We will be looking at Establishment of Environmental Management System, Environmental Management Plan and Notice of non-compliance with environmental obligations.
INTRODUCTION
Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Environmental Regulations 2023 is designed to ensure that environmental standards and practices are upheld across midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
It regulates, monitor and enforce health and environmental measures relating to midstream and downstream petroleum operations, provide for environmental standards to be observed during midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Environmental Regulations outlines the duties of licensees and permit holders to whom these Regulations apply and provide sanctions and administrative penalties for failure to comply with these Regulations. These Regulations shall apply to activities connected with environmental operations in the midstream and downstream petroleum industry.
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Environmental Management System
- A licensee or permit holder shall establish an Environmental Management System (EMS) for its petroleum operations, which shall conform to guidelines issued by the Authority.
- A licensee or permit holder shall conduct regular Environmental Management Reviews (EMR) and verifications to evaluate the status and adequacy of its EMS in relation to environmental issues, regulations and changing circumstances.
- A licensee or permit holder shall conduct periodic environmental audits to facilitate management control of environmental practices and to assess compliance with the EMS and regulatory requirements.
- A licensee or permit holder shall evaluate and report performance of the management of its environmental aspects in the format set out in guidelines issued by the Authority.
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- Where a licensee or permit holder intends to renew a license or permit, compliance with the established EMS shall form the environmental basis for the renewal.
Environmental evaluation study (EES):
- Every five years from the date of commencement of operations of the facility as part of compliance measures.
- Where the Authority considers it necessary based on the impact of the licensee or permit holder’s operations on the environment and where there is paucity or limited data on the environment.
- Prior to decommissioning and abandonment of a facility, the licensee or permit holder shall be required to conduct and obtain approval of an EES specific to the decommissioning and abandonment programme, as prescribed in the guidelines issued by the Authority, and
- such that all EES reports contain functional chapters on EMP, with appropriate schedules of implementation.
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Environmental Management Plan
A licensee or permit holder shall submit to the Authority for approval an EMP for these activities:
- onshore and offshore petroleum liquids and gas transportation pipelines and systems.
- petroleum liquids and gas separation, processing, liquefaction, compression, handling and storage facilities, such as Gas to Liquid (GTL), Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessels.
- refineries, petrochemicals, gas-based fertilizer, and other gas derivative plants.
- product depots for the storage of petroleum liquids, gas, and lube blending plants.
- retail outlets of combined storage capacity equal to or greater than 270,000 litres for refined products and greater than 10 metric tons for gas.
- Petroleum waste management facilities for the collection, treatment or disposal of wastes generated from the midstream and downstream petroleum sector.
- Any other midstream and downstream petroleum project or operation as may be determined by the Authority due to the sensitive nature of the project location or the operation.
Notice of non-compliance with environmental obligations
Where the Authority receives notification that a negative environmental impact incident has occurred or is occurring within an area of petroleum operations as a result of failure of the licensee or permit holder to comply with environmental obligations as required by law or the provisions of the licence or permit, the Authority shall:
- issue a potential incidence of non-conformity notice to the licensee or permit holder and commence an investigation to determine whether the licensee or permit holder followed the measures.
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- where it determines that the licensee or permit holder failed to follow the measures, an incidence of non-conformity notice to the licensee or permit holder will be issued and an administrative penalty equivalent to 100% of the licensee or permit holder’s annual contribution to the Environmental Remediation Fund will be imposed.
- In addition to the imposition of the administrative penalty, it is required for the licensee or permit holder to carry out the measures for reduction or mitigation of the impact within a specified period in accordance with the EMP or as deemed fit by the Authority.
- where it discovers that the licensee or permit holder failed to comply, a non-compliance notices to the licensee or permit holder will be issued and an administrative penalty equivalent to 150% of the licensee or permit holder’s annual contribution to the Environmental Remediation Fund, will be issued where applicable.
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Provided that where the licensee or permit holder is not a contributor to the Environmental Remediation Fund the sanctions, fines and administrative penalties set out in the Act and Regulations made by the Authority shall apply to such licensee or permit holder.
In addition to the imposition of an administrative penalty in subregulation (1), the licensee or permit holder shall be required to implement the measures to restore, remediate, or otherwise offset the effects of the negative environmental impact within a specified period in accordance with the EMP where applicable, failing to do so, the Authority may also revoke the licence or permit.
The Authority may mediate in disputes arising from midstream and downstream petroleum environmental related issues.