§ Mr. CongdonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in implementing in the United Kingdom the European Commission stage 1 petrol vapour recovery directive. [652]
§ Mr. ClappisonWe are laying regulations in Parliament today, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to implement the EC directive (94/63/EC) on the control of volatile organic compound emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations. These are important measures which aim to reduce emissions of the volatile organic compounds which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone.
3WThe directive requires the fitting and use of equipment, in the distribution and storage of petrol, which is designed to capture and recover petrol vapours rather than venting them into the air as at present. The provisions of the directive will be implemented in a phased programme running through to 2004.
The Government have decided to apply a derogation in the directive which exempts from its provisions small service stations in areas where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems.
The regulations laid today include a map showing the areas in which the derogation will apply to new small service stations. These are in rural areas in the northern half of Scotland where petrol vapour emissions do not contribute significantly to ozone formation and ground level ozone is not itself a problem. The directive applied immediately to any proposals for new service stations which are not eligible for the derogation.
The provisions of the directive do not apply to existing small service stations until 2004. The areas in which the derogation will be applied to these stations will be defined closer to that date, using the best scientific information then available.
Legislation to implement the directive with regard to petrol tankers was introduced in August in amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations.