Article 1 Scope
This Directive shall apply to the operations, installations, vehicles and vessels used for storage, loading and transport of petrol from one terminal to another or from a terminal to a service station.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purpose of this Directive: (a) ‘petrol’ shall mean any petroleum derivative, with or without additives, having a reid vapour pressure of 27,6 kilopascals or more, which is intended for use as a fuel for motor vehicles, except liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); (b) ‘vapours’ shall mean any gaseous compound which evaporates from petrol; (c) ‘storage installation’ shall mean any stationary tank at a terminal used for the storage of petrol; (d) ‘terminal’ shall mean any facility which is used for the storage and loading of petrol onto road tankers, rail tankers, or vessels, including all storage installations on the site of the facility; (e) ‘mobile container’ shall mean any tank, transported by road, rail or waterways used for the transfer of petrol from one terminal to another or from a terminal to a service station; (f) ‘service station’ shall mean any installation where petrol is dispensed to motor vehicle fuel tanks from stationary storage tanks; (g) ‘existing’ petrol storage installations, loading installations, service stations and mobile containers shall mean such installations, service stations and mobile containers which were in operation before the date referred to in Article 10 or for which an individual construction licence or operating licence, where required under national legislation, was granted before the date referred to in Article 10; (h) ‘new’ in relation to petrol storage installations, loading installations, service stations and mobile containers shall mean such installations, service stations and mobile containers which are not covered by paragraph (g); (i) ‘throughput’ shall mean the largest total annual quantity of petrol loaded from a storage installation at a terminal or from a service station into mobile containers during the three preceding years; (j) ‘vapour-recovery unit’ shall mean equipment for the recovery of petrol from vapours including any buffer reservoir systems at a terminal; (k) ‘vessel’ shall mean an inland waterway vessel as defined in Chapter 1 of Council Directive 82/714/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels ( 7 ); (l) ‘target reference value’ shall mean the guideline given for the overall assessment of the adequacy of technical measures in the Annexes and is not a limit value against which the performance of individual installations, terminals and service stations will be measured; (m) ‘intermediate storage of vapours’ shall mean the intermediate storage of vapours in a fixed roof tank at a terminal for later transfer to and recovery at another terminal. The transfer of vapours from one storage installation to another at a terminal shall not be considered as intermediate storage of vapour within the meaning of this Directive; (n) ‘loading installation’ shall mean any facility at a terminal at which petrol can be loaded onto mobile containers. Loading installations for road tankers comprise one or more ‘gantries’; (o) ‘gantry’ shall mean any structure at a terminal at which petrol can be loaded on to a single road tanker at any one time.
Article 3 Storage installations at terminals
1. Storage installations shall be designed and operated in accordance with the technical provisions of Annex I. These provisions are designed to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading and storage at each storage installation at terminals to below the target reference value of 0,01 weight by weight (w/w) % of the throughput. Member States may maintain or require more stringent measures throughout their territory or in geographical areas where it is established that such measures are necessary for the protection of human health or the environment owing to specific conditions. Member States may adopt technical measures for the reduction of losses of petrol other than those set down in Annex I if such alternative measures are demonstrated to have at least the same efficiency. Member States shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any existing measures or of any special measures referred to in this paragraph which they contemplate taking and of their grounds for taking them. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new installations; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing installations if the throughput loaded at a terminal is greater than 50 000 tonnes/year; (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing installations if the throughput loaded at a terminal is greater than 25 000 tonnes/year; (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 10 for all other existing storage installations at terminals.
Article 4 Loading and unloading of mobile containers at terminals
1. Loading and unloading equipment shall be designed and operated in accordance with the technical provisions of Annex II. These provisions are designed to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading and unloading of mobile containers at terminals to below the target reference value of 0,005 w/w % of the throughput. Member States may maintain or require more stringent measures throughout their territory or in geographical areas where it is established that such measures are necessary for the protection of human health or the environment owing to specific conditions. Member States may adopt technical measures for the reduction of losses of petrol other than those set down in Annex II if such alternative measures are demonstrated to have at least the same efficiency. Member States shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any existing measures or of any special measures referred to in this paragraph which they contemplate taking and of their grounds for taking them. The Commission shall verify the compatibility of these measures with the provisions of the Treaty and those of this paragraph. All terminals with loading facilities for road tankers shall be equipped with at least one gantry which meets the specifications for bottom loading equipment laid down in Annex IV. The Commission shall re-examine those specifications at regular intervals and, if appropriate, revise them. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 8(2). 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new terminals for loading onto road tankers, rail tankers and/or vessels; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing terminals for loading onto road tankers, rail tankers and/or vessels if the throughput is greater than 150 000 tonnes/year; (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing terminals for loading onto road tankers and rail tankers if the throughput is greater than 25 000 tonnes/year; (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 10 for all other existing loading installations at terminals for loading onto road tankers and rail tankers. 3. Nine years after the date referred to in Article 10 the requirements for bottom-loading equipment set in Annex IV shall apply to all road tanker loading gantries at all terminals unless exempted under the terms of paragraph 4. 4. By way of derogation, paragraphs 1 and 3 shall not apply: (a) to existing terminals with a throughput of less than 10 000 tonnes/year and; (b) to new terminals with a throughput of less than 5 000 tonnes/year located in small remote islands. Member States shall inform the Commission of terminals concerned by such a derogation through the reporting arrangements referred to in Article 9. 5. The Kingdom of Spain may grant a derogation of one year from the time limit set down in paragraph 2 (b).
Article 5 Mobile containers
1. Mobile containers shall be designed and operated in accordance with the following requirements: (a) mobile containers shall be designed and operated so that residual vapours are retained in the container after unloading of petrol; (b) mobile containers which supply petrol to service stations and terminals shall be designed and operated so as to accept and retain return vapours from the storage installations at the service stations or terminals. For rail tankers this is only required if they supply petrol to service stations or to terminals where intermediate storage of vapours is used; (c) except for release through the pressure relief valves, the vapours mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be retained in the mobile container until reloading takes place at a terminal. If after the unloading of petrol the mobile container is subsequently used for products other than petrol, in so far as vapour recovery or intermediate storage of vapours is not possible, ventilation may be permitted in a geographical area where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems; (c) except for release through the pressure relief valves, the vapours mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be retained in the mobile container until reloading takes place at a terminal. If after the unloading of petrol the mobile container is subsequently used for products other than petrol, in so far as vapour recovery or intermediate storage of vapours is not possible, ventilation may be permitted in a geographical area where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems; (d) the Member States' competent authorities must ensure that road tankers are regularly tested for vapour tightness and that vacuum/pressure valves on all mobile containers are periodically inspected for correct functioning. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new road tankers, rail tankers and vessels; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing rail tankers and vessels if loaded at a terminal to which the requirement of Article 4 (1) applies; (c) for existing road tankers when retrofitted for bottom loading in accordance with the specifications laid down in Annex IV. 3. By way of derogation, the provisions of paragraph 1, subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) shall not apply to losses of vapours resulting from measuring operations using dipsticks in relation to: (a) existing mobile containers; and (b) new mobile containers which come into operation during the four years following the date referred to in Article 10.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL General background Many legal acts of the Union were adopted without an expiry date. These acts remain formally in force even if their legal effects have been exhausted. Eliminating acts that are no longer applicable or relevant permits a more user-friendly presentation and more efficient and time-saving scrutiny of tools that facilitate access to Union law: CELEX, EUR-Lex and the Directory of Legislation in force (e.g. search results would no longer show obsolete acts alongside those which are applicable). Improving the transparency of Union law is an essential element of the Better Regulation agenda that the Union Institutions are pursuing also under the new Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making 1 . The 2014 REFIT Communication 2 announced that the Commission will prepare repeals of legislation, inter alia, in relation to standardized reporting in the area of environment. Moreover, t he 2015 Better Regulation Communication 3 called for a broad review of reporting in several policy areas including the environment. Given these links, the repeal of Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 standardizing and rationalizing reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment ("Directive 91/692/EEC") is now being addressed. This is also linked to a wider Fitness Check for environmental monitoring and reporting. That Fitness Check is now underway, as set out in the Commission's Work Programme 2016 4 , which mentioned the proposal for repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and the related water questionnaire Decision 95/337/EEC under repeal initiatives in Annex V. The repeal package consists of four proposed initiatives related to the repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and Decision 95/337/EEC: 1. A Communication which declares the obsolescence of 11 implementing acts adopted by the Commission to establish questionnaires for environmental reporting including Decision 95/337/EEC. 2. Two proposals for Commission Decisions repealing 2 of the implementing decisions (via comitology procedures), namely Commission Decision 2011/92/EU of 10 February 2011 5 and Commission Decision 2010/681/EU of 9 November 2010 6 that have exhausted their legal effect, but for procedural reasons will be repealed via a later comitology procedure by the Commission. 3. Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision, which will repeal and amend provisions of the 6 legal acts referring to Directive 91/692/EEC. To prepare these initiatives, the Commission has undertaken an analysis and looked into the consequences of keeping or repealing the various obligations. The result of this work is summarised below and is presented in more detail in a supporting study which is published separately. 7 As the aim is to repeal obsolete provisions and legal acts, it is considered that there is no need for a formal impact assessment to be carried out. It is important to highlight that there are no real economic benefits expected to be harvested as a result of the repeal exercise. Main benefits will be mainly linked to have a clearer set of rules on reporting resulting from this clean-up exercise. Shortcomings of Directive 91/692/EEC The Directive 91/692/EEC (SRD) aimed at streamlining the reporting obligations of all EU environmental legislation in effect at the time of its adoption. However in practice, not all environmental reporting requirements were harmonized by Directive 91/692/EEC. For instance Directives 91/271/EEC 8 and 91/676/EEC 9 were excluded from scope. It can be also observed that the implementation of the Directive was burdensome and ineffective from the outset. One main problem was that the directive was adopted prior to the widespread use of information technology (IT). Furthermore, many of the individual instruments for which Directive 91/692/EEC set out reporting requirements were subsequently replaced by instruments which disregarded its reporting provisions. For example, the Directive 2000/60/EC 10 repealed seven pieces of water legislation and hence the related water questionnaire 95/337/EEC adopted under Directive 91/692/EEC became redundant. Instruments such as the Directive 2000/60/EC and the Directive 2010/75/EC 11 (and its predecessor, Directive 96/61/EC) 12 introduced independent reporting obligations. With the successful development of the European Environmental Agency's (EEA) Reportnet and sectoral initiatives on streamlining of reporting (e.g. the Water Information System for Europe), the need and effectiveness of a horizontal instrument on reporting was increasingly put into question. Finally, the adoption of the INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC), and the related development of the Shared Environment Information System (SEIS), 13 introduced a more modern and effective, horizontal approach to information management and reporting related to EU environmental policy. The Commission concluded at the time that "[…] a key step in implementing SEIS, and especially to trigger the expected simplification benefits, will be to modernise the legal provisions relating to the way in which information required by environmental legislation is made available. It is expected that this will be done by revising the Standardised Reporting directive 91/692/EC, which needs to be updated and brought into line with the SEIS principles. To this end, the Commission intends to come forward with a relevant legislative proposal in 2008, including a repeal of outdated provisions in the current standardised reporting directive." 14 In the end, the Commission decided not to come forward with a new legal instrument on reporting but to pursue this agenda through a non-legal approach (see EU Shared Environmental Information System-Implementation Outlook 15 ) combined with coordinated action in the different environmental policy areas (such as water, air, nature, etc.). Summary of current scope and relevance of Directive 91/692/EEC Directive 91/692/EEC refers to 28 environmental acts covered by its provisions. A number of further acts make use of Directive 91/692/EEC. Currently due to subsequent repeals of these acts (see overview in table 2), 1 regulation, 9 directives (see overview in table 1) (two directives remain subject to its provisions, namely Directive 86/278/EEC and Directive 87/217/EEC) and 23 decisions remain in force that still make reference to those provisions (see overview in table 3). In conclusion, the majority of the original obligations set out in Directive 91/692/EEC have become obsolete and have no legal effect anymore As a result, the proposal for a repeal has been made to ensure legal certainty, improve transparency, reduce administrative burden and ensure that EU legislation is "fit for purpose" in line with the Better Regulation agenda. Proposed actions to repeal Directive 91/692/EEC and related acts The first action is a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council removing requirements for standardized reporting. It is also proposed that references to the old comitology rules are replaced by Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers as required by Article 13 thereof on transitional measures. The second action aims at adoption of a Communication on declaring obsolescence of the implementing Decisions under Directive 91/692/EEC still in force. The Communication identifies the Decisions that have become obsolete and whose legal basis was repealed. The third action will aim to repeal two implementing decisions, that still have a valid legal basis but in the meantime have exhausted their legal effects. 16 As part of the preparatory analysis, several options were considered to ensure an effective repeal whilst maintaning the legal effects, where necessary. The findings of this analysis are presented in the supporting study 17 that recommends the complete repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC provisions and removal of obsolete provisions, while making reference to new rules on implementing acts. This option consisting of the above-mentioned three actions was identified as most effective in cutting red tape and enhancing legal clarity. Pre-existing directives referred to by Directive 91/692/EEC As noted above, only Directives 86/278/EEC and 87/217/EEC (see overview in table 1) remain from the 28 instruments (see overview in table 2) originally mentioned in Directive 91/692/EEC. It is proposed to maintain the reporting provisions of Directives 86/278/EEC, while aligning it with the new rules for implementing acts established by the TFEU. The reporting requirements of Directive 87/217/EEC are not being used, mainly due to discontinuation of the use of asbestos across the EU Member States as a consequence of the phasing out of the production and use of raw asbestos and of products containing asbestos in the EU, through REACH (1907/2006/EC).
