Environment Agency charge proposal for repatriated duties - Emissions Trading Scheme

Closed 29 Jan 2021

Opened 7 Dec 2020

Contact

Charges Management Team

+44(0)3708506506

enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Results updated 4 May 2021

We recently consulted with you on our proposals for UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) charges. When the UK left the EU and the transition period ended on 31 December 2020, the UK took on responsibility for the administration of the scheme. 

We have powers under legislation to recover the cost of some of our regulatory activities. People and organisations that require environmental regulation, must pay for the cost of those activities to ensure such activities are not funded from general taxes. We invited you to comment on our proposals and whether they might be improved and made fairer.

We opened the consultation on 7 December 2020. It ran for 8 weeks until 29 January 2021. Consultees were able to respond online or by post and a contact number and address were provided for queries. We ran the consultation in accordance with the government guidelines.

We received 17 responses in total, 13 responding on behalf of companies and 4 from individuals.

Most responses were in favour of our proposed charges with more respondents agreeing than disagreeing with our suggested options. A breakdown of the ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘not applicable’ responses can be seen in the following chart. Individual questions and consultees’ responses to each question are discussed in the consultation response document.

Number of ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘not applicable’ responses for all questions:

Question         

Yes         

No          

Not applicable         

Q1

14

2

1

Q2

14

1

2

Q3

14

1

2

Q4

12

3

2

Q5

5

1

11

Q6

6

1

10

Q7

13

1

3

Q8

14

2

1

No consultee responses made any alternative proposals that we considered would improve the charging scheme. We have therefore implemented the charges set out in our consultation, and will increase charges annually in line with inflation (CPI) on all our UK ETS charges.

The new charging scheme started on 1 April 2021, following approval by HM Treasury and the Secretaries of State for:

  • Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
  • Department for Transport

Please see the Environment Agency UK emissions trading scheme (UK ETS) charging scheme 2021.

Thank you for your time in responding to our consultation.

Files:

Links:

Overview

We are consulting on the proposed charging scheme for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The Government has not yet confirmed if a UK ETS or Carbon Emissions Tax will operate from 1 January 2021. This consultation is necessary for the operation of either policy.

We will not publish individual responses. This is due to the financial nature of our consultees' responses. We will publish a consultation response document which will summarise key themes on the GOV.UK website. If you respond on-line and provide an email address, your response will be automatically acknowledged. 

Why your views matter

This consultation outlines our proposals for UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) charges, and covers charges that would apply if a Carbon Emissions Tax (CET) is introduced. The scheme is currently subject to EU legislation. The UK has left the EU and the transition period will end on 31 December 2020, when the UK will take on the responsibility for the administration of the scheme.  We will be the body on behalf of the UK Government administering the UK legislation of the scheme.  This will require us taking on additional duties.  

We have powers under legislation to recover the cost of some of our regulatory activities. Under these powers, people and organisations that require environmental regulation pay for the cost of those activities. This means they do not have to be funded from general taxes.

We invite you to comment on our proposals and whether you think they might be improved and made fairer.

Responding to the consultation

Please click on the 'online survey' link below to answer the consultation questions. 

Supporting information for the consultation includes the following:

To submit your response by email please send your completed UK Emissions Trading Scheme response form with the subject header of EA Charges Consultation - ETS to enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk before close of business on Friday 29 January 2021.

We encourage you to contact us through the online portal or by email. However, if you would prefer you can submit your response by post by downloading the UK Emissions Trading Scheme response form and sending it to:

Environment Agency
EA Charges Consultation - Emissions Trading Scheme
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH

To request a hard copy of the consultation document or the response form, please contact us on 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).

What happens next

Our consultation on ‘Environment Agency charge scheme proposals for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme' is now closed.  The last day for responding to this consultation was 29 January 2021.

We will analyse the responses to help develop the final charging scheme.  Our response to the consultation will be published within three months of the closing date and will be available on this web page and on GOV.UK.

Thank you for your interest in this consultation, please use the contact details on this page if you would like to get in touch with us.

 

 

Audiences

  • Businesses
  • Environment Agency customers

Interests

  • Business and industry
  • Permits