CELEX: 51992PC0277
Language: en
Date: 1992-07-30
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations (the so-called "Stage I" Directive)

3 . 9 . 92                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 227 / 3
                                                                      II
                                                             (Preparatory Acts)
                                                       COMMISSION
                   Proposal for a Council Directive on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions
                   resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations (the
                                                       so-called 'Stage I' Directive)
                                                               (92 /C 227/03)
                                                     COM(92) 277 final — SYN 425
                                             (Submitted by the Commission on 30 July 1992)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                  Whereas a significant step in a strategy for an overall
                                                                          reduction of VOC emissions in the Community was
                                                                          taken by Council Directive 9 1 /441 /EEC (2) which aims
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                     at reducing VOC emissions from tail pipe exhaust gases
Economic Community and in particular Article 1 00 A                       and evaporative emissions from motor vehicles, rep­
thereof,                                                                  resenting some 40 % of the present emissions of
                                                                          man-made VOCs to the atmosphere, by some 80 to
                                                                          90 °/o over 10 to 15 years ; whereas at the adoption of
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                        this Directive the Commission was requested to submit a
                                                                          proposal for a Directive on the measures to reduce evap­
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                              oration losses at every stage in the process of storage and
                                                                          distribution of motor fuels ;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                        Whereas the VOC emissions from the system for storage
                                                                          and distribution of petrol represent some 500 000 tonnes
Whereas successive programmes of action of the                            per year or some 5 % of the total emissions of
European Communities on the protection of the                             man-made VOCs in the Community ; whereas these
environment have stressed the importance of preventing                    emissions, especially in urban areas, represent a
and reducing air pollution (') ;                                          significant contribution to air pollution ;
Whereas emissions of volatile organic compounds                          Whereas available technologies can ensure a considerable
(VOCs) from petrol and solvents in the Community                          reduction of the evaporative losses in the distribution
would be in the order of 10 million tonnes per year if no                 system for petrol, not least through the recovery of VOC
control measures were taken ; whereas VOC emissions                      vapours which are displaced when a tank is reloaded ;
contribute to the formation of photochemical oxidants
such as ozone, which in high concentrations can impair
human health and damage vegetation and materials ;                        Whereas further action will be needed to reduce the
whereas some of the VOC emissions from petrol are                         VOC emissions during refuelling operations at service
classified as toxic, carcinogenic or teratogenic ;                        stations, which at present amount to some 200 000
                                                                          tonnes per year, thereby controlling all VOC emissions
Whereas the Community has recently signed the                             during the distribution of petrol ;
Protocol to the 1979 Convention on long range trans­
boundary air pollution concerning the control of
emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or their                   Whereas, in order to avoid distortion of competition and
transboundary fluxes, which provides for a considerable                   in order to ensure the establishment of the internal
reduction of the VOC emissions ;                                          market, it is necessary to harmonize the measures based
                                                                          on a high level of protection ;
O OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1 ; JO No C 139, 13 . 6. 1977,
     p 1 ; OJ No C 46, 17. 2 . 1983, p. 1 ; and OJ No C 328 , 7. 12.
     1978 , p. 1 .                                                        O OJ No L 242, 30 . 8 . 1991 , p. 2 .
 ---pagebreak---  No C 227 / 4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   3 . 9 . 92
Whereas it is necessary to introduce standardized specifi­           (f) 'service station' shall mean any installation where
 cations for the equipment for bottom loading of road                     petrol is dispensed to motor vehicle fuel tanks from
 tankers in order to ensure the possibility of free trade                  stationary storage tanks ;
 with petrol and equipment within the Community and to
 ensure a high level of safety;
                                                                     (g) 'existing' petrol storage installations, loading instal­
                                                                          lations, service stations, and mobile containers shall
Whereas, in order to ensure that questions of technical
                                                                          mean such installations, service stations and mobile
compatibility of adopted measures do not give rise to
safety problems or impede the unity of the market, a                      containers which were in operation before the date
committee       should   be     established      to assist the            of adoption of this Directive or for which an indi­
 Commission on such questions ;                                           vidual construction licence or operating licence,
                                                                          where required under national legislation, was
                                                                          granted before the date of adoption of the Directive ;
Whereas more stringent measures relating to the eva­
porative losses from fixed installations may be necessary
for the protection of human health or the environment                (h) 'new' in relation to petrol storage installations,
because of special local or regional conditions,                          loading installations, service stations, and mobile
                                                                          containers shall mean such installations, service
                                                                          stations, and mobile containers which are not
HAS ADOPTED THE DIRECTIVE :                                               covered by subparagraph (g);
                           Article 1                                ( i ) 'throughput' shall mean the largest total annual
                                                                          quantity of petrol per year loaded from a storage
                             Scope                                        installation at a terminal or from a service station
This Directive shall apply to all the operations, instal­                 during the three preceding years ;
lations, vehicles and vessels used for storage, loading and
transport of petrol from refinery terminals or inter­
mediate terminals to service stations .
