sou · GRB3120d1 · 2004-01-01 00:00:00 — The other installations should receive emission allowances corresponding to the average emissions for the sector or subsector. Allocation of emission rights for emissions derived from non- replaceable raw materials5 Emissions derived from non-replaceable raw materials must be dealt with in a special , since these emissions are a consequence of the chemical process and there is no economically reasonable means of replacing these raw materials 5 A detailed description of the management of emissions derived from non-replaceable raw materials is contained in section 1.7 of the FlexMex2 Commissions report SOU 2003:60. in the short term. For emissions derived from non-replaceable raw materials, allocation for the period 2005 07 should be set as an annual average for the years 1998 2001, with possible adjustment for forecast emissions. If the estimated emissions are expected to increase during 2005 (in relation to the annual average in 1998 2001), the increase must be added to the historically calculated figure for annual emissions. The total requirement of emission allowances derived from non- replaceable raw materials for the year 2005, thus calculated, should apply to each single year during the period 2005 07. If the total number of emission allowances that are expected to be allocated on the basis of historical emissions to the installations concerned exceed the total permitted allocation of emission allowances for such emissions, allocation to the various installations will be scaled down proportionally. The total annual quantity of emission allowances may not exceed the permitted quantity of allowances for historically calculated emissions. Estimated emissions related to non-replaceable raw materials should be downscaled within the limits imposed by the Government on such emissions. A new entrant that has received a new permit for CO2 emissions should be allocated emission allowances on the basis of some form of benchmarking. If the installation is expected to have better emission figures than the average for the sector or subsector, the installation should be allocated allowances amounting to the estimated actual emissions. The other installations receive allowances corresponding to the average emissions for the sector or subsector. A new entrant that has updated its permit should be allocated allowances for emissions derived from non-replaceable raw materials in relation to the estimated emissions of this kind for the period until the permit is updated, and up to and including the year 2007. Allowances for emissions derived from replaceable fuels may, for an installation of this kind, be purchased on the secondhand market. The allocation is limited to the total quantity of emission allowances decided on by the Government for new entrants. It should not be possible for emission allowances allocated for an installation to be issued if the permit has been revoked and the revocation is due to non-compliance with the permit. If a permit is revoked, emission allowances may not be issued for the operating years immediately following the year in which the revocation decision was issued. The FlexMex2 Commission will return, in a later report, to the question of emission allowances being issued after revocation of a permit due to discontinuation of the activity concerned. If other Community legislation entails unavoidable increases in CO2 emissions for an installation, this installation should be allocated allowances corresponding to the increase concerned. An application for allocation of emission allowances should be examined by the supervisory authority. Enclosed with the application should be a certificate from the operators auditor attesting the rectitude of the particulars given in the applica- tion. Decisions on allocation of emission allowances must be taken by an independent agency, which should be set up. Given the short preparation time until the trading scheme is in operation, the () should be appointed as the supervisory authority over a transitional period, with responsibility for decisions on allocation of emission allowances. An independent council should be set up under the Swedish EPA, with representatives from the Agency itself, the and the Swedish Business Development Agency (), to prepare decisions on companies applications for emission allowances. This board should submit to the Swedish EPA draft decisions on allocation. An advisory body whose members include representatives of interests in the business sector should be associated with the council. In the FlexMex2 Commissions view, sanctions must be effective, proportionate and deterrent. One crucial precondition for the functioning of the scheme is the supervisory authoritys possession of proper documentation for its allocation of emission allowances. Therefore, in the Commissions view, it is that anyone deliberately submitting incorrect information that causes the operator to be allocated too many emission allowances should be judged liable. For the same reason, it is important for applications for CO2 emission permits to state the correct facts. It is also vital for the authorities to obtain accurate information if operators modify or expand their activities or new operators take over activities. The Commission proposes that legal provisions on criminal liability be applied as a subsidiary measure in relation to the provisions of the Swedish Penal Code.6 The Commission proposes that the agency appointed by the Government be entitled, on penalty of fine, to request the infor- mation and inspect the documents required for its supervision. Moreover, it is proposed that the agency, on request, obtain access to installations included in the trading scheme, and premises and areas associated with them, to the extent necessary for its supervision. However, this should not include residential premises. 6 This means that the penalty provisions should be applied in the event that the Penal Code does not contain any penalty provision that classifies the offence in question as criminal. Interrelationships of trading directive, IPPC directive7 and Swedish Environmental Code In this report, the Commission raises issues concerning the relationship of the trading directive to existing environmental law. The report also discusses the issue of whether , in its legislation, should make use of the opportunity to let the trading scheme supersede the requirements of the Environmental Code. There is an essential difference between trading in emission allowances and the regulatory instruments that have been traditionally applied in the environmental sector. These laws are based on the obligation of operators to obtain permits for conducting their activities. In the permits, the authorities prescribe in a fair amount of detail the conditions applying to the activities concerned. The fundamental principle of the emission-trading scheme, on the other hand, is that flexibility should prevail for the operator. This has also been taken into consideration in the trading directive which, in its Article 26, decrees that limit values for GHG emissions should be imposed only if it is necessary to prevent significant local pollution. To date, permits issued pursuant to the Swedish Environmental Code have probably not prescribed conditions relating to the permitted volume of CO2 emissions. It is more probable that regulation of CO2 emissions will come into existence through restriction of the quantity of fossil fuel used. The exemption contained in the trading directive (Article 26, second paragraph) will therefore, in practice, not afford greater freedom for trading in emission allowances. For this reason, the FlexMex2 Commission proposes supplementing the prohibition under the second paragraph of Article 26 with a prohibition on restricting the quantity of fossil fuel used. Moreover, the Commission proposes that the requirement of best possible technology under Chapter 2, Section 3 of the Swedish Environ- mental Code should, with respect to CO2, be waived for installations covered by the trading directive. The question of limit values for emissions of substances other than CO2 is not subject to national discretion. For part, this entails an obligation under Community law, in the future as at present, to prescribe limit values for polluting substances, even if 7 Council Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control. this affects CO2 emissions from activities and scope for emissions trading. The IPPC directive and the Environmental Code require energy efficiency. This requirement means that activities concerned must not use more energy than necessary with reference to production volume. Under the trading directive (Article 26, third paragraph), the IPPC directive is amended in such a way as to make it optional for Member States to impose energy-efficiency requirements on combustion units or other units emitting carbon dioxide on the site.8 The regulation in the Swedish Environmental Code is, in some respects, more far-reaching than that in the IPPC directive. The Code requires preference to be given to renewable energy sources, but this requirement is not included in the IPPC directive. Upholding this rule in the Code about renewable energy sources would not, however, conflict with Community law. From a legal point of view, is therefore free to uphold or waive this requirement. The FlexMex2 Commission does not seek to decide whether we in , as the trading directive permits, should remove the