Considerations on COM(2021)805 - Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)805 - Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)805  |
| date | December 15, 2021 |
(2) On a molecular level, although methane remains in the atmosphere for a shorter period (10 to 12 years) than carbon dioxide (hundreds of years), its greenhouse effect on the climate is more significant and it contributes to ozone formation which is a potent air pollutant that causes serious health problems. The amount of methane in the atmosphere globally has risen sharply over the last decade.
(3) According to recent estimates by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, methane emission reductions of 45% by 2030, based on available targeted measures and additional measures in line with the United Nations (‘UN’) priority development goals, could avoid 0.3°C of global warming by 2045.
(4) According to the Union’s greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) inventories data, the energy sector is estimated to be responsible for 19% of methane emissions within the Union. This does not include methane emissions linked to the Union’s fossil energy consumption which are occurring outside the Union.
(5) The European Green Deal combines a comprehensive set of mutually reinforcing measures and initiatives aimed at achieving climate neutrality in the Union by 2050. The European Green Deal Communication 14 indicates that the decarbonisation of the gas sector will be facilitated, including by addressing the issue of energy-related methane emissions. The Commission adopted an EU strategy to reduce methane emissions (‘the Methane Strategy’) in October 2020 setting out measures to cut methane emissions in the EU, including in the energy sector, and internationally. In Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 15 (‘European Climate Law’), the Union has enshrined into legislation the target of economy-wide climate neutrality by 2050 and also established a binding Union domestic reduction commitment of net greenhouse gas emissions (emissions after deduction of removals) of at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. To achieve that level of GHG emission reductions, methane emissions from the energy sector should decrease by around 58% by 2030 compared to 2020.
(6) Methane emissions are included in the scope of the Union greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030 set out in the European Climate Law and the binding national emission reduction targets under Regulation (EU) 2018/842 16 . However, there is currently no Union level legal framework setting out specific measures for the reduction of anthropogenic methane emissions in the energy sector. In addition, whilst Directive 2010/75 17 on industrial emissions covers methane emissions from the refining of mineral oil and gas, it does not cover other activities in the energy sector.
(7) In this context, this Regulation should apply to the reduction of methane emissions in oil and fossil gas upstream exploration and production, fossil gas gathering and processing, gas transmission, distribution, underground storage and liquid fossil gas (LNG) terminals, as well as to operating underground and surface coalmines, closed and abandoned underground coal mines.
(8) Rules for accurate measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the oil, gas and coal sectors, as well as for the abatement of those emissions, including through leak detection and repair surveys and restrictions on venting and flaring, should be addressed by an appropriate Union legal framework. Such a framework should contain rules to enhance transparency with regard to fossil energy imports into the Union, thus improving the incentives for a wider uptake of methane mitigation solutions across the globe.
(9) Compliance with the obligations under this Regulation is likely to require investments by regulated operators and the costs associated with such investments should be taken into account in tariff setting, subject to efficiency principles.
(10) Each Member State should appoint at least one competent authority to oversee that operators effectively comply with the obligations laid down in this Regulation and should notify the Commission about such appointment and any changes thereof. The competent authorities appointed should take all the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the requirements set out in this Regulation. Taking into account the cross-border character of energy sector operations and methane emissions, competent authorities should cooperate with each other and the Commission. In this context, the Commission and the competent authorities of the Member States should form together a network of public authorities applying this Regulation to foster close cooperation, with the necessary arrangements for exchanging information and best practices and allow for consultations.
(11) In order to ensure a smooth and effective implementation of the obligations laid down in this Regulation, the Commission supports Member States through the Technical Support Instrument 18 providing tailor-made technical expertise to design and implement reforms, including those promoting the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector. The technical support, for example, involves strengthening of administrative capacity, harmonising the legislative frameworks and sharing of relevant best practices.