Revised version (Article 5 Mobile containers):
1. Mobile containers shall be designed and operated in accordance with the following requirements: (a) mobile containers shall be designed and operated so that residual vapours are retained in the container after unloading of petrol; (b) mobile containers which supply petrol to service stations and terminals shall be designed and operated so as to accept and retain return vapours from the storage installations at the service stations or terminals. For rail tankers this is only required if they supply petrol to service stations or to terminals where intermediate storage of vapours is used; (c) except for release through the pressure relief valves, the vapours mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be retained in the mobile container until reloading takes place at a terminal. If after the unloading of petrol the mobile container is subsequently used for products other than petrol, in so far as vapour recovery or intermediate storage of vapours is not possible, ventilation may be permitted in a geographical area where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems; (d) the Member States' competent authorities must ensure that road tankers are regularly tested for vapour tightness and that vacuum/pressure valves on all mobile containers are periodically inspected for correct functioning. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new road tankers, rail tankers and vessels; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing rail tankers and vessels if loaded at a terminal to which the requirement of Article 4 (1) applies; (c) for existing road tankers when retrofitted for bottom loading in accordance with the specifications laid down in Annex IV. 3. By way of derogation, the provisions of paragraph 1, subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) shall not apply to losses of vapours resulting from measuring operations using dipsticks in relation to: (a) existing mobile containers; and (b) new mobile containers which come into operation during the four years following the date referred to in Article 10.
Article 6 Loading into storage installations at service stations
1. Loding and storage equipment shall be designed and operated in accordance with the technical provisions of Annex III. These provisions are designed to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading into storage installations at service stations to below the target reference value of 0,01 w/w % of the throughput. Member States may maintain or require more stringent measures throughout their territory or in geographical areas where it is established that such measures are necessary for the protection of human health or the environment owing to specific conditions. Member States may adopt technical measures for the reduction of losses of petrol other than those set down in Annex III if such alternative measures are demonstrated to have at least the same efficiency. Member States shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any existing measures or of any special measures referred to in this paragraph which they contemplate taking and of their grounds for taking them. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new service stations; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10: — for existing service stations with a throughput greater than 1 000 m 3 /year, — for existing service stations, regardless of their throughput, which are located under permanent living quarters or working areas; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10: — for existing service stations with a throughput greater than 1 000 m 3 /year, — for existing service stations, regardless of their throughput, which are located under permanent living quarters or working areas; (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing service stations with a throughput greater than 500 m 3 /year; (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 10 for all other existing service stations. 3. By way of derogation, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to service stations with a throughput of less than 100 m 3 /year. 4. For service stations with an annual throughput of less than 500 m 3 /year, Member States may grant a derogation from the requirements of paragraph 1 where the service station is located in a geographical area or on a site where vapour emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems. Member States shall inform the Commission of the details of the areas within which they intend to grant such derogation in the framework of the reporting arrangements referred to in Article 9 and subsequently of any changes to such areas. 5. The Kingdom of the Netherlands may grant a derogation from the timetable set down in paragraph 2, subject to the following conditions: — the measures required by this Article are implemented as part of a broader, existing national programme for service stations which simultaneously addresses various environmental problems, such as water pollution, air pollution, ground pollution and waste pollution and the implementation of which is tightly scheduled, — the timetable may only be varied by a maximum of two years, all programmes being completed within the time limit set out in paragraph 2 (d), — the Commission shall be notified of the decision to diverge from the timetable set down in paragraph 2, including full information on the scope and deadline of the derogation. 6. The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic may grant a derogation of one year from the time limit set down in paragraph 2 (b).
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL General background Many legal acts of the Union were adopted without an expiry date. These acts remain formally in force even if their legal effects have been exhausted. Eliminating acts that are no longer applicable or relevant permits a more user-friendly presentation and more efficient and time-saving scrutiny of tools that facilitate access to Union law: CELEX, EUR-Lex and the Directory of Legislation in force (e.g. search results would no longer show obsolete acts alongside those which are applicable). Improving the transparency of Union law is an essential element of the Better Regulation agenda that the Union Institutions are pursuing also under the new Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making 1 . The 2014 REFIT Communication 2 announced that the Commission will prepare repeals of legislation, inter alia, in relation to standardized reporting in the area of environment. Moreover, t he 2015 Better Regulation Communication 3 called for a broad review of reporting in several policy areas including the environment. Given these links, the repeal of Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 standardizing and rationalizing reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment ("Directive 91/692/EEC") is now being addressed. This is also linked to a wider Fitness Check for environmental monitoring and reporting. That Fitness Check is now underway, as set out in the Commission's Work Programme 2016 4 , which mentioned the proposal for repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and the related water questionnaire Decision 95/337/EEC under repeal initiatives in Annex V. The repeal package consists of four proposed initiatives related to the repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and Decision 95/337/EEC: 1. A Communication which declares the obsolescence of 11 implementing acts adopted by the Commission to establish questionnaires for environmental reporting including Decision 95/337/EEC. 2. Two proposals for Commission Decisions repealing 2 of the implementing decisions (via comitology procedures), namely Commission Decision 2011/92/EU of 10 February 2011 5 and Commission Decision 2010/681/EU of 9 November 2010 6 that have exhausted their legal effect, but for procedural reasons will be repealed via a later comitology procedure by the Commission. 3. Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision, which will repeal and amend provisions of the 6 legal acts referring to Directive 91/692/EEC. To prepare these initiatives, the Commission has undertaken an analysis and looked into the consequences of keeping or repealing the various obligations. The result of this work is summarised below and is presented in more detail in a supporting study which is published separately. 7 As the aim is to repeal obsolete provisions and legal acts, it is considered that there is no need for a formal impact assessment to be carried out. It is important to highlight that there are no real economic benefits expected to be harvested as a result of the repeal exercise. Main benefits will be mainly linked to have a clearer set of rules on reporting resulting from this clean-up exercise. Shortcomings of Directive 91/692/EEC The Directive 91/692/EEC (SRD) aimed at streamlining the reporting obligations of all EU environmental legislation in effect at the time of its adoption. However in practice, not all environmental reporting requirements were harmonized by Directive 91/692/EEC. For instance Directives 91/271/EEC 8 and 91/676/EEC 9 were excluded from scope. It can be also observed that the implementation of the Directive was burdensome and ineffective from the outset. One main problem was that the directive was adopted prior to the widespread use of information technology (IT). Furthermore, many of the individual instruments for which Directive 91/692/EEC set out reporting requirements were subsequently replaced by instruments which disregarded its reporting provisions. For example, the Directive 2000/60/EC 10 repealed seven pieces of water legislation and hence the related water questionnaire 95/337/EEC adopted under Directive 91/692/EEC became redundant. Instruments such as the Directive 2000/60/EC and the Directive 2010/75/EC 11 (and its predecessor, Directive 96/61/EC) 12 introduced independent reporting obligations. With the successful development of the European Environmental Agency's (EEA) Reportnet and sectoral initiatives on streamlining of reporting (e.g. the Water Information System for Europe), the need and effectiveness of a horizontal instrument on reporting was increasingly put into question. Finally, the adoption of the INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC), and the related development of the Shared Environment Information System (SEIS), 13 introduced a more modern and effective, horizontal approach to information management and reporting related to EU environmental policy. The Commission concluded at the time that "[…] a key step in implementing SEIS, and especially to trigger the expected simplification benefits, will be to modernise the legal provisions relating to the way in which information required by environmental legislation is made available. It is expected that this will be done by revising the Standardised Reporting directive 91/692/EC, which needs to be updated and brought into line with the SEIS principles. To this end, the Commission intends to come forward with a relevant legislative proposal in 2008, including a repeal of outdated provisions in the current standardised reporting directive." 14 In the end, the Commission decided not to come forward with a new legal instrument on reporting but to pursue this agenda through a non-legal approach (see EU Shared Environmental Information System-Implementation Outlook 15 ) combined with coordinated action in the different environmental policy areas (such as water, air, nature, etc.). Summary of current scope and relevance of Directive 91/692/EEC Directive 91/692/EEC refers to 28 environmental acts covered by its provisions. A number of further acts make use of Directive 91/692/EEC. Currently due to subsequent repeals of these acts (see overview in table 2), 1 regulation, 9 directives (see overview in table 1) (two directives remain subject to its provisions, namely Directive 86/278/EEC and Directive 87/217/EEC) and 23 decisions remain in force that still make reference to those provisions (see overview in table 3). In conclusion, the majority of the original obligations set out in Directive 91/692/EEC have become obsolete and have no legal effect anymore As a result, the proposal for a repeal has been made to ensure legal certainty, improve transparency, reduce administrative burden and ensure that EU legislation is "fit for purpose" in line with the Better Regulation agenda. Proposed actions to repeal Directive 91/692/EEC and related acts The first action is a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council removing requirements for standardized reporting. It is also proposed that references to the old comitology rules are replaced by Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers as required by Article 13 thereof on transitional measures. The second action aims at adoption of a Communication on declaring obsolescence of the implementing Decisions under Directive 91/692/EEC still in force. The Communication identifies the Decisions that have become obsolete and whose legal basis was repealed. The third action will aim to repeal two implementing decisions, that still have a valid legal basis but in the meantime have exhausted their legal effects. 16 As part of the preparatory analysis, several options were considered to ensure an effective repeal whilst maintaning the legal effects, where necessary. The findings of this analysis are presented in the supporting study 17 that recommends the complete repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC provisions and removal of obsolete provisions, while making reference to new rules on implementing acts. This option consisting of the above-mentioned three actions was identified as most effective in cutting red tape and enhancing legal clarity. Pre-existing directives referred to by Directive 91/692/EEC As noted above, only Directives 86/278/EEC and 87/217/EEC (see overview in table 1) remain from the 28 instruments (see overview in table 2) originally mentioned in Directive 91/692/EEC. It is proposed to maintain the reporting provisions of Directives 86/278/EEC, while aligning it with the new rules for implementing acts established by the TFEU. The reporting requirements of Directive 87/217/EEC are not being used, mainly due to discontinuation of the use of asbestos across the EU Member States as a consequence of the phasing out of the production and use of raw asbestos and of products containing asbestos in the EU, through REACH (1907/2006/EC).
Revised version (Article 6 Loading into storage installations at service stations):
1. Loding and storage equipment shall be designed and operated in accordance with the technical provisions of Annex III. These provisions are designed to reduce the total annual loss of petrol resulting from loading into storage installations at service stations to below the target reference value of 0,01 w/w % of the throughput. Member States may maintain or require more stringent measures throughout their territory or in geographical areas where it is established that such measures are necessary for the protection of human health or the environment owing to specific conditions. Member States may adopt technical measures for the reduction of losses of petrol other than those set down in Annex III if such alternative measures are demonstrated to have at least the same efficiency. Member States shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of any existing measures or of any special measures referred to in this paragraph which they contemplate taking and of their grounds for taking them. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply: (a) from the date referred to in Article 10 for new service stations; (b) three years from the date referred to in Article 10: — for existing service stations with a throughput greater than 1 000 m 3 /year, — for existing service stations, regardless of their throughput, which are located under permanent living quarters or working areas; (c) six years from the date referred to in Article 10 for existing service stations with a throughput greater than 500 m 3 /year; (d) nine years from the date referred to in Article 10 for all other existing service stations. 3. By way of derogation, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to service stations with a throughput of less than 100 m 3 /year. 4. For service stations with an annual throughput of less than 500 m 3 /year, Member States may grant a derogation from the requirements of paragraph 1 where the service station is located in a geographical area or on a site where vapour emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems. Member States shall inform the Commission of the details of the areas within which they intend to grant such derogation and subsequently of any changes to such areas. 5. The Kingdom of the Netherlands may grant a derogation from the timetable set down in paragraph 2, subject to the following conditions: — the measures required by this Article are implemented as part of a broader, existing national programme for service stations which simultaneously addresses various environmental problems, such as water pollution, air pollution, ground pollution and waste pollution and the implementation of which is tightly scheduled, — the timetable may only be varied by a maximum of two years, all programmes being completed within the time limit set out in paragraph 2 (d), — the Commission shall be notified of the decision to diverge from the timetable set down in paragraph 2, including full information on the scope and deadline of the derogation. 6. The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic may grant a derogation of one year from the time limit set down in paragraph 2 (b).
Article 7 
Adaptation to technical progress Except for the limit values laid down in point 2 of Annex II, the Commission may adapt the Annexes to this Directive to technical progress. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 8(2).
Article 8 The committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
Article 9 Monitoring and reporting
The reports on the implementation of this Directive shall be established according to the procedure laid down in Article 5 of Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 standardizing and rationalizing reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment ( 8 ). The Commission is invited to accompany its first report where appropriate with proposals for the amendment of this Directive, including in particular the extension of the scope to include vapour control and recovery systems for loading installations and ships.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL General background Many legal acts of the Union were adopted without an expiry date. These acts remain formally in force even if their legal effects have been exhausted. Eliminating acts that are no longer applicable or relevant permits a more user-friendly presentation and more efficient and time-saving scrutiny of tools that facilitate access to Union law: CELEX, EUR-Lex and the Directory of Legislation in force (e.g. search results would no longer show obsolete acts alongside those which are applicable). Improving the transparency of Union law is an essential element of the Better Regulation agenda that the Union Institutions are pursuing also under the new Interinstitutional Agreement on better law-making 1 . The 2014 REFIT Communication 2 announced that the Commission will prepare repeals of legislation, inter alia, in relation to standardized reporting in the area of environment. Moreover, t he 2015 Better Regulation Communication 3 called for a broad review of reporting in several policy areas including the environment. Given these links, the repeal of Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 standardizing and rationalizing reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment ("Directive 91/692/EEC") is now being addressed. This is also linked to a wider Fitness Check for environmental monitoring and reporting. That Fitness Check is now underway, as set out in the Commission's Work Programme 2016 4 , which mentioned the proposal for repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and the related water questionnaire Decision 95/337/EEC under repeal initiatives in Annex V. The repeal package consists of four proposed initiatives related to the repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC and Decision 95/337/EEC: 1. A Communication which declares the obsolescence of 11 implementing acts adopted by the Commission to establish questionnaires for environmental reporting including Decision 95/337/EEC. 2. Two proposals for Commission Decisions repealing 2 of the implementing decisions (via comitology procedures), namely Commission Decision 2011/92/EU of 10 February 2011 5 and Commission Decision 2010/681/EU of 9 November 2010 6 that have exhausted their legal effect, but for procedural reasons will be repealed via a later comitology procedure by the Commission. 3. Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision, which will repeal and amend provisions of the 6 legal acts referring to Directive 91/692/EEC. To prepare these initiatives, the Commission has undertaken an analysis and looked into the consequences of keeping or repealing the various obligations. The result of this work is summarised below and is presented in more detail in a supporting study which is published separately. 7 As the aim is to repeal obsolete provisions and legal acts, it is considered that there is no need for a formal impact assessment to be carried out. It is important to highlight that there are no real economic benefits expected to be harvested as a result of the repeal exercise. Main benefits will be mainly linked to have a clearer set of rules on reporting resulting from this clean-up exercise. Shortcomings of Directive 91/692/EEC The Directive 91/692/EEC (SRD) aimed at streamlining the reporting obligations of all EU environmental legislation in effect at the time of its adoption. However in practice, not all environmental reporting requirements were harmonized by Directive 91/692/EEC. For instance Directives 91/271/EEC 8 and 91/676/EEC 9 were excluded from scope. It can be also observed that the implementation of the Directive was burdensome and ineffective from the outset. One main problem was that the directive was adopted prior to the widespread use of information technology (IT). Furthermore, many of the individual instruments for which Directive 91/692/EEC set out reporting requirements were subsequently replaced by instruments which disregarded its reporting provisions. For example, the Directive 2000/60/EC 10 repealed seven pieces of water legislation and hence the related water questionnaire 95/337/EEC adopted under Directive 91/692/EEC became redundant. Instruments such as the Directive 2000/60/EC and the Directive 2010/75/EC 11 (and its predecessor, Directive 96/61/EC) 12 introduced