Directive on petrol vapour recovery at filling stations, adopted in record time

The European Commission proposed a Directive on Stage II petrol vapour recovery during refuelling of passenger cars at service stations aiming at ensuring that harmful petrol vapour which escapes during the refuelling of cars at service stations is captured and recycled. The proposal is an extension of the existing Directive 94/63/EC on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations.

The Commission presented the proposal last December nevertheless the draft directive has already been adopted at first-reading. Last May, the European Parliament endorsed a first-reading agreement reached in informal negotiations with Council on the proposal. On 24 September, the Council formally adopted the legislative act without discussion.

Under the Commission’s proposal Member States would be required to ensure that, from 1 July 2012, all newly constructed or substantially refurbished service stations with an annual petrol throughput greater than 500m3 per year are equipped with Stage II petrol vapour recovery (PVR) technologies. Such equipment also needs to be installed at all service stations situated underneath residential accommodation irrespective of their size. By 2020, the largest existing stations, with a throughput greater than 3000m3 per year, will also have to install this equipment.

The Commission has estimated the costs for installing Stage II controls at existing stations around €20-30 million per annum.

Lord Hunt, the Minister for Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Air Quality at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has explained to the European Scrutiny Committee that UK Regulations due to come into force in 2010 will implement similar provisions to those included in the Commission proposal however the trigger thresholds are different. Whereas the Commission has proposed a threshold of 3000m3 the UK regulations will have an upper threshold of 3500m3. Moreover, the UK Regulations provide for the 500m3 threshold only to new service stations and not as the Commission proposed to existing ones undergoing major refurbishment.

The Government is consulting stakeholders, and is preparing an Impact Assessment. The European Scrutiny Committee has pointed out that according to the consultants draft report “the typical capital costs of installing Stage II controls is around £30,000 for a new service station with a throughput between 3000m3 and 3500m3" and "that the capital costs increase to around £130,000 if the upgrade is undertaken outside the scheduled refurbishment cycle (…).”

The European Scrutiny Committee has doubts if “(…) the quantified benefits will be outweighed by the costs.” The Committee Members were therefore concerned “(…) if a decision were to be rushed through simply in order to reach a first reading agreement.”

However, under the compromise deal any new service station, as of 1 January 2012, must be equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system if its throughput is greater than 500m3 per year or it is greater than 100m3 per annum and it is situated under residential or working areas. Furthermore, any existing service station which undergoes a major refurbishment must be equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system at the time of the refurbishment if its throughput is greater than 500m3 per annum or if it is greater than 100m3 per annum and it is situated under residential or working areas. Moreover, any existing service station, by 31 December 2018, two years earlier than the Commission proposal, must be equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system if its throughput is greater than 3000m3 per annum.

The UK Regulations would have therefore to be amended.

The European Parliament adopted a derogation under which such provisions will not apply to service stations solely used in association with the construction and delivery of new motor vehicles, as the fuel tanks of newly-manufactured motor vehicles contain no petrol vapour.

Member States are required to ensure that the hydrocarbon capture efficiency of a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system is equal to or greater than 85%. Under the directive, the hydrocarbon capture efficiency must be tested at least once per annum. Moreover, Member States must ensure that service stations with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system display a sign, sticker or other notification to inform consumers.