(12) In order to ensure the performance of their tasks, operators should provide the competent authorities with all assistance necessary. In addition, operators should take all the necessary actions identified by the competent authorities within the period determined by the competent authorities or any other period agreed with the competent authorities.
(13) The main mechanism available to the competent authorities should be inspections, including examination of documentation and records, emissions measurements and site checks. Inspections should take place regularly, on the basis of an appraisal of the environmental risk conducted by the competent authorities. In addition, inspections should be carried out to investigate substantiated complaints and occurrences of non-compliance and to ensure that repairs or replacements of components are carried out in accordance with this Regulation. Where they identify a serious breach of the requirements of this Regulation, competent authorities should issue a notice of remedial actions to be taken by the operator. Competent authorities should keep records of the inspections and the relevant information should be made available in accordance with Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 19 .
(14) In light of the proximity of some methane emission sources to urban or residential areas, natural or legal persons harmed by breaches of this Regulation should be able to lodge duly substantiated complaints with the competent authorities. Complainants should be kept informed of the procedure and decisions taken and should receive a final decision within a reasonable time of lodging the complaint.
(15) A robust verification framework can improve the credibility of reported data. In addition, the level of detail and technical complexity of methane emissions measurements requires proper verification of methane emissions data reported by operators and mine operators. While self-verification is possible, third party verification ensures greater independence and transparency. In addition, it allows for a harmonized set of competences and level of expertise that may not be available to all public entities. Verifiers should be accredited by accreditation bodies in accordance with Regulation (EC) 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council 20 . Independent accredited verifiers should thus ensure that emissions reports prepared by operators and mine operators are correct and in compliance with the requirements set out in this Regulation. They should review the data in the emissions reports to assess their reliability, credibility and accuracy against free and publicly available European or international standards developed by independent bodies and made applicable by the Commission. The Commission should thus be empowered to adopt delegated acts for the purpose of incorporating and setting out the applicability of such European or international standards. Verifiers are separate from competent authorities and should be independent from the operators and mine operators, who should provide them with all assistance necessary to enable or facilitate the performance of the verification activities, notably as regards access to the premises and the presentation of documentation or records.
(16) The information in the emission reports submitted to the competent authorities should be provided to the Commission in view of a verification role to be attributed to the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), in particular with regards to methodologies for data aggregation and analysis and verification of methodologies and statistical processes employed by companies to quantify their emissions reported data. The reference criteria in that respect may include the OGMP standards and guidance documents. The information produced by the IMEO should be made available to the public and the Commission should use such information to address any identified shortcomings with regards to the measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions data.
(17) The IMEO was set up in October 2020 by the Union in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the International Energy Agency, and launched at the G20 Summit in October 2021. The IMEO has been tasked with collecting, reconciling, verifying and publishing anthropogenic methane emissions data at a global level. The IMEO is part of the United Nations Environment Programme, which concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Union. Its role is crucial for verification of methane emissions data in the energy sector and appropriate relations should be established in order to put into effect the entrustment of verification tasks. As the IMEO is not a Union body and is not subject to Union law, it is essential to provide that IMEO takes appropriate measures to ensure the protection of the interests of the Union and its Member States.
(18) As party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, the Union is required to provide annually an inventory report of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions constituting an aggregate of the member States national greenhouse gas inventories, prepared using good practice methodologies accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
(19) Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council 21 requires Member States to report greenhouse gas inventory data to the Commission and to report their national projections. Pursuant to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 reporting is to be undertaken using UNFCCC reporting guidelines, and is often based on default emission factors rather than direct source-level measurements, implying uncertainties on the origin, frequency and magnitude of emissions.
(20) Country data reported pursuant to UNFCCC reporting provisions is submitted to the UNFCCC secretariat according to different tiers of reporting in line with the IPCC guidelines. In this context, the IPCC generally suggests using higher tier methods for those emission sources which have a significant influence on a country’s total inventory of greenhouse gases in terms of absolute level, trend or uncertainty.
(21) A tier represents a level of methodological complexity. Three tiers are available. Tier 1 methods typically use IPCC default emission factors and require the most basic, and least disaggregated, activity data. Higher tiers usually utilise more elaborate methods and source-specific, technology-specific, region-specific or country-specific emission factors, which are often based on measurements, and normally require more highly disaggregated activity data. Specifically, tier 2 requires country-specific, instead of default, emission factors to be used, while tier 3 requires plant-by-plant data or measurements and comprises the application of a rigorous bottom-up assessment by source type at the individual facility level. Progressing from tier 1 to tier 3 represents an increase in the certainty of measurements of methane-related emissions 22 .
(22) Member States have different practices as concerns the tier level at which they report their energy related methane emissions to the UNFCCC. Reporting at tier 2 for large emission sources is in line with IPCC reporting guidelines as tier 2 is considered a higher tier method. Consequently, estimation methodologies and reporting of energy related methane emissions varies across Member States, and reporting at the lowest, tier 1, level is still very common in several Member States for methane emissions from coal, gas and oil.
(23) Currently, voluntary industry-led initiatives remain the principal course of action for methane emissions quantification and mitigation in many countries. A key energy sector led initiative is the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (‘OGMP’), a voluntary initiative on measuring and reporting of methane emissions created in 2014 by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), in whose board the Commission is represented. The OGMP focuses on establishing best-practices to improve the availability of global information on methane emissions quantification and management and to drive mitigation actions to reduce methane emissions. To date, over 60 companies have signed up to OGMP, covering 30% of global oil and gas production and assets in five continents. The OGMP’s work on developing standards and methodologies involves governments, civil society and business. The OGMP 2.0 framework is the latest iteration of a dynamic methane emissions standard and it can provide a suitable basis for methane emissions standards, based on sound scientific norms.
(24) Against this background, it is necessary to improve the measurement and quality of reported data of methane emissions, including on the main sources of methane emissions associated with energy produced and consumed within the Union. Moreover, the availability of source-level data and robust quantification of emissions should be ensured, thereby increasing the reliability of reporting as well as the scope for appropriate measures for mitigation.
(25) For measuring and reporting to be effective, oil and gas companies should be required to measure and report methane emissions by source, and to make aggregated data available to Member States in order for Member States to be able to improve the accuracy of their inventories reporting. In addition, effective verification of company reported data is necessary and, to minimise the administrative burden for operators, reporting should be organised on an annual basis.
(26) This Regulation builds on the OGMP 2.0 framework insofar as it meets the criteria referred to in Recitals 24 and 25, to contribute towards the collection of reliable and robust data that would form a sufficient basis for monitoring methane emissions and if necessary to build additional action to further curb methane emissions.
(27) The OGMP 2.0 framework has five levels of reporting. Source-level reporting begins at level 3, which is considered comparable with UNFCCC tier 3. It allows generic emission factors to be used. OGMP 2.0 level 4 reporting requires direct measurements of source-level methane emissions. It allows the use of specific emission factors. OGMP 2.0 level 5 reporting requires the addition of complementary site-level measurements. In addition, the OGMP 2.0 framework requires companies to report direct measurements of methane emissions within three years of joining OGMP 2.0 for operated assets and within five years for non-operated assets. Building on the approach taken in OGMP 2.0 with regard to source-level reporting and taking into account that a large number of Union companies had already signed up to OGMP 2.0 in 2021, Union operators should be required to deliver direct source-level measurements of their emissions within 24 months for operated assets and within 36 months for non-operating assets. In addition to source level quantification, site-level quantification allows assessment, verification and reconciliation of source-level estimates aggregated by site, thereby providing improved confidence in reported emissions. As in OGMP 2.0, this Regulation requires site-level measurements to reconcile source-level measurements.
(28) According to data from the Union’s GHG inventory, more than half of all direct energy sector methane emissions is due to unintentional release of emissions into the atmosphere. In the case of oil and gas, that represents the largest share of methane emissions.
(29) Unintentional leaks of methane into the atmosphere can occur during drilling, extraction as well as during processing, storage, transmission and distribution to end-use consumers. They can also occur in inactive oil or gas wells. Some emissions result from imperfections in, or ordinary wear and tear of, technical components such as joints, flanges and valves, or from damaged components, for example in the case of accidents. Corrosion or damage can also cause leaks from the walls of pressurised equipment.
(30) While venting of methane is typically intentional, resulting from processes or activities and devices designed for that purpose, it can also be unintentional, as in the case of a malfunction.
(31) In order to reduce those emissions, operators should take all measures available to them to minimise methane emissions in their operations.
(32) More specifically, methane emissions from leaks are most commonly reduced by methane leak detection and repair (‘LDAR’) surveys, carried out to identify leaks and followed by repair of such leaks. Operators should therefore conduct at least periodic LDAR surveys and these should also cover surveying of components that vent methane, to survey for unintentional venting of methane.
(33) For that purpose, a harmonised approach to ensure a level-playing field for all operators in the Union should be set up. That approach should include minimum requirements for LDAR surveys, while leaving an adequate degree of flexibility to Member States and operators. This is essential to allow innovation and the development of new LDAR technologies and methods, thus preventing the lock-in of technology, to the detriment of environmental protection. New technologies and detection methods continue to emerge and Member States should encourage innovation in this sector, so that the most accurate and cost-effective methods can be adopted.
(34) Obligations on LDAR surveys should reflect a number of good practices. LDAR surveys should be primarily aimed at finding and fixing leaks, rather than quantifying them, and those areas with a higher risk of leaks should be checked more frequently; the frequency of surveys should be guided not only by the need to repair components from which methane is escaping above the methane emission threshold but also by operational considerations, taking into account risks to safety. Thus, where a higher risk to safety or higher risk of methane losses is identified, the competent authorities should be allowed to recommend a higher frequency of surveys for the relevant components; all leaks irrespective of size should be recorded and monitored, as small leaks can develop into larger ones; leak repairs should be followed by confirmation that they have been effective; in order to allow for future, more advanced methane emissions detecting technologies to be used, the size of methane loss at or above which a repair is warranted should be specified, while allowing operators the choice of detection device. Where appropriate, continuous monitoring may be used in the context of this Regulation.
(35) Venting consists of the release of uncombusted methane into the atmosphere either intentionally from processes or activities or devices designed to do it, or unintentionally in the case of a malfunction. In light of its potent GHG emission effect, venting should be banned except in the case of emergencies, malfunction or during certain specific events where some venting is unavoidable.
(36) Flaring is the controlled combustion of methane for the purpose of disposal in a device designed for said combustion. When carried out during the normal production of oil or fossil gas and as a result of insufficient facilities or amenable geology to re-inject methane, utilise it on-site, or dispatch it to a market, it is considered routine flaring. Routine flaring should be banned. Flaring should only be permissible when it is the only alternative to venting and where venting is not prohibited. Venting is more harmful to the environment than flaring as the released gas typically contains high-levels of methane, whereas flaring oxidises methane into carbon dioxide.
(37) Using flaring as an alternative to venting requires that flaring devices are efficient at combusting methane. For that reason, a combustion efficiency requirement should also be included for the cases in which flaring is admissible. Use of pilot burners, which give more reliable ignition as they are not affected by wind, should also be required.
(38) Re-injection, utilisation on-site or dispatch of the methane to a market should always be preferable to flaring - and therefore venting - of methane. Operators that vent should provide proof to the competent authorities that neither re-injection, utilisation on-site or dispatch of the methane to a market nor flaring were possible and operators that flare should provide proof to the competent authorities that re-injection, utilisation on-site or dispatch of the methane to a market was not possible.