                                                                    (j) 'vapour recovery unit' shall mean equipment for the
                                                                          regeneration of petrol from vapours.
                           Article 2
                          Definitions                                                           Article 3
For the purposes of this Directive :                                                Storage installations at terminals
                                                                    1 . The total annual loss of petrol from the loading of
(a) 'petrol' shall mean any petroleum distillate, with or           and storage at each storage installation at terminals
     without additives, having a reid vapour pressure of            should not exceed 0,01 w/w % of the throughput.
     27,6 kilopascals or more, which is intended for use
     as a fuel for internal combustion engines, except
     100 % propane and butane ;                                     In order to reach this objective Member States shall take
                                                                    the necessary measures to ensure that the storage instal­
                                                                    lations are designed and operated in accordance with the
(b) 'vapours' shall mean any gaseous compound which                 technical requirements of Annex I.
     evaporates from petrol ;
(c) 'storage installation' shall mean any stationary tank           Member States may accept technical measures for the
     used for the storage of petrol ;                               reduction of the loss of petrol other than those set down
                                                                    in Annex I, if such alternative measures are demonstrated
                                                                    to have at least the same efficiency.
(d) 'terminal' shall mean any facility which is used for
     the storage and loading of petrol onto road tankers,
     rail tankers , ships or barges, including all storage          Member States may require more stringent measures in
     installations on the site of the facility ;                    geographical areas where it is established that such
                                                                    measures are necessary for the protection of human
                                                                    health or the environment due to special local or
(e) 'mobile container' shall mean any vehicle or vessel,            regional conditions . Member States shall inform the
     including road tankers, rail tankers, ships or barges,         other Member States and the Commission of any such
     used for transport of petrol from one terminal to              special measures which they contemplate taking and of
     another or from a terminal to a service station ;              their ground for taking them.
 ---pagebreak--- 3 . 9 . 92                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 227 / 5
2.       The requirement of paragraph 1 shall apply :            (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 11
                                                                      for :
(a) from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for new instal­
       lations ;                                                      — new installations for loading onto barges and/or
                                                                            ships,
(b) three years from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for
      existing installations if the throughput loaded on              — existing installations for loading onto road
      either road tankers and rail tankers combined or on                  tankers   and/or     rail   tankers   if   combined
      barges and ships combined is greater than 50 000                     throughput is greater than 50 000 tonnes/year;
      tonnes /year;
                                                                 (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 11 for
(c) six years from the date referred to in Article 11 for             existing installations if the throughput loaded onto
                                                                      either road tankers and rail tankers combined or
      existing installations if the throughput loaded on
      either road tankers and rail tankers combined or on             onto barges and ships combined is greater than
      barges and ships combined is greater than 25 000                25 000 tonnes/year ;
      tonnes /year ;
                                                                 (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for
                                                                      all other existing loading installations at terminals .
(d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for
       all other existing petrol storage installations at
      terminals .                                                3 . From installations to which the requirements of
                                                                 paragraph 1 apply, loading into mobile containers which
                                                                 do not meet the requirements of Article 5 shall be
                            Article 4                            prohibited.
