Energy (biofuel obligation and miscellaneous provisions) act 2010

• Act Number: 11
• Enactment Date: 09 June 2010

Number 11 of 2010
ENERGY (BIOFUEL OBLIGATION AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2010
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section
1. Short title and commencement.
2. Definition.
PART 2
Biofuel Obligation
3. Biofuel obligation.
PART 3
Amendments to Principal Act
4. Amendment of section 2 (interpretation) of Principal Act.
5. Amendment of section 8 (object and functions of Agency) of Principal Act.
6. Amendment of section 14 (board of directors) of Principal Act.
7. Amendment of section 16 (power to establish subsidiaries) of Principal Act.
8. Amendment of section 18 (power to engage consultants and advisers) of Principal Act.
9. Amendment of section 19 (chief executive (appointment and terms of office)) of Principal Act.
10. Amendment of section 21 (staff of Agency) of Principal Act.
11. Appointment of National Treasury Management Agency to act on behalf of Agency in certain matters.
12. Amendment of section 36 (definitions for Part 5) of Principal Act.
13. Amendment of section 44 (regulations relating to levy) of Principal Act.
14. Amendment of section 45 (definitions for Part 6) of Principal Act.
15. Amendment of section 47 (powers of authorised officers) of Principal Act.
16. Claims for repayment where overpayment in respect of levy or biofuel levy.
17. Amendment of section 63 (burden of proof in certain proceedings) of Principal Act.
18. Amendment of section 64 (prosecution of offences) of Principal Act.
19. Amendment of section 67 (giving of notices) of Principal Act.
PART 4
Miscellaneous Amendments to other Acts
Chapter 1
Amendment of Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1971
20. Amendment of section 4 (offences, prosecutions and punishments) of Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1971.
Chapter 2
Amendment of Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1982
21. Amendment of section 7 (powers of authorised officer to inspect premises, obtain information, etc.) of Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1982.
Chapter 3
Amendment of Electricity Regulation Act 1999
22. Definition (Chapter 3).
23. Amendment of section 2 (interpretation) of Act of 1999.
24. Amendment of section 9 (functions of Commission) of Act of 1999.
25. Amendment of section 9G (gas works) of Act of 1999.
26. Amendment of section 9H (regulations relating to gas safety) of Act of 1999.
27. Amendment of section 9J (gas safety officers) of Act of 1999.
Chapter 4
Amendment of Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006
28. Repeal of section 14 (extension of gas safety provisions to liquefied petroleum gas) of Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006.
Acts Referred to
Borrowing Powers of Certain Bodies Act 1996 1996, No. 22 Electricity Regulation Act 1999 1999, No. 23 Electronic Commerce Act 2000 2000, No. 27 Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 2006, No. 40 Finance Act 1993 1993, No. 13 Finance Act 2002 2002, No. 5 Financial Transactions of Certain Companies and Other Bodies Act 1992 1992, No. 11 Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1971 1971, No. 3 Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1982 1982, No. 18 National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 2007, No. 7 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 1997, No. 39
Number 11 of 2010
ENERGY (BIOFUEL OBLIGATION AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2010
AN ACT TO FURTHER PROMOTE THE USE OF BIOFUEL IN THE STATE AND FOR THAT PURPOSE TO PROVIDE FOR THE INCREASED SUPPLY OF BIOFUEL IN THE STATE BY MEANS OF A BIOFUEL OBLIGATION REQUIRING THAT A SPECIFIED AMOUNT OF ROAD TRANSPORT FUEL IS BIOFUEL; TO IMPOSE A LEVY ON RELEVANT DISPOSALS OF BIOFUEL; TO CONFER ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS ON THE NATIONAL OIL RESERVES AGENCY TO ADMINISTER THE BIOFUEL OBLIGATION; TO GIVE EFFECT TO CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 23 APRIL 2009 ON THE PROMOTION OF THE USE OF ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES AND AMENDING AND SUBSEQUENTLY REPEALING DIRECTIVES 2001/77/EC AND 2003/30/EC; FOR THOSE AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE NATIONAL OIL RESERVES AGENCY ACT 2007 ; TO AMEND THE FUELS (CONTROL OF SUPPLIES) ACT 1971 , THE FUELS (CONTROL OF SUPPLIES) ACT 1982 , THE ELECTRICITY REGULATION ACT 1999 AND THE ENERGY (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2006 AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.
