B 3157
L.N. 410 of 2017
MALTA RESOURCES AUTHORITY ACT
(CAP. 423) 
Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fuels 
(Amendment) Regulations, 2017
IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 28 of the Malta
Resources Authority Act, the Minister for the Environment,
Sustainable Development and C limate Change, after consultation
with the Malta Resources Authority, has made the following
regulations:
Title.
S.L. 423.481. The title of these regulations is the Lifecycle Greenhouse
Gas Emissions from Fuels (Amendment) Regulations, 2017 and thes e
regulations shall be read and construed as one with the Lifecyc le
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fuels Regulations hereinafter
referred to as "the pr incipal regulations".
Amends 
regulation 1 of the principal regulations.2. Sub-regulation (2) of regulation 1 of the principal
regulations shall be substituted by with the following:
"(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 c raft
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 methodsand reporting requirements.".
Amends 
regulation 2 of 
the principal 
regulations .3. Regulation 2 of the principal  regulations shall be amended
as follows:
 (a) immediately after the definition "the Act" there shall be
added the following definition:
" "ASTM D287" means the American Society for Testing
and Materials Standard Test Method for API Gravity of Crude
Petroleum and Petroleum Products (Hydrometer Method);";
(b) immediately after the definition "Clean Development
Mechanism" there shall be added the following new definitions:
" "conventional crude" means any refinery raw material
exhibiting an API gravity that is higher than 10 degrees whensituated in a reservoir formation at its place of origin as
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3158
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 andstatistical 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 ofenergy from fossil fuels in 2010;";
(c) immediately after the defin ition "life cycle greenhouse gas
emissions" there shall be adde d the following new definitions:
S.L. 545.28 " "low indirect land-use change-risk biofuels" means
biofuels, the feedstocks of which were produced within schemeswhich reduce the displacement of production for purposes other
than for making biofuels and which were produced inaccordance with the sustainability criteria for biofuels set ou t in
regulation 3 of the Biofuels (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 inCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87; and 
(d) where the mobilisation of the source of the
raw material is achieved by mining extraction or thermallyenhanced 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 falli ng
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3159
within the definition for oil shale under CN code 2714 as
outlined in Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87. Mobilisation of the
source of the raw material is achieved by mining extraction or
thermally enhance d gravity drainage;
"renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-
biological origin" means liquid or gaseous fuels other thanbiofuels whose energy content comes from renewable energysources 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 wholeplant, 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 andcocoyam);"; and
(d) immediately after the defi nition "supplier" there shall be
added the following new definition:
 " "upstream emissions" means all greenhouse gas
emissions occurring prior to the r aw material entering a refine ry
or a processing plant where the fuel, as referred to in the FirstSchedule, was produced.".
Amends 
regulation 3 of the principal 
regulations.4. Regulation 3 of the principal  regulations shall be amended
as follows
(a) immediately after sub-regulation (1) thereof, there shall be
added the following new paragraph:
S.L. 545.28"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 (Sustainability Criteria)
Regulations.";
(b) sub-regulation (2) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
 "(2) Suppliers shall report to the Authority on the
greenhouse gas intensity of fuel and energy supplied byproviding, as a minimum, the following information:
(a) the total volume of each type of fuel or
energy supplied, indicating where purchased and its origin;
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3160
(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 th e 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 re ported 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.";
 (c) sub-regulation (3) thereof shall be substituted by the
following:
"(3) Suppliers shall reduce as gradually as possible life
cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy from fuel andenergy 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 perunit of energy from fossil fuels. Such reduction shall consist of:
(a) 6% by the 31st December 2020;
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3161
(b) an indicative additional target of 2% by the
31st 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 cyclegreenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy fromfuel or energy supplied:
Provided that such indicative additional target
may be subject to adjustments in order to assess possiblecontributions 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 setout 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 by2% life cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy,
in comparison with a fuel baseline standard based on thelife cycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy
from fossil fuels, through the use of credits purchased
through the Clean Development Mechanism of the KyotoProtocol 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 FirstSchedule 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 calculationmethod set out in the First Schedule. The data shall bereported annually using the template set out in the Third
Schedule.
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3162
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 fromelectricity to the fuel baseline standard set out in the
Second Schedule."; and
(d) immediately after sub-regulat ion (5) thereof shall be added
the following new paragraph and sub-regulation:
"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 th e
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.".
Adds new 
regulation 3A to the principal 
regulations.5. Immediately after regulation 3 of the principal regulations
there shall be added the following new regulation:
"Offences and 
penalties.3A. (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, molestor interfere with any inspector, any employee or
officer of the Authority in the execution of hisduties 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, 
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3163
Adds new 
Schedules to the principal 
regulations.6. Immediately after regulation 4 of the principal regulations
there shall be added the following new Schedules:
  "FIRST SCHEDULE
 ANNEX I of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable  in 
its entirety as the First Schedule to these regulations.
 SECOND SCHEDULE
ANNEX II of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable  in 
its entirety as the Second Schedule to these regulations.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 duringwhich 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 liabilityof the offender to pay to the Authority any cost
incurred in removing the cause of the offence and toundo anything which was done without an
authorisation.
(3) The Court, besides awarding the punishment
referred to in this regulation, may order the convictedoffenders to close their activity and, or to undo
anything which was done w ithout an authorisation.
(4) In the prosecution of offences against these
regulations officials of the Authority shall have theright to assist the police, and to plead the case beforethe Court.
(5) Officers from the Authority may assist the
Police in the exercise of any of their powers to preventthe 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 otherproceedings that may be instituted under any otherlaw.".
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA
B 3164
 THIRD SCHEDULE
ANNEX IV of Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 shall be applicable  
in its entirety as the Third Schedule to these regulations. 
 FOURTH SCHEDULE
ANNEX V of Directive 98/70/EC, as added by ANNEX I (2) of 
Directive (EU) 2015/1513, shall be a pplicable in its entirety a s the 
Fourth Schedule to t hese regulations.".
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ippubblikat mid-Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta — Published by the Department of Information (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta
Mitbugħ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern fuq karta riċiklata — Printed at the Government Printing Press on recycled paper
Prezz/ Price
€0.72
VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA