The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) Order 2024

• (4) For the purposes of section 130(5), the period before the end of which the notification must be given is a period of 28 days beginning on the day immediately after the day on which the notice of objection is given to the Administrator.

• (5) In this article, the objector’s address is the address provided by the supplier to the Administrator for use in respect of its SAF account.

Part 7 — Amendment of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007

Introductory

26

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007¹⁰ is amended as follows.

Amendment of article 2

27

In article 2(1) (interpretation)—

• (a) in the definition of “assessment time”—

• (i) omit paragraph (a);

• (ii) in paragraph (d), omit “, other than fossil fuel for use in aircraft,”; and

• (b) in the definition of “support scheme”—

• (i) omit “applied by an EEA state, a group of EEA states or the United Kingdom,”;

• (ii) omit “investment aid, tax exemptions or reductions, tax refunds,”; and

• (iii) after “payments”, insert “, and excludes investment aid, tax exemptions or reductions, and tax refunds”.

Amendment of article 3

28

In article 3 (definitions of fuels and fuel products)—

• (a) omit paragraphs (1A) and (1B);

• (b) in paragraph (2D), omit sub-paragraphs (a) and (b);

• (c) in paragraph (10)(b), omit “aircraft,”.

Amendment of article 4

29

In article 4 (the renewable transport fuel obligation), in paragraph (8)(a)(ii), omit “aircraft,”.

Amendment of article 5

30

In article 5 (determinations of the amounts of transport fuel), in paragraph (2A)(a), omit “aircraft,”.

Amendment of article 16

31

In article 16 (application for RTF certificates), omit paragraph (6).

Amendment of article 17

32

In article 17 (issue of RTF certificates), in paragraph (1)(a), omit “aircraft,”.

Part 8 — Miscellaneous

Review

33

• (1) The Secretary of State must from time to time—

• (a) carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in this Order; and

• (b) publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review.

• (2) A report published under this article must, in particular—

• (a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision contained in this Order;

• (b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved;

• (c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate; and

• (d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

• (3) The first report must be published before the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which this Order comes into force.

• (4) Subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding five years.

• (5) In this article, “regulatory provision” has the same meaning as in section 28 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015¹¹.

Schedule 1 — Sustainability criteria

1

In this Schedule—

• “GHG emissions saving threshold” means the threshold established in accordance with paragraph 5; and

• “minimum GHG emissions saving” means the percentage amount determined in accordance with paragraph 7.

2

To the extent that relevant sustainable aviation fuel was produced from a feedstock listed in column (2) of the table below, that feedstock meets the sustainability criteria if it meets the conditions specified for the feedstock concerned in column (3) of the table.

3

A feedstock meets the soil carbon criteria if the supplier provides evidence, by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f), that satisfies the Administrator that adequate monitoring or management plans are in place for the land concerned which address the impacts on soil quality and soil carbon of the harvesting of the relevant feedstock from that land.

4

A waste of fossil origin meets the sustainable waste management criteria if the supplier provides evidence, by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f), that satisfies the Administrator that adequate monitoring or management plans are in place to address the local environmental impacts caused by sourcing or processing the waste.

5

Subject to paragraph 6, an amount of sustainable aviation fuel meets the GHG emissions saving threshold if the GHG emissions saving from its use is equal to or greater than the minimum GHG emissions saving applicable to that fuel.

6

Where the sustainable aviation fuel is produced partly from raw materials other than sustainable feedstocks, the minimum GHG emissions saving for the purposes of this Schedule applies only to the mass (in kilograms) of that fuel which is attributable to sustainable feedstocks.

7

The minimum GHG emissions saving from the use of an amount of relevant sustainable aviation fuel is the greater of—

• (a) where applicable, the default value determined by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f); or

• (b) the actual value determined by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f).

Schedule 2 — Land criteria

1

A relevant feedstock meets the land criteria if the supplier provides evidence, by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f), that satisfies the Administrator that the relevant feedstock was not obtained from land of a description falling within paragraphs 2 to 5, subject to the exceptions set out in those paragraphs.

2

Land with a high biodiversity value that had one of the following statuses in or after January 2008, whether or not the land continues to have that status—

• (a) primary forest or other wooded land of native species, where there is no clearly visible indication of human activity and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed;

• (b) land not falling within sub-paragraph (a) which is, or which has been identified as, highly biodiverse forest or other wooded land that is species-rich and not degraded, unless—

• (i) the land is designated for nature protection purposes; and

• (ii) evidence is provided that satisfies the Administrator that the production of the relevant feedstock did not interfere with the nature protection purposes for which the land is designated;

• (c) land not falling within sub-paragraphs (a) or (b) which is designated for nature protection purposes, including for the protection of rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems or species, unless evidence is provided that satisfies the Administrator that the production of the relevant feedstock did not interfere with the nature protection purposes for which the land is designated;

• (d) highly biodiverse grassland spanning more than one hectare that is—

• (i) natural grassland that would remain as grassland and that maintains its natural species composition and ecological characteristics and processes in the absence of human intervention; or

• (ii) non-natural grassland that would cease to be grassland in the absence of human intervention and that is species-rich and not degraded and which has been identified as being highly biodiverse, unless evidence is provided that satisfies the Administrator that the harvesting of the raw material is necessary to preserve its status as highly biodiverse grassland.

3

Subject to paragraph 4, land with high-carbon stock that had one of the following statuses at any time in January 2008 and which no longer has that status—

• (a) wetlands, where the land is covered with, or saturated by, water permanently or for a significant part of the year;

• (b) continuously forested areas spanning more than one hectare with trees higher than five metres and a canopy cover of more than 30%, or trees able to reach those thresholds in situ;

• (c) land spanning more than one hectare with trees higher than five metres and a canopy cover of between 10% and 30%, or trees able to reach those thresholds in situ, unless evidence is provided that satisfies the Administrator that the GHG emissions saving from the use of the sustainable aviation fuel concerned is equal to or greater than the minimum GHG emissions saving applicable to the fuel at the time when it is used, as set out in Schedule 1.

4

Paragraph 3 does not apply if, at the time the relevant feedstock was harvested, the land concerned had the same status as it had in January 2008.

5

Land that was peatland at any time in January 2008, unless evidence is provided that satisfies the Administrator that the cultivation and harvesting of the raw material concerned did not involve drainage of previously undrained soil.

Schedule 3 — Forest criteria

1

In this Schedule—

• “forest regeneration” means the re-establishment of a forest stand by natural or artificial means following the removal of the previous stand by felling or as a result of natural causes, including fire or storm;

• “sourcing area” means a geographically defined area— from which the forest biomass is sourced; for which reliable and independent information is available to show that the requirements in paragraph 3(a) to (e) were met, and where conditions are sufficiently homogeneous to evaluate the risk of the sustainability, and legality characteristics, of the forest biomass.

2

Forest biomass meets the forest criteria if the supplier provides evidence, by reference to the guidance published by the Administrator under article 14(1)(f), that satisfies the Administrator that the requirements in paragraphs 3 to 6 are met, subject to the exceptions set out in those paragraphs.

3

Subject to paragraph 4, the country in which the forest biomass was harvested has in place a legal framework, including monitoring and enforcement systems, to ensure that—

• (a) the forest biomass has been harvested in accordance with applicable laws;

• (b) the area of harvesting of the forest biomass is subject to forest regeneration;

• (c) the forest biomass has not been harvested from wetlands, peatlands or from a protected area, unless—

• (i) the land is designated for nature protection purposes; and

• (ii) the production of the relevant feedstock did not interfere with the purposes for which the land is designated for nature protection purposes;

• (d) the harvesting of the forest biomass has been carried out with consideration for the maintenance of, and with the aim of minimising any decline in, soil quality and biodiversity; and

• (e) the harvesting of the forest biomass has been carried out in a manner that maintains or improves the long-term production capacity of the forest from which it was harvested.

4

Where evidence is not available to demonstrate that the legal framework described in paragraph 3 is in place in the country concerned, the Administrator must be satisfied that management systems at the forest sourcing area level were in place in that country to ensure that the conditions in paragraph 3(a) to (e) were met.

5

Subject to paragraph 6, the country or regional economic integration organisation of origin of the forest biomass is a party to the 2015 Paris Agreement¹² and—

• (a) has submitted a nationally determined contribution (“NDC”) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, covering emissions and removals from agriculture, forestry and land use which ensures that changes in carbon stock associated with forest biomass harvest are counted towards the country’s commitment to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions as specified in the NDC; or

• (b) has laws in place, which are applicable in the area of the harvesting, and which regulate the harvesting of forest biomass, to conserve and enhance carbon stocks and sinks, and which require that evidence is provided to show that reported land-use, land-use change and forestry-sector emissions do not exceed removals.

6

Where evidence is not available to demonstrate that the requirement in paragraph 5 is satisfied, the Administrator must be satisfied that management systems were in place at the forest sourcing area level to ensure that carbon stocks and sink levels in the forest are maintained or increased over the long-term.

Signed

Signed on authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Michael Kane — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department for Transport — 18th November 2024

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Explanatory Note

This Order implements Chapter 5 of Part 2 of the Energy Act 2004, and imposes an obligation on aviation fuel suppliers that supply aviation turbine fuel in the United Kingdom to produce evidence that a specified amount of sustainable aviation fuel has been supplied in the United Kingdom (the “SAF obligation”) (Part 2).

Part 3 makes the Secretary of State the Administrator under the Order (article 5) and makes provision for the administration and management of accounts for suppliers to ensure a record is kept of obligations and certificates (articles 6, 8 and 9). This Part also places specific duties on the Administrator in respect of the processing and collection of information, provision of guidance and determining feedstock eligibility (articles 10, 11, 14 and 15), and provides the Administrator with powers to enable it to fulfil those duties (articles 7, 12 and 14).

Part 4 sets out the application requirements for SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) certificates (article 16) along with the requirements for verifiers’ reports and declarations (article 17). This Part also provides for the issue of SAF certificates to suppliers who are subject to a SAF obligation, and to other suppliers who are not obligated (article 16). These certificates can then be produced as evidence that the obligation has been discharged. Certificates may also be transferred (article 19) or revoked (article 20).

Part 5 provides for the discharge of a SAF obligation by payment in cases where a supplier has not wholly discharged the obligation by producing sufficient SAF certificates (article 21); sets a limit on the maximum amount of SAF derived from segregated oils and fats that may be counted towards meeting a supplier’s main obligation (article 22); and sets limits on the proportion of SAF certificates issued for one obligation period that may be used to discharge a supplier’s obligation in a later obligation period (article 23).

Part 6 provides for a person that contravenes certain provisions to be liable to a civil penalty (article 24). It also provides for the process of objecting to a civil penalty (article 25). Section 131 of the Energy Act 2004 provides for appeals to be made to the High Court (in England and Wales or Northern Ireland) or the Court of Session (in Scotland) where a person disputes a liability to a penalty or claims that the penalty is too high.

Part 7 makes consequential amendments to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007 to remove fuel supplied for use in aircraft from that Order. This Part also amends the definition of support schemes in that Order so that the definition includes all support schemes not just those which apply within the European Economic Area and excludes investment aid, tax exemptions and reductions, and tax refunds.

Part 8 places a duty on the Secretary of State to review the regulatory provision contained in this Order every five years and publish a report setting out the conclusions of that review.

An impact assessment, in the form of a cost benefit analysis, on the effect that this Order 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. The impact assessment is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside this Order on the UK legislation website at http://www.legislation.gov.uk.

Footnotes