(39) Operators should notify major venting and flaring events without delay to the competent authorities and submit more comprehensive reports on all venting and flaring events. They should also ensure that equipment and devices comply with the standards laid down in Union law.
(40) Methane emissions from inactive oil and gas wells pose public health, safety and environmental risks. Therefore, monitoring and reporting obligations should still apply and those wells and well sites should be reclaimed and remediated. In such cases, Member States should have a predominant role, in particular to establish an inventories and mitigation plans.
(41) EU GHG inventory data shows that coalmine methane emissions are the biggest single source of methane emissions in the Union’s energy sector. In 2019, direct emissions from the coal sector represented 31% of methane emissions, almost equal to the percentage of direct methane emissions from fossil gas and oil combined, of 33%.
(42) Currently, there is no Union-wide specific regulations limiting methane emissions from the coal sector, despite availability of a wide array of mitigation technologies. There is no Union or international coal-specific monitoring, reporting and verification standard. In the Union, reporting of methane emissions from the coal industry is part of the GHG emission reporting by Member States and data from underground mines is also included in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register established by Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 23 .
(43) Methane emissions are primarily linked to underground mining activities, both in active and abandoned mines 24 . In active underground mines, methane concentration in the air is continuously controlled, as it constitutes a health and safety hazard. In the case of underground coal mines, the vast majority of the methane emissions occur through ventilation and drainage or degasification systems, which represent the two main ways of lowering methane concentrations in a mine’s airways.
(44) Once production is halted and a mine is closed or abandoned, it continues to release methane, referred to as abandoned mine methane (AMM). These emissions typically occur at well-defined point sources, such as ventilation shafts or pressure-relief vents. With increased climate ambition and shifting energy production to less carbon-intensive energy sources, AMM emissions are likely to increase in the Union. It is estimated that even 10 years after mining is ceased, methane from non-flooded mines continues to be emitted at levels attaining approximately 40% of emissions recorded at the time of closure 25 . Moreover, treatment of AMM remains fragmented due to different ownership and exploitation rights across the EU. Member States should thus establish inventories of closed and abandoned coal assets and, either them or the identified responsible party, should be required to install devices for measurement of methane emissions.
(45) Operating surface coal mines in the Union produce lignite and emit less methane than underground coal mines. According to the Union GHG inventory, in 2019 operating surface mines emitted 166 kilotonnes compared to 828 kilotonnes for underground coal mines 26 . Measurement of surface coal mine methane emissions is challenging due to their diffuse nature over a wide area. Therefore, and despite available technology 27 , emissions from surface mines are rarely measured. Methane emissions from surface mines can be derived using basin-specific coal emission factors 28 and, with greater precision, using mine- or deposit-specific emission factors, since coal basins have deposits with different methane-bearing capacity 29 . Emission factors can be derived from measuring gas content of the seams sampled from exploration borehole cores 30 . Mine operators should thus perform measurements of methane emissions in surface coal mines using such emission factors.
(46) Therefore, mine operators should perform continuous measurement and quantification of methane emissions from ventilation shafts in underground coal mines, continuous measurement of vented and flared methane in drainage stations and use specific emission factors as regards surface coal mines. They should report that data to the competent authorities.
(47) Currently, mitigation of methane emissions can be best achieved in operating and closed or abandoned underground coal mines. Effective mitigation of methane emissions from operating and closed or abandoned surface mines is currently limited by technology. However, in order to support research and development on mitigation technologies of such emissions in the future, there should be effective and detailed monitoring, reporting, and verification of the scale of those emissions.
(48) Underground mines are either thermal or coking coal mines. Thermal coal is used primarily as an energy source and coking coal is used as a fuel and as a reactant in the process of steelmaking. Both coking coal and thermal coal mines should be subject to measuring, reporting and verification of methane emissions.
(49) For operating underground coal mines, mitigation of methane emissions should be implemented through a phase out of venting and flaring. For closed or abandoned underground coal mines, while flooding the mine can prevent methane emissions, this is not systematically done and has environmental risks. Venting and flaring in these mines should also be phased out. As geological constraints and environmental considerations prevent a one-size-fits-all approach to mitigate methane emissions from abandoned underground coal mines 31 , Member States should establish their own mitigation plan, taking into consideration those constraints and the technical feasibility of AMM mitigation.
(50) Following a Commission proposal, on 28 June 2021, the Council adopted the new legal base of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel 32 which foresees support for research and innovation for repurposing of the formerly operating coal mines or coal mines in the process of closure and related infrastructure in line with the overall objective of moving away from the coal and the Just Transition Mechanism. In this context, one of the main objectives for the new Research Fund for Coal and Steel programme for the coming years will be to minimise the environmental impacts of coal mines in transition, in particular with regard to methane emissions.
(51) The Union is dependent on imports for 70% of its hard coal consumption, 97% of its oil consumption, and 90% of its fossil gas consumption. There is no precise knowledge on the magnitude, origin or nature of methane emissions linked to fossil energy consumed in the Union but occurring in third countries.
(52) Global warming effects caused by methane emissions are cross-border. Although some fossil energy producing countries are beginning to act domestically to reduce methane emissions from their energy sectors, many exporters are not subject to any regulations in their respective domestic markets. Such operators need clear incentives to act on their methane emission, hence transparent information on methane emissions should be made available to the markets.
(53) Currently there is limited accurate data (UNFCCC Tier 3 or equivalent) on international methane emissions. Many fossil exporting countries have so far not submitted full inventory data to the UNFCCC. At the same time, there is evidence of large increases of methane emissions from oil and gas production activities globally from 65 to 80 Mt/year in the last 20 years 33 .
(54) As announced in the Communication on the EU Methane Strategy 34 , the Union is committed to working in cooperation with its energy partners and other key fossil energy importing countries to tackle methane emissions globally. Energy diplomacy on methane emissions has already yielded important outcomes. In September 2021, the Union and the United States announced the Global Methane Pledge, which represents a political commitment to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 (from 2020 levels), launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November 2021 in Glasgow. Over one hundred countries have committed their support, representing nearly half of global anthropogenic methane emissions. The Global Methane Pledge includes a commitment to move towards using best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions, with a particular focus on high emission sources.
(55) Further, the International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) will play an important and lead role to increase transparency on global energy sector methane emissions. Support for setting up the IMEO was provided by the Council in its January 2021 conclusions on Climate and Energy Diplomacy 35 .
(56) The Commission will work with the IMEO to set up a ‘Methane Supply Index’, as explicitly referred to in the Communication on the EU Methane Strategy 36 . It would provide methane emission data from different sources of fossil energy from around the globe - including from source-level estimations and measurements as well as from aerial/satellite monitoring - thereby empowering buyers of fossil energy to make informed purchasing decisions on the basis of the methane emissions of fossil energy sources.
(57) In parallel to continuing its successful diplomatic work to achieve such global commitments, the Union is further encouraging significant methane emissions abatement globally, and in particular in the countries supplying fossil energy to the Union.
(58) Therefore, importers of fossil energy to the Union should be required to provide Member States with information on measures related to measurement, reporting and mitigation of methane emissions undertaken by exporters, in particular the application of regulatory or voluntary measures to control their methane emissions, including measures such as leak detection and repair surveys or measures to control and restrict venting and flaring of methane. The levels of measurement and reporting set out in the information requirements applied to importers correspond to the ones to be required from Union operators in this Regulation, as outlined in Recitals 24 to 26 and 46. The information on measures to control methane emissions is not more burdensome than that required from Union operators.
(59) Member States should communicate that information to the Commission. On the basis of that information, the Union should set up and manage a transparency database for fossil energy imports into the Union, detailing whether the exporting companies have signed up to the OGMP for oil and gas companies and to the extent that it is set up, an equivalent, internationally or Union recognised standard for coal companies. Such information should demonstrate the degree of commitment of companies in exporting countries to measure, report and have verified their methane emissions according to tier 3 methods of UNFCCC reporting. Such a transparency database would serve as a source of information for the purchasing decisions of importers of fossil energy to the Union as well as for other stakeholders and the public. The transparency database should also reflect the efforts undertaken by companies in the Union and companies exporting fossil energy to the Union to measure and report as well as reduce their methane emissions. It should also include information on the measurement, reporting and mitigation regulatory actions by countries where fossil energy is produced.
(60) In addition, the Union should put in place a global methane emitter monitoring tool, providing information on the magnitude, recurrence and location of high methane-emitting sources. This should further encourage real and demonstrable results from the implementation of methane regulations and effective mitigation actions by companies in the Union and companies supplying fossil energy to the Union. The tool should pool data from several certified data providers and services, including the Copernicus component of the EU Space Programme and the IMEO. The tool should inform the Commission’s bilateral dialogues with the countries concerned to discuss the different scenarios envisaged for methane emissions policies and measures.
(61) In combination, the measures referred to in Recitals 58 to 60 should enhance transparency for buyers, enabling them to make informed sourcing decisions and improve the possibility of wider uptake of methane mitigation solutions across the globe. In addition, they should further incentivise international companies to sign up to international methane measurement and reporting standards such as OGMP or to adopt effective measurement, reporting and mitigation measures. These measures are designed as the basis for a stepwise approach to increase the level of stringency of the measures applicable to imports. The Commission should thus be empowered to amend or add to the reporting requirements of importers. Furthermore, the Commission should evaluate the implementation of those measures and, if it deems appropriate, submit proposals for review to impose more stringent measures on importers and to ensure a comparable level of effectiveness of measures applicable in third countries to monitor, report, verify and mitigate methane emissions. The evaluation should take into account the work undertaken by the IMEO, including the Methane Supply Index, the transparency database and the global methane emitter monitoring tool. Should the Commission find it appropriate to increase the level of stringency of the measures applicable to imports, it is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work including consulting relevant third countries.
(62) Member States should ensure that infringements of this Regulation are sanctioned by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, which may include fines and periodic penalty payments, and take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. In order to play a significant deterrent effect, penalties should be adequate to the type of infringement, to the possible advantage for the operator and to the type and gravity of the environmental damage. When imposing penalties, due regard should be given to the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement in question. The imposition of penalties should be proportionate and should comply with Union and national law, including with applicable procedural safeguards and with the principles of the Charter of fundamental rights.
(63) In order to ensure more consistency, a list of the types of infringements that should be subject to penalties should be set out. In order to facilitate the more consistent application of penalties, common non-exhaustive and indicative criteria for the application of penalties should be set out. The deterrent effect of penalties should be reinforced by the possibility to publish the information related to the penalties imposed by Member States, in compliance with the data protection requirements set out in Regulations (EU) 2016/679 37 and (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and the Council 38 .
(64) As a result of the provisions requiring investments by regulated operators to be taken into account in tariff setting, Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council 39 should be amended to entrust ACER with the task of making available a set of indicators and reference values for the comparison of unit investment costs linked to measurement, reporting and abatement of methane emissions for comparable projects.
(65) In order to define the elements of the phase out of venting and flaring in coking coal mines, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by setting out restrictions on venting methane from ventilation shafts for coking coal mines. In addition, in order to allow for further information to be required from importers, as proved necessary, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Regulation by amending or adding to the information to be provided by importers. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(66) In order to ensure uniform conditions for implementation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt detailed rules with regard to common formats for reporting, in accordance with Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council 40 .
(67) Operators and competent authorities should be given a reasonable period in order to take the necessary preparatory actions to meet the requirements of this Regulation.
(68) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the accurate measurement, reporting, verification and the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector, cannot be achieved by the Member States individually and can therefore, by reason of its scale, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.