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These pages are intended as a guide to stakeholders on Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council
on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. On this page you will find a summary of the latest developments, the final text
of the Regulation and MAC Directive, initial Government guidance and minutes of the industry stakeholders meetings. Contact
details are provided at the bottom of the page.
Index
- Latest Developments
- Summary of the Regulation and final text
- MAC Directive and final text
- Initial Government Guidance
- Supplementary Guidance for Stationary Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning and Heat Pump Users
- Work being carried out by the European Commission
- Minutes of f-gas industry stakeholders meetings
- Key Contacts
This section summarises key recent developments. More details and links to documents are provided in the sections below.
Defra together with the DTI, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and other stakeholders, have produced supplementary guidance
for stationary refrigeration air-conditioning and heat pump users with an accompanying refrigerant charge calculator spreadsheet
(see section 5). The Refrigerant charge calculator spreadsheet has been prepared to help estimate the amount of refrigerant
in refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment. Making a reasonable estimate of the refrigerant charge in a circuit is necessary
in order to understand which of the Regulation's obligations will apply to the operaror responsible for that piece of equipment.
The supplementary guidance complements the recently published UK Government initial guidance and Frequently Asked Questions documents.
You can download a copy of the initial guidance and the FAQ documents in section 4.
DTI, working with other Whitehall departments and the devolved administrations, continues to seek the views of UK industry
on implementing the Regulation and would appreciate your comments. If you wish to comment, please e-mail your views to Alan
Morgan (alan.morgan@dti.gsi.gov.uk) at the Sustainable Development Unit.
Respondents in Scotland are requested to copy comments to the Scottish Executive’s Climate Change Team climate.change@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
The f-gas Regulation and Directive were published on 14 June 2006 in the Official Journal of the European Union and entered
into force is 4 July 2006. It will apply with effect from 4 July 2007.
The objectives of the Regulation
The principal objective is to contain, prevent and thereby reduce emissions of f-gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. This
Regulation will make a significant contribution towards the European Community's Kyoto Protocol target by introducing cost-effective
mitigation measures and to prevent distortion of the internal market.
The main focus is on containment and recovery of f-gases, together with harmonised restrictions on the marketing and use of
f-gases in applications where containment of f-gases is difficult to achieve or the use of f-gases is considered inappropriate
and suitable alternatives exist.
The sectors affected
The containment and recovery articles in the Regulation will have an impact on the commercial refrigeration, air-conditioning
and heat pump sectors and in the fire protection sector; and for the personnel involved in the installation, servicing and
recovery of f-gases from these systems as well as from equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gas based solvents, high
voltage switchgear and fire extinguishers. Operators of relevant systems will have a range of obligations including prompt
leakage repair, leakage checking and record keeping and ensuring appropriately qualified personnel are used.
However, this Regulation will potentially also have an impact on a wider range of f-gas uses due to the recovery obligation
provided for in Article 4.3.
The Regulation will also impact on producers, importers and exporters of f-gases if they produce, import or export more than
1 tonne of f-gases per annum as they will have to report to the Commission and Member States' competent authorities on the
amounts produced, imported or exported.
In addition, specified products and equipment that contain f-gases will be subject to labelling requirements and specific
uses of f-gases and products that contain f-gases are controlled or banned by the Regulation. These cover certain uses of
sulphur hexafluoride for magnesium die-casing, use of certain f-gases in non-refillable containers, fire protection systems,
tyres, one component foams, novelty aerosols, footwear and windows and self-chilling cans.
During negotiations in Council it was agreed that the measures in the Regulation relating to Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC)
should form part of a separate Directive amending existing vehicle type approval legislation.
The MAC Directive sets out measures to minimise emissions of f-gases from air conditioning systems in cars (or car derived
vans). This is to be achieved principally through:
· the introduction of maximum leakage rates
· the eventual phase out in MAC use of f-gases with global warming potential greater than 150.
The Department of Transport is responsible for transposing the MAC Directive into UK law. For further information on the MAC
Directive, contact Chris Parkin, Tel: 020 7944 2958
Key obligations in the Regulation will apply in the UK and the rest of the EU from 4th July 2007. The Government is continuing
to work with stakeholders to ensure that the f-gas Regulation is successfully implemented and its environmental objectives
achieved. This initial framework guidance is a key part of that work and has been developed in discussion with stakeholder
groups. The guidance will be updated as necessary, including in the light of progress of the work of the f-gas Regulatory
Committee (see section on article 12). A supplementary document to the initial guidance on frequently asked questions has
also been published.
This Guidance Note is a supplement to the UK Government Initial Guidance (see above)
on the F-Gas Regulation. In particular this Guidance is intended to:
- Help operators of stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump equipment identify whether they use refrigerants
affected by the new Regulation.
- Help identify how much refrigerant they have in a system. This is important as it affects the way the Regulation will apply.
- For those that are affected, to provide an explanation of what actions they need to take to comply and the dates when the
new rules come into force.
The supplementary Guidance note is only aimed at stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump users. Other sectors
affected by the F-Gas Regulation (e.g. fire protection systems, solvents, foam blowing, aerosols) should refer to the UK Government
Initial Guidance above.
The Refrigerant charge calculator spreadsheet has been prepared to help estimate the amount of refrigerant in refrigeration
or air-conditioning equipment. Making a reasonable estimate of the refrigerant charge in a circuit is necessary in order
to understand which of the Regulation's obligations will apply to the operator responsible for that piece of equipment. To use the Refrigerant Charge Calculator you will need to enable the macros. The macro security settings within Excel will
need to be set at low or medium.
Minimum Qualification Requirements for Personnel in the European Community involved in containment and recovery of f-gases
and ODS.
The Consultants, ICF International, have submitted their final report to the Commission on F-Gas minimum qualifications requirements. This
report provides information on what minimum qualifications are currently available in Member States and contains recommendations
for each of the sectors caught by the Regulations.
Consultation on Labelling of Equipment Containing f-gases
IEEP, the Consultants engaged by the European Commission to develop label designs and to research related information, have
produced an Industry questionnaire to assist them in the preparation of a proposed approach by the Commission to meet the
labelling requirements under Article 7 of the F-Gas Regulation.
The deadline for completed questionnaires was Friday, 8 December 2006. Should you complete the questionnaire and return
it to IEEP, I should be grateful if you could also copy me, alan.morgan@dti.gsi.gov.uk in on your reply.
Date of next stakeholders meeting - 15th February 2007
Alan Morgan
DTI Sustainable Development Unit
Policy Adviser
020 7215 1644
alan.morgan@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Andy Smith
Defra
Policy Adviser
020 7082 8169
andy.smith@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Keith Brierley
Environment Agency
Policy Adviser
0117 914 2939
keith.brierley@environment-agency.gov.uk
Alistair Montgomery
Scottish Executive
Climate Change Team
0131 244 7384
climate.change@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
(Site updated 14 February 2007)
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