[9th June, 2010]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
	Short title and commencement.	1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2010.
	(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
	(3) This Part and sections 3 (in so far as it applies to sections 44A and 44B (both inserted by the said section 3 ) of the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 ), 4 , 5 and 16 come into operation on the date of the passing of this Act.
	Definition.	2.— In this Act “Principal Act” means the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 .
PART 2 Biofuel Obligation
	Biofuel obligation.	3.— The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following Part after Part 5:
	“PART 5A
	BIOFUEL OBLIGATION
	Definitions for Part 5A.
	44A.— (1) In this Part—
	‘biofuel’ means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced from biomass;
	‘biofuel levy assessment notice’ means a notice given under section 44Q;
	‘ biofuel obligation ’ has the meaning assigned by section 44C;
	‘biofuel obligation account’ means an account held under section 44E by an obligated party, biofuel producer or biofuel supplier and references to ‘biofuel obligation account holder’ shall be construed accordingly;
	‘biofuel obligation certificate’ means a certificate issued under section 44G to a biofuel obligation account holder;
	‘biofuel producer’ means a person who produces biofuel for his or her own use or for sale;
	‘biofuel supplier’ means a person who supplies biofuel;
	‘biomass’ means the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from biological origin from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries including fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste;
	‘Directive’ means Directive 2009/28/EC 1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC;
	‘expenses’ has the meaning assigned by section 36;
	‘ Member State’ means a state which is a member of the European Union and includes states that are parties to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the protocol done at Brussels on 17 March 1993;
	‘motor vehicle’ means a mechanically propelled vehicle which is powered, in whole or in part, by an internal combustion engine and is designed, constructed or modified to be suitable for use on roads;
	‘obligated party’ means an oil company or oil consumer, as the case may be, that is subject to the biofuel obligation under this Part;
	‘obligation period’, in relation to the biofuel obligation, means—
	(a) in the case of the first obligation period, the period beginning on the day on which section 44C comes into operation and ending on 31 December next following that day, and
	(b) in the case of each subsequent obligation period, the period of 12 months beginning on 1 January and ending on 31 December next following the immediately preceding obligation period;
	‘period of validity’, in relation to a biofuel obligation certificate, has the meaning assigned by section 44G;
	‘petroleum products’ has the meaning assigned by section 36;
	‘relevant disposal of biofuel’ has the meaning assigned by section 44N;
	‘relevant disposal of road transport fuel’ means the volume (expressed in litres) of road transport fuel that in any obligation period—
	(a) an oil company consumes or disposes of by sale or otherwise to persons in the State, or
	(b) an oil consumer consumes in the State;
	‘relevant disposal of petroleum products’ has the same meaning as in Part 5;
	‘road transport fuel’ means any liquid or gaseous fuel which may be used to power, in whole or in part, a motor vehicle whether or not it may also be used for any other purpose;
	‘volume assessment’ means an assessment under section 44O of relevant disposals of biofuel.
	(2) A word or expression that is used in this Part and is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Part as it has in the Directive.
	Conversion factors.
	44B.— (1) In the case of biofuel which is not in liquid form, the Agency shall, for the purposes of this Part, apply a gas to liquid conversion factor (in this section referred to as a ‘conversion factor’) calculated on the basis of providing a fair comparison between a unit volume of biofuel in gaseous form and a unit volume of road transport fuel in liquid form.
	(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Agency, having considered any representations made under subsection (3)(a), shall publish a notice of the conversion factors to be applied under subsection (1) in the Iris Oifigiúil and on its website and by such other means as the Agency considers appropriate.
	(3) (a) Before publishing conversion factors under subsection (2), the Agency, following consultation with the persons specified in paragraph (b), shall publish a notice of the proposed conversion...