The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report drawn up by Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS (GUE/NGL, EL) amending, under the first reading of the codecision procedure, the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Stage II petrol vapour recovery during refuelling of passenger cars at service stations.
The main amendments are as follows:
Definition of petrol: the committee states that 'petrol' means petrol as defined in Article 2(a) of Directive 1994/63/EC, as opposed to Article 2(1) of Directive 98/70/EC. Members note that Definition must be the same as in Stage I PVR directive. As the two legal instruments will apply simultaneously to the same service station it is important that there is consistency in the legal approach.
Service stations: all service stations situated under permanent living quarters or working areas which undergo a major refurbishment shall be equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system at the time of the refurbishment irrespective of their actual or intended throughput.
Member States shall ensure that any existing service station with a throughput in excess of 3000 m3 per annum shall be equipped with a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system by no later than 31 December 2018 (rather than 2020).
The committee stipulates that, by way of derogation, provisions on service stations shall not apply to service stations associated with the construction and delivery of new vehicles.
Minimum permitted level of petrol vapour recovery: hydrocarbon capture efficiency of a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system must be equal to or greater than 90 % (rather than 85%).
Periodic inspection and compliance: service station operators shall record details of all maintenance, inspections and testing, installation and repair work carried out for Stage II controls.
Furthermore, Members consider that when a service station has installed a Stage II petrol vapour recovery system, the operator of the service station shall display a sign, sticker or other notification to the effect that the service station is fitted with Stage II petrol vapour recovery equipment.
Penalties: information on infringements of the provisions of this Directive shall be made public.
Reporting and review: Member States shall report to the Commission on the implementation of this Directive within 24 months of the date of transposition and every 3 years thereafter. On the basis of these reports the Commission shall review the Directive considering especially the establishment of harmonised methods to measure the hydrocarbon capture efficiency.
Transposition and application: the deadline for these was brought forward by 1 year (to 2011).