requirement of energy efficiency. will the Commission decide whether the requirement of renewable energy sources should be lifted. A final decision on these issues should be taken only after an analysis of how other countries intend to proceed on these matters. With this knowledge, there is better scope for the Commission to propose a regulatory framework that is not damaging to Swedish industry exposed to international competition. The trading directive, CO2 taxes and financing The FlexMex2 Commission must decide whether we in should use both CO2 tax and emissions trading to meet our climate objectives and international commitments, or whether the installations included in the Community trading scheme are to be 8 Article 26, third paragraph: For activities listed in to Directive 2003/87/EC, Member States may choose not to impose requirements relating to energy efficiency for combustion units or other units emitting carbon dioxide on the site. exempt from liability for CO2 tax.9 In its first interim report, the Commission did not put forward any proposal for financing the option of exempting installations included in the scheme from CO2 tax. The arguments for this were that circulation of the report issued by () for official consideration should be awaited, and that further investigation of the role of CO2 tax in the future trading scheme was necessary. Neither, given that the parameters are still unclear, can the Commission decide at this stage of its investigation whether the installations covered by the Community trading scheme should be exempted from CO2 tax. As documentation for the continued discussion, in this interim report the Commission puts forward arguments for and against abolishing the tax; the estimated tax shortfall if it is abolished; and various examples of how its abolition could be financed. A more detailed impact analysis of the options outlined by the Commission in this report should be carried out. Views on the models presented to date, which will be expressed in the forthcoming circulation of this report for consideration, are also valuable to take into account. At present, the Commission therefore does not wish to recommend any of the financing options reported. Instead, we propose that the Commission should undertake to elucidate, in its further work, the matter of CO2 tax and its role, if any, in the future system of emissions trading. In conjunction with this future work, the preconditions for the future energy-tax system will be clarified further. Implications of the FlexMex2 Commissions proposals As an EU member, is obliged to comply with and introduce into Swedish legislation the rules specified in the trading directive. In assessing the implications of the proposals, one should bear in mind that the option of not imposing regulation is thus not 9 If CO2 tax is abolished for the emissions-trading sector, this must be reported to the Commission as a case of state support. The main rule in Community regulation of state support is that a may not have differentiated taxation levels within the business sector. However, this abolition of CO2 tax would probably be approved, since it is evident from Articles 17.1 b and 17.4 of the energy-tax directive that this tax may be reduced or abolished if emissions trading is introduced, provided that this does not hinder attainment of objectives regarding environmental protection or improved energy efficiency. Unavoidably, therefore, consequences of the kind mentioned below will arise in one form or another. The Community trading scheme is aimed at enabling the EU and its Member States to attain its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol in a cost-effective . General estimates performed by Commission indicate that the costs of meeting the EUs commitments under the Protocol may be up to 35 per cent lower than they would be if the emission reductions were to take place entirely within the respective Member States according to the proposed burden-sharing10. For part, the FlexMex2 Commission included in its first interim report estimates indicating that the costs of meeting our national commitment under the Kyoto Protocol may be some 3 billion a year lower with the trading scheme than they would otherwise have been. When it comes to financing abolition, if any, of CO2 tax for the emissions-trading sector, as mentioned above, the Commission does not wish at present to recommend any of the options outlined in this report. The trading scheme will include installations in the energy sector and energy-intensive industry. The Swedish companies affected vary in size. Since, for most types of installation concerned, the trading directive contains some form of threshold figure a minimum requirement for inclusion, such as