Loading and unloading of mobile containers at terminals
1 . The total annual loss of petrol from loading and             4 . Nine years after the date referred to in Article 1 1
unloading of mobile containers at terminals should not           all loading arms at all terminals shall be equipped so as
exceed 0,005 w/w % of the throughput. In order to                to meet the specifications for bottom loading equipment
reach this objective Member States shall take the                to be developed in accordance with the procedure
necessary measures to ensure that the loading and                specified in Article 8 .
unloading facilities are designed and operated in
accordance with the technical requirements set down in
Annex II .                                                                                  Article 5
                                                                                        Mobile containers
Member States may accept technical measures for the              1 . Member States shall take the necessary measures to
reduction of the loss of petrol other than those set down        ensure that mobile containers are designed and operated
in Annex II if such alternative measures are demon­              in accordance with the following requirements :
strated to have at least the same efficiency.
                                                                 (a) mobile containers shall be designed and operated so
Member States may require more stringent measures in                  that residual vapours are retained in the container
geographical areas where it is established that such                  after unloading of petrol ;
measures are necessary for the protection of human
health or the environment due to special local or
regional conditions. Member States shall inform the              (b) mobile containers which supply petrol to service
other Member States and the Commission of any such                    stations shall be designed and operated so as to
special measures which they contemplate taking and of                 accept and retain return vapours from the storage
their grounds for taking them.                                        installations at the service stations ;
All terminals shall be equipped with at least one loading        (c) except for release through the safety pressure valve,
arm which meets the specifications for bottom loading                 the vapours mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b)
                                                                      shall be retained in the mobile container until
equipment to be developed in accordance with the                      reloading takes place at a terminal . If the mobile
procedure specified in Article 8 .                                    container after the unloading of petrol is
                                                                      subsequently used for products other than VOCs,
2.       The requirements of paragraph 1 shall apply :                ventilation may be admitted at places where human
                                                                      health and the environment is not at risk;
(a) from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for new instal­
       lations for loading onto road tankers and/or rail         (d) road tankers shall be pressure tested for vapour
      tankers ;                                                       tightness at least every three months ;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 227 / 6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                  3 . 9 . 92
(e) vacuum/pressure valves on all mobile containers shall        (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 11 for
     be inspected for correct functioning at least every six          existing service stations with a throughput greater
     months .                                                         than 200 mVyear ;
2.     The requirements of paragraph 1 shall apply               (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for
                                                                      all other existing service stations.
(a) from the date referred to in Article 1 1 for new road
     tankers and rail tankers ;                                                             Article 7
                                                                                 Amendment of the Annexes
(b) three years from the date referred to in Article 1 1
                                                                 The amendments necessary for adapting the Annexes to
                                                                 this Directive to technical progress shall be adopted in
     — for new ships and barges,                                 accordance with the procedure specified in Article 8 .
     — for existing road tankers and rail tankers if
         loaded at a terminal to which the requirement of                                   Article 8
         Article 4 ( 1 ) applies ;                                                  The advisory committee
                                                                  1 . The Commission shall be assisted by a committee
(c) six years from the date referred to in Article 11 for        of an advisory nature composed of the representatives of
     existing ships and barges .                                 the Member States and chaired by the representative of
                                                                 the Commission .
                             Article 6
                                                                 2.     The representative of the Commission shall submit
   Loading into storage installations at service stations        to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken .
1 . The total annual loss of petrol from loading into            The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft,
the storage installations at service stations should not         within a time limit which the chairman may lay down
exceed 0,01 w/w % of the throughput. In order to reach           according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by
this objective Member States shall take the necessary            taking a vote.
measures to ensure that the loading and storage facilities
are designed and operated in accordance with the
technical requirements set down in Annex III.                    3 . The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes ; in
                                                                 addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
                                                                 to have its position recorded in the minutes .
Member States may accept technical measures for the
reduction of the loss of petrol from service stations other
than those set down in Annex III if such alternative             4.     The Commission shall take the utmost account of
measures are demonstrated to have at least the same
                                                                 the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform
efficiency.                                                      the committee of the manner in which its opinion has
                                                                 been taken into account.
2.     The requirements of paragraph 1 shall apply
                                                                                            Article 9
(a) from the date referred to in Article 11 for new
     service stations ;
                                                                                   Monitoring and reporting
                                                                  1 . At intervals of three years, and for the first time
                                                                 three years from the date referred to in Article 11 , the
(b) three years from the date referred to in Article 1 1 :       Member States shall send to the Commission a report on
                                                                 the implementation of this Directive. The report shall be
     — for existing service stations with a throughput           drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire or outline
                                                                 which the Commission shall send to the Member States
         greater than 500 mVyear,                                six months before the above date .
