety as the

Fourth Schedule to these regulations.".

LIFECYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM FUELS