the minimum production volume or the like it may be assumed that relatively few small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be included in the scheme. To the extent that SMEs are affected by the system, these will probably be mainly small district-heating companies. Introducing the trading scheme will inevitably mean imposing certain new administrative requirements on the companies concerned. The administrative costs incurred by these companies as a result of the new requirements are likely to be relatively more burdensome for SMEs than for large enterprises. In the FlexMex2 Commissions estimation, the proposals put forward in this interim report are compatible with the regulations governing state support. The Swedish installations to be covered by the EU-wide system of emissions trading that will be introduced from 1 January 2005 account for about a third of CO2 emissions. 10 Proposal for a Directive of Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC COM(2001) 581 final. to attain the objective defined in the climate-policy resolution of 200211, measures need to be taken both in the emissions-trading sector and in the sectors excluded from the scheme. Judging what may constitute reasonable commitments in the sectors included and excluded respectively, requires an overall assessment. How- ever, the Commission has been unable to carry out this assessment within the scope of its work. However, alongside the Commissions work, a number of other recently adopted measures, proposals and current investigations have a major bearing on the enterprises and installations covered by the trading directive. Accordingly, in its first interim report the Commission stressed the need for a comprehensive approach, with overall impact analysis and coordination of the management of various existing and proposed policy instruments. The Com- mission also stated its opinion that comprehensive impact analysis and coordination of this kind are necessary to permit overall assessment of, for example, the respective responsibilities of the sectors included in and excluded from the trading scheme for attainment of the climate objectives. The Commission therefore proposed that the Government should arrange investigation of the preconditions and forms for bringing about the kind of coordination that is required. The need for overall assessment remains. It may, however, be assumed that much of the requisite analytical work will take place in conjunction with the evaluation of the climate policy at the 2004 checkpoint stage. At this checkpoint, the Government will evaluate the results achieved by the climate policy to date; the trend of emissions; and whether further measures are needed to attain the objectives adopted. 11 In its 2002 resolution on climate policy (Govt. 2001/02:55, Report 2001/02MJU10, Govt. 2001/02:163), the Riksdag laid down that Swedish emissions of the six GHGs, averaged over the period 2008 12, should be at least 4 per cent lower than the countrys emissions in 1990. The emission figures must be corrected for a normal year, to ensure comparability between years with respect to variation in temperature and precipitation. Under the climate-policy resolution, the national objective should be attainable without compensation for carbon absorption in sinks, and without the use of flexible mechanisms. At a checkpoint in 2004, the Government intends to consider an objective that includes the flexible mechanisms. It should be possible for the draft statutes submitted by the FlexMex2 Commission to enter into force on 1 2004. lag om tillstånd till utsläpp av koldioxid och tilldelning av utsläppsrätter Härigenom föreskrivs följande. Ändamål och definitioner m.m. 1 § Denna lag innehåller bestämmelser om tillstånd till verksamhet som medför utsläpp av koldioxid och tilldelning av utsläppsrätter för sådana utsläpp för tidsperioden 2007. 2 § I denna lag används följande beteckningar med den betydelse som här anges: 1.utsläppsrätt: ett bevis som ger rätt att släppa ut ett ton kol- dioxid i enlighet med bestämmelserna i denna lag och i föreskrifter som meddelats med stöd av lagen, 2.anläggning: en teknisk enhet, som inte är flyttbar, där det bedrivs verksamhet som är tillståndspliktig enligt denna lag, inom sektorerna för energi, produktion och bearbetning av järnmetaller, mineralindustri samt pappers-, papp- och pappersmassaindustri liksom all annan därmed direkt sammanhängande verksamhet som tekniskt sett är knuten till de verksamheter som bedrivs på platsen och som kan påverka utsläpp och föroreningar, 3.utsläpp: frigörande i atmosfären av koldioxid från källor be- lägna inom en anläggning, 4.verksamhetsutövare: varje fysisk eller juridisk person som driver eller har ett bestämmande inflytande över