     — for existing service stations, regardless of their
         throughput, which are located under permanent            2 . The Commission shall publish at three-year
         living quarters or working areas, if the service         intervals, and for the first time five years from the date
         stations are situated in locations where urban          referred to in Article 1 1 , a report on the implementation
         speed limits apply;                                      of the Directive .
 ---pagebreak--- 3 . 9 . 92                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 227 /7
                            Article 10                                  When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall
                                                                         contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accom­
                       Taxation of petrol                               panied by such reference at the time of their official
For the purpose of excise duties and other taxes charged                publication. The procedures for such reference shall be
on mineral oils the recovery of fuel from vapours and its                adopted by the Member States .
reintroduction into stocks shall not be considered as
production of mineral oil .                                             2.     Member       States   shall   communicate      to  the
                                                                        Commission the texts of the provisions of national legis­
                                                                        lation which they adopt in the field governed by this
                                                                        Directive .
                            Article 11
           Transposition into national legislation                                                 Article 12
1 . Member States shall bring into force the laws,                                        Destination of the Directive
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
comply with this Directive by 31 December 1994.                         This Directive is addressed to the Member States .
                                                                ANNEX I
                                            Requirements for storage installations at terminals
              1 . The external wall and roof of tanks above ground shall be painted in a light colour with a total radiant
                  heat reflectance of 70 % or more.
              2. Tanks with external floating roofs shall be equipped with a primary seal to cover the annular space
                  between the tank wall and the outer periphery of the floating roof and with a secondary seal fitted
                  above the primary seal. The seals shall ensure an overall containment of vapours of 95 % or more as
                  compared to a fixed roof tank with no vapour containment controls.
              3 . Fixed-roof tanks shall either :
                  — have an internal floating roof with a primary seal which shall ensure an overall containment of
                      vapours of 90 % or more as compared to a fixed-roof tank with no vapour containment controls, or
                  — be linked by a connection line to a vapour recovery unit in conformity with the requirements of
                      Annex II .
                                                               ANNEX II
                                            Requirements for loading installations at terminals
              1 . Displacement vapours from the mobile container being loaded shall be returned through a vapour-tight
                  connection line to a vapour recovery unit for regeneration at the terminal.
                  At terminals which load petrol onto ships or barges, a vapour incineration unit can be substituted for a
                  vapour recovery unit if vapour recovery is unsafe or technically impossible because of the volume of
                  return vapour. The requirements concerning atmospheric emissions from the vapour recovery unit shall
                  also apply to the vapour incineration unit.
              2. The mean concentration of VOCs in the exhaust from the vapour recovery unit — corrected for
                  dilution during treatment — must not exceed 35 g/Nm3 for any one hour.
                  The measurements must be made over the course of one full working day (seven hours minimum) of
                  normal throughput.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 227/ 8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                    3 . 9 . 92
                Measurements may be continuous or discontinuous. If discontinuous measurements are employed, at
                least four measurements per hour must be made.
                The overall measurement error due to the equipment used, the calibration gas and the procedure used
                must not exceed 10 % of the measured value.
                The equipment used must be capable of measuring concentrations as low as 3 g/Nm'.
                The precision must be at least 95 °/o of the measured value.
            3 . The connection lines and pipe installations must be checked for leaks at least every three months.
            4. Loading operations must be shut down immediately in the case of a leak of petrol or vapour. Equipment
                to such shutdown operations must be installed at the loading gantry.
            5 . Road tankers shall be bottom loaded .
            6. Where top-loading of mobile containers is permissible, the outlet of the loading arm shall be kept near
                the bottom of the mobile container, in order to avoid splash loading.
                                                              ANNEX III
                                Requirements for loading and storage installations at service stations
            1 . Vapours displaced from the delivery of petrol into storage installations at service stations shall be
                returned through a vapour-tight connection line to the mobile container delivering the petrol.
            2. The loading operations must be shut down immediately if there is a leak of vapour.