independent reporting obligations. With the successful development of the European Environmental Agency's (EEA) Reportnet and sectoral initiatives on streamlining of reporting (e.g. the Water Information System for Europe), the need and effectiveness of a horizontal instrument on reporting was increasingly put into question. Finally, the adoption of the INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC), and the related development of the Shared Environment Information System (SEIS), 13 introduced a more modern and effective, horizontal approach to information management and reporting related to EU environmental policy. The Commission concluded at the time that "[…] a key step in implementing SEIS, and especially to trigger the expected simplification benefits, will be to modernise the legal provisions relating to the way in which information required by environmental legislation is made available. It is expected that this will be done by revising the Standardised Reporting directive 91/692/EC, which needs to be updated and brought into line with the SEIS principles. To this end, the Commission intends to come forward with a relevant legislative proposal in 2008, including a repeal of outdated provisions in the current standardised reporting directive." 14 In the end, the Commission decided not to come forward with a new legal instrument on reporting but to pursue this agenda through a non-legal approach (see EU Shared Environmental Information System-Implementation Outlook 15 ) combined with coordinated action in the different environmental policy areas (such as water, air, nature, etc.). Summary of current scope and relevance of Directive 91/692/EEC Directive 91/692/EEC refers to 28 environmental acts covered by its provisions. A number of further acts make use of Directive 91/692/EEC. Currently due to subsequent repeals of these acts (see overview in table 2), 1 regulation, 9 directives (see overview in table 1) (two directives remain subject to its provisions, namely Directive 86/278/EEC and Directive 87/217/EEC) and 23 decisions remain in force that still make reference to those provisions (see overview in table 3). In conclusion, the majority of the original obligations set out in Directive 91/692/EEC have become obsolete and have no legal effect anymore As a result, the proposal for a repeal has been made to ensure legal certainty, improve transparency, reduce administrative burden and ensure that EU legislation is "fit for purpose" in line with the Better Regulation agenda. Proposed actions to repeal Directive 91/692/EEC and related acts The first action is a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council removing requirements for standardized reporting. It is also proposed that references to the old comitology rules are replaced by Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers as required by Article 13 thereof on transitional measures. The second action aims at adoption of a Communication on declaring obsolescence of the implementing Decisions under Directive 91/692/EEC still in force. The Communication identifies the Decisions that have become obsolete and whose legal basis was repealed. The third action will aim to repeal two implementing decisions, that still have a valid legal basis but in the meantime have exhausted their legal effects. 16 As part of the preparatory analysis, several options were considered to ensure an effective repeal whilst maintaning the legal effects, where necessary. The findings of this analysis are presented in the supporting study 17 that recommends the complete repeal of Directive 91/692/EEC provisions and removal of obsolete provisions, while making reference to new rules on implementing acts. This option consisting of the above-mentioned three actions was identified as most effective in cutting red tape and enhancing legal clarity. Pre-existing directives referred to by Directive 91/692/EEC As noted above, only Directives 86/278/EEC and 87/217/EEC (see overview in table 1) remain from the 28 instruments (see overview in table 2) originally mentioned in Directive 91/692/EEC. It is proposed to maintain the reporting provisions of Directives 86/278/EEC, while aligning it with the new rules for implementing acts established by the TFEU. The reporting requirements of Directive 87/217/EEC are not being used, mainly due to discontinuation of the use of asbestos across the EU Member States as a consequence of the phasing out of the production and use of raw asbestos and of products containing asbestos in the EU, through REACH (1907/2006/EC).
Revised version (Article 9 Monitoring and reporting):
The Commission is invited to submit with its reports, where appropriate, proposals for the amendment of this Directive, including in particular the extension of the scope to include vapour control and recovery systems for loading installations and ships.
Article 10 Transposition into national legislation
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 December 1995. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When these measures are adopted by Member States, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 11 Final provision
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.