en anläggning, 5.nytillträdande anläggning: varje anläggning där det inte be- drivs verksamhet då den nationella fördelnings- planen överlämnas till Europeiska kommissionen och som därefter meddelats tillstånd till utsläpp av koldioxid samt varje anläggning som meddelats förnyat tillstånd på grund av en ändring av anlägg- ningens art, funktion eller utvidgning av anläggningens verksamhet, 6.nationell fördelningsplan: en av regeringen beslutad plan som tilldelningen av utsläppsrätter skall vara grundad på och som skall underställas Europeiska kommissionen för godkännande, 7.utsläpp som härrör från icke utbytbara råvaror: utsläpp av koldioxid som i en process bildas från kol som är bundet i den råvara som skall förädlas eller i en process där kol tillsätts för att avlägsna en icke önskvärd komponent från råvaran och där pro- cessens syfte inte är att framställa kraft, värme eller transportenergi och där tillverkningen eller framställningen inte är utbytbar till en rimlig kostnad före utgången av , 8.utsläpp som härrör från utbytbara bränslen: utsläpp av kol- dioxid från fossila bränslen som används med det primära syftet att producera kraft, värme eller transportenergi. 3 § Regeringen skall utse den eller de myndigheter som skall handlägga de frågor som enligt denna lag, eller enligt föreskrifter som har meddelats med stöd av lagen, ligger på tillstånds- respek- tive tillsynsmyndigheten. Tillstånd till utsläpp av koldioxid 1 § Efter utgången av skall anläggningar som omfattas av 4 § ha tillstånd av tillståndsmyndigheten för verksamhet som medför utsläpp av koldioxid. Vad som sägs i första stycket gäller inte för en anläggning eller del av anläggning som används endast för forskning eller utveckling och provning av nya produkter eller av nya processer. 2 § Ansökan om tillstånd skall vara skriftlig och ges in till till- ståndsmyndigheten. En ansökan skall innehålla uppgifter om hur verksamhets- utövaren avser att övervaka och rapportera utsläpp av koldioxid. En ansökan skall handläggas skyndsamt. Regeringen eller den myndighet som regeringen bestämmer får meddela ytterligare föreskrifter om ansökans innehåll och utform- ning samt om handläggning av ansökan. 3 § Har en ansökan om tillstånd enligt 2 § ingetts till tillstånds- myndigheten får verksamheten, utan hinder av vad som sägs i 1 §, fortsätta att bedrivas tills lagakraft- vunnet beslut föreligger. Detta gäller dock längst till dess att lagakraftvunnet avslagsbeslut föreligger. Anläggningar som omfattas av tillståndsplikt 4 § Anläggningar inom sektorerna för energi, produktion och be- arbetning av järnmetaller, mineralindustri samt pappers-, papp- och pappersmassaindustri omfattas av tillståndsplikt enligt de före- skrifter som meddelas av regeringen. 5 § För att erhålla tillstånd krävs att verksamhetsutövaren kan övervaka och rapportera utsläppen på ett tillförlitligt sätt. 6 § Övervakningen skall ske genom beräkning eller mätning. 7 § Rapporteringen skall för varje anläggning innehålla följande uppgifter a)om övervakningen sker genom beräkning 5.osäkerhet i beräkningen. b)om övervakningen sker genom mätning 2.uppgifter om mätmetodernas tillförlitlighet och 3.osäkerhet i mätningen. 8 § Regeringen eller den myndighet som regeringen bestämmer får utfärda närmare föreskrifter om sättet för beräkning, kraven på mätning samt formen för och innehållet i rapporteringen. 9 § En ny anläggning kan inte erhålla tillstånd enligt denna lag om det saknas erforderliga tillstånd enligt eller äldre miljö- lagstiftning. 10 § Ett tillstånd skall förenas med de krav på övervakning och rapportering som tillståndsmyndigheten enligt 5 7 §§ eller enligt föreskrifter meddelade med stöd av denna lag anser erforderliga. Ett tillstånd får omfatta en eller flera anläggningar på samma plats om de drivs av samma verksamhetsutövare. Ett tillstånd kan begränsas till att avse en del av en anläggning. Förändring av anläggning som erhållit tillstånd 11 § Verksamhetsutövaren skall till tillståndsmyndigheten skrift- ligen anmäla alla planerade förändringar av anläggningens art eller funktion eller utvidgning av anläggningen om förändringen eller utvidgningen kan innebära nya krav på övervakning och rapporte- ring. Regeringen eller den myndighet regeringen bestämmer får ut- färda närmare föreskrifter om när en anmälan enligt första stycket erfordras. skall om de krav som anges i 5 7 §§ eller i föreskrifter som meddelats med stöd av denna lag är uppfyllda meddela förnyat tillstånd för den förändrade eller utvidgade anlägg- ningen. Tillstånd får dock inte meddelas om det för anläggningen saknas erforderliga tillstånd enligt eller äldre miljölag- stiftning. 12 § En ny verksamhetsutövare skall till tillståndsmyndigheten omgående anmäla att han tagit över driften av anläggningen.