Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/94 of 15 December 1994 on substances that deplete the ozone layer

• Published date: 22 December 1994
• Subject Matter: Environment,Internal market - Principles
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 333, 22 December 1994

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Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/94 of 15 December 1994 on substances that deplete the ozone layer

Official Journal L 333 , 22/12/1994 P. 0001 - 0020
Finnish special edition: Chapter 15 Volume 14 P. 0137
Swedish special edition: Chapter 15 Volume 14 P. 0137

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3093/94 of 15 December 1994 on substances that deplete the ozone layer

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 103s (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

Whereas it is established that continued emissions of ozone-depleting substances at current levels cause significant damage to the ozone layer;

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 594/91 of 4 March 1991 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (4) was amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3952/92 (5); whereas on the occasion of this amendment it is desirable, in the interests of clarity, to recast that Regulation;

Whereas in view of the Community's responsibilities for the environment and trade, all Member States and the Community have become Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as amended by the Parties to the Protocol at their second meeting in London;

Whereas, in the light of recent scientific evidence, at their fourth meeting in Copenhagen, at which the Community and the Member States played a leading role, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopted a second amendment to the Protocol comprising additional measures for the protection of the ozone layer;

Whereas it is necessary for action to be taken at Community level to carry out the Community's obligations under the Convention and the second amendment to the Protocol, in particular to control the production and supply of methyl bromide and hydrobromofluorocarbons and the supply and use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons within the Community;

Whereas in the light of scientific evidence in particular it is appropriate in certain cases to introduce control measures which are more severe than those of the second amendment to the Protocol;

Whereas a periodical review of the permitted uses of ozone-depleting substances by means of the committee procedure is desirable;

Whereas it is necessary to keep under review the evolution of the market in ozone-depleting substances, particularly in order to ensure sufficient supply for essential uses, and the state of development of appropriate substitutes, but also to keep to a minimum the imports of virgin, recovered and reclaimed ozone-depleting substances released for free circulation in the European Community;

Whereas it is appropriate to take all precautionary measures practicable to prevent leakages of ozone-depleting substances and to promote the recovery of such substances after use for recycling or safe destruction,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to the production, importation, exportation, supply, use and recovery of chlorofluorocarbons, other fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, methyl bromide, hydrobromofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons. It shall also apply to the reporting of information on these substances.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

- 'Protocol' shall mean the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, whether in the original 1987 version as adjusted in 1990 and 1992, the amended 1990 version as adjusted in 1992, or the amended 1992 version,

- 'Party' shall mean any Party to the Protocol,

- 'State not Party to the Protocol' shall, with respect to a particular controlled substance, include any State or regional economic-integration organization that has not agreed to be bound by the control measures applicable to that substance,

- 'controlled substances' shall mean chlorofluorocarbons, other fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, methyl bromide, hydrobromofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, whether alone or in a mixture. This definition shall not cover any controlled substance which is in a manufactured product other than a container used for the transportation or storage of that substance, or insignificant quantities of any controlled substance, originating from inadvertent or coincidental production during a manufacturing process, from unreacted feedstock, or from use as a processing agent which is present in chemical substances as trace impurities, or that is emitted during product manufacture or handling;

- 'chlorofluorocarbons' shall mean the controlled substances listed in Group I of Annex I, including their isomers,

- 'other fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons' shall mean the controlled substances listed in Group II of Annex I, including their isomers,

- 'halons' shall mean the controlled substances listed in Group III of Annex I, including their isomers,

- 'carbon tetrachloride' shall mean the controlled substance specified in Group IV of Annex I,

- '1,1,1-trichloroethane' shall mean the controlled substance specified in Group V of Annex I,

- 'methyl bromide' shall mean the controlled substance specified in Group VI of Annex I,

- 'hydrobromofluorocarbons' shall mean the controlled substances listed in Group VII of Annex I, including their isomers,

- 'hydrochlorofluorocarbons' shall mean the controlled substances listed in Group VIII of Annex I, including their isomers,

- 'producer' shall mean any natural or legal person manufacturing controlled substances within the Community,

- 'production' shall mean the amount of controlled substances produced, less the amount destroyed by technologies approved by the Parties and less the amount entirely used as feedstock in the manufacture of other chemicals. No amount recovered and reclaimed shall be considered as 'production',

- 'undertaking' shall mean any natural or legal person who produces, recycles for placing on the market or uses controlled substances for industrial or commercial purposes in the Community, who releases such imported substances for free circulation in the Community, or who exports such substances from the Community for industrial or commercial purposes,

- 'ozone-depleting potential' shall mean the figure specified in the final column of Annex I representing the potential effect of each controlled substance on the ozone layer,

- 'calculated level' shall mean a quantity determined by multiplying the quantity of each controlled substance by its ozone-depleting potential as specified in Annex I and by adding together, for each group of controlled substances in Annex I separately, the resulting figures,

- 'industrial rationalization' shall mean the transfer either between Parties or within a Member State of all or a portion of the calculated level of production of one producer to another, for the purpose of optimizing economic efficiency or responding to anticipated shortfalls in supply as a result of plant closures,

- 'recovery' shall mean the collection and the storage of controlled substances from, for example, machinery, equipment and containment vessels during servicing or before disposal,

- 'recycling' shall mean the reuse of a recovered controlled substance following a basic cleaning process such as filtering and drying. For refrigerants, recycling normally involves recharge back into equipment as is often carried out on site,

- 'reclamation' shall mean the reprocessing and upgrading of a recovered controlled substance through such processes as filtering, drying, distillation and chemical treatment in order to restore the substance to a specified standard of performance, which often involves processing off site at a central facility.

CHAPTER II PHASE-OUT SCHEDULE

Article 3

Control of production of controlled substances

1. Subject to paragraphs 8 to 12, each producer shall ensure that:

- the calculated level of his production of chlorofluorocarbons in the period 1 January to 31 December 1994 does not exceed 15 % of the calculated level of his production of chlorofluorocarbons in 1986,

- he produces no chlorofluorocarbons after 31 December 1994.

However, subject to paragraphs 8 to 12, each producer in a Member State in which the calculated level of production of chlorofluorocarbons was less than 15 000 tonnes in 1986 shall ensure that:

- the calculated level of his production of chlorofluorocarbons in the period 1 January to 31 December 1994 and in the following 12-month period does not exceed 15 % of the calculated level of his production in 1986,

- he produces no chlorofluorocarbons after 31 December 1995.

In the light of the nominations made by Member States the Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16, apply the criteria set out in Decision IV/25 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in order to determine every year any essential uses for which the production and importation of chlorofluorocarbons may be permitted in the Community after 31 December 1994 and those users who may take advantage of those essential uses for their own account. Such production and importation shall be allowed only if no adequate alternatives or recycled chlorofluorocarbons are available from any of the Parties to the Protocol.

The Commission shall issue licences to those users identified as laid down in the third subparagraph and shall notify them of the use for which they have authorization and the substances and the quantities of them that they are authorized to use.

A producer may...