Citation and commencement

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Amendment) Order 2013 and, subject to paragraph (2), comes into force on the day after the day on which the Order is made.

(2) Articles 3 to 11 come into force on 15th April 2013.

Amendment of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007

2.  The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007(4) is amended as follows.

Amendment of article 2 (interpretation)

3.  After article 2(2) insert-

"(3) For the purposes of this Order, an inland waterway vessel or a recreational craft which does not normally operate at sea is to be treated as such only if it does not normally operate beyond the limits of waters in-

(a)category A;

(b)category B; and

(c)category C, excluding tidal rivers and estuaries,

where categories A, B and C have the meanings given to them in Merchant Shipping Notice 1827(M) issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as revised or re-issued from time to time.".

Amendment of article 3 (definitions of fuels and fuel products)

4.  After article 3(3) insert-

"(3A) "Gas oil" has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Motor Fuel Regulations(5).".

5.  After article 3(5A) insert-

"(5B) "Low sulphur gas oil" means any gas oil-

(a)which is for use in-

(i)non-road mobile machinery, including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea;

(ii)agricultural tractors;

(iii)forestry tractors; or

(iv)recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea(6); and

(b)the sulphur content of which does not exceed the level specified in regulation 5B(1)(b) of the Motor Fuel Regulations(7).".

6.  For article 3(10) substitute-

"(10) "Relevant hydrocarbon oil" means hydrocarbon oil which-

(a)is chargeable to a duty of excise under the 1979 Act(8);

(b)is for use as fuel in road vehicles, non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea), agricultural or forestry tractors, or recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea; and

(c)falls within one of the following categories-

(i)petrol,

(ii)diesel,

(iii)gas oil,

(iv)renewable transport fuel,

but does not include detergents, cetane improvers, lubricity improvers, viscosity improvers, oxidation inhibitors, gum inhibitors, anti-corrosive preparations and like substances intended for use as fuel additives.".

Amendment of article 4 (the renewable transport fuel obligation)

7.  In article 4(6)(c)(ii) for "5.2632%" substitute "4.9870%".

8.  For article 4(8)(a)(ii) substitute-

"(ii)is for use as fuel in road vehicles, non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea), agricultural or forestry tractors, or recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea;".

Amendment of article 5 (determinations of amounts of transport fuel)

9.  For paragraph (1) of article 5 substitute the following-

"(1) Where, in relation to an amount of transport fuel, it is shown that a person owns the fuel at the time when the requirement to pay the duty of excise with which the fuel is chargeable takes effect, it is to be presumed-

(a)that that amount of fuel is supplied by that person at or for delivery to places in the United Kingdom at that time; and

(b)in relation to fuel for which the requirement to pay the duty of excise with which the fuel is chargeable takes effect on or after 15th April 2013, that such of that fuel as is petrol, diesel, low sulphur gas oil or renewable transport fuel is relevant hydrocarbon oil at that time.

(1A) The presumption in paragraph (1)(a) is to be displaced only if the Administrator is satisfied that the fuel will not be supplied at or for delivery to places in the United Kingdom.

(1B) The presumption in paragraph (1)(b) is to be displaced only if the Administrator is satisfied that the fuel is not relevant hydrocarbon oil.".

10.  For paragraph (2) of article 5 substitute the following-

"(2) In relation to fuel which becomes chargeable to a duty of excise before 15th April 2013, an amount of renewable transport fuel only counts towards the discharging of a person's renewable transport fuel obligation for an obligation period if-

(a)it is for use as fuel in road vehicles,

(b)it meets the sustainability criteria, and

(c)the condition set out in paragraph (4) is satisfied.

(2A) In relation to fuel which becomes chargeable to a duty of excise on or after 15th April 2013, an amount of renewable transport fuel only counts towards the discharging of a person's renewable transport fuel obligation for an obligation period if-

(a)it is for use as fuel in road vehicles, non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea), agricultural or forestry tractors, or recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea,

(b)it meets the sustainability criteria, and

(c)the condition set out in paragraph (4) is satisfied.".

Amendment of article 17 (issue of RTF certificates)

11.  For article 17(1)(a) substitute-

"(a)is for use as fuel in road vehicles, non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea), agricultural or forestry tractors, or recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea,".

Amendment of article 23 (civil penalties)

12.  After article 23(12) insert-

"(12A) Where a defaulter(9) does not pay all or any part of the penalty to the Administrator by the date before which the civil penalty must be paid-

(a)the sum outstanding is to increase at the rate specified in paragraph (12B) and the increase is to be calculated in accordance with paragraph (12C); and

(b)the increased sum is a debt due from the defaulter to the Administrator until it has been paid in full.

(12B) The rate for the purposes of paragraph (12A) is 5 percentage points above the base rate of the Bank of England as at the date before which the civil penalty must be paid to the Administrator.

(12C) The increase is to be calculated on a daily basis beginning on the date before which the civil penalty must be paid to the Administrator, and ending on the date on which payment is received by the Administrator.".

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3072) ("the 2007 Order"). It transposes, in part, Articles 7a to 7e and Annex IV of Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC (OJ No L 350, 28.12.1998, p.58), as inserted by Directive 2009/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 (OJ No L 140, 5.6.2009, pp. 88-113).

The overall purpose of the amendments to the 2007 Order is to expand the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation ("the RTF obligation"), which is imposed on suppliers by article 4 of the 2007 Order, to cover suppliers of fuel for additional end uses. These are non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels which do not normally operate at sea), agricultural or forestry tractors, and recreational craft which do not normally operate at sea.

Article 3

Article 4 to 6

article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

An impact assessment on the effect that expanding the scope of the 2007 Order to cover additional fuel and suppliers will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Low Carbon Fuels Division, Department for Transport, Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 4DR (telephone 020 7944 4895). The impact assessment and a transposition note are annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside this instrument on the UK legislation website at http://www.legislation.gov.uk. A copy of the impact assessment has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament.

A copy of the Directives referred to in this Explanatory Note may be viewed in the Official Journal of the European Union via the EUR-lex website at http://eur-lex.europa.eu.

Merchant Shipping Notices are published by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and can be viewed on the agency's website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca which also has details of any amendments or replacements.