December 2016
Service stations
Reforms to the biofuel mandate in NSW
The Biofuels Act 2007 (the Act) prescribes that 6% of all
petrol sold in NSW by volume fuel sellers be ethanol, and
that 2% of all diesel sold be biodiesel. The biofuels
mandates are designed to encourage broader use of
sustainably produced ethanol and other biofuels in NSW.
Most cars in NSW that use unleaded petrol can safely
use petrol blended with up to 10% ethanol (E10).
The NSW Government announced in 2015 that reforms
would be introduced to improve the retail fuel industry´s
performance against the biofuels mandates. Accordingly,
amendments to the Biofuels Act 2007, the Biofuels
Regulation (no 2) 2016 and amendments to the fuel price
signs requirements under the Fair Trading Regulation
2012 have been finalised.
Compliance with the new laws is required from either 1
January 2017 or 1 April 2017, depending on whether or
not the retailer is covered by the current laws:
from 1 January 2017 for retailers regulated under the
existing requirements
● from 1 April 2017 for retailers not currently regulated.
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The Commissioner for Fair Trading has released a
Statement of Regulatory Intent that sets out the
enforcement approach that NSW Fair Trading will adopt
following commencement of the new biofuels laws on 1
January 2017. View or download the Statement of
Regulatory Intent on the Fair Trading website.
Who is affected by the new laws?
The new laws will apply to volume fuel retailers. A
volume fuel retailer is a person or business who:
operates or controls one or more volume fuel service
stations, that is, a service station that sells three or
more types of petrol or diesel and sells more than
900,000 litres of petrol and diesel per quarter, in two
consecutive quarters, or
● operates or controls the operation of 20 or more
service stations, none of which are volume fuel
service stations.
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The laws also apply to primary wholesalers - fuel
wholesalers who operate or supply petrol or diesel fuel
from an oil refinery or a shipping facility. Under the new
laws, primary wholesalers will still be required to
register and report quarterly volumes to Fair Trading, but
the mandates will not apply.
I will be a volume fuel retailer under the
new laws. What do I need to do?
Register
Firstly, you will need to register as a volume fuel retailer
so that you will be able to comply with the requirements.
The registration requirements under the new laws will
apply to all service station operators from 1 January 2017
onwards. We will send you information about how to
register as a volume fuel retailer using the contact details
you have provided through FuelCheck. For newly
regulated retailers, the registration process will open on 1
January 2017. You will not be able to register before this
date.
Note that registration for FuelCheck is a separate
process. Any new service station, or new operator of an
existing service station, is required to register with
FuelCheck as soon as possible after either taking over
the existing service station, or commencing operation of
the new service station. If you are a new operator and
have not yet registered with FuelCheck, please do so as
soon as possible via the Fair Trading website.
Report quarterly
You will need to submit quarterly reports to Fair Trading
detailing the volumes of ethanol, petrol, diesel and
biodiesel sold each quarter. Volume fuel retailers
required to comply with the Biofuels Act for the first time
under the new laws will need to submit their first quarterly
return by 1 May 2017, containing volume fuel sales
information for the first quarter of 2017 (ie, 1 January to
31 March).
December 2016
Meet the minimum biofuels requirements
Volume fuel retailers are required to meet:
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the ethanol mandate
the biodiesel mandate
the requirement to ensure that a petrol-ethanol
blend, such as E10, is available for retail customers
and is as accessible as any other type of petrol
offered at the service station.
The ethanol mandate requires volume fuel retailers to
ensure that ethanol makes up a minimum of 6% of the
total volume of their petrol sales. Only ethanol that is
sustainably produced can be counted towards the
volume of ethanol sold under the mandate.
The biodiesel mandate requires volume fuel retailers to
ensure biodiesel makes up a minimum of 2% of the total
volume of their diesel sales. Only biodiesel that is
sustainably produced can be counted towards the
volume of biodiesel sold under the mandate.
In relation to the requirement that petrol-ethanol blend be
made as accessible as any other type of petrol, Fair
Trading's enforcement intention is that it will generally
mean E10 nozzles are conveniently located across the
service station forecourt and in comparable numbers to
the other most available petrol product at the service
station.
Whether a volume fuel retailer meets the biofuels volume
sales mandate or not, they must still meet the
requirement to offer ethanol blended petrol and make it
as accessible to customers as any other petrol offered for
sale.
otherwise the service station operator is free to choose
which fuels are listed on the price board.
The requirement to display the top-selling fuels will no
longer apply.
The price listed on the fuel price board must be the
standard retail price. This means the price available to
anyone (without discounts or other special offers)
expressed as the price per litre.
I already sell E10. Do I need to do
anything further?
This will depend. If you operate a volume fuel service
station there are other requirements under the law that
you must comply with. These are:
ensuring that ethanol blended fuel is made as
accessible as any other type of petrol offered at the
site
● displaying the price of E10 on the service station´s
price board
● registering as a volume fuel retailer with Fair Trading
and submitting quarterly returns online
● ensuring that any ethanol or biodiesel counted
towards the mandate complies with a sustainability
standard prescribed by the Biofuels Regulation
— either the `RSB Principles and Criteria for
Sustainable Biofuels Production´ or ISO13065:2015
`Sustainable criteria for bioenergy´. Seek more
information from your fuel supplier if you are unsure.
●
What information has to be included in
my quarterly returns?
Update fuel price signs
Quarterly returns by volume fuel retailers must include:
From 1 January 2017:
1. the total volume of petrol sold (including petrol-
service stations selling 4 or fewer fuel types must list
all their fuel prices on the price board
● service stations selling more than 4 fuel types must
list a minimum of 4 fuel prices (but may list more if
they wish).
2. the total volume of ethanol sold (in the form of petrol-
●
It is mandatory to list the price of E10, LPG or diesel if
these are offered for sale at the service station, but
ethanol blend)
ethanol blend)
3. the total volume of diesel fuel sold (including
biodiesel blend)
4. the total volume of biodiesel sold (in the form of
biodiesel blend)
December 2016
5. the number of service stations at which petrol-
ethanol blend is available for retail sale, how many of
those service stations are volume fuel service
stations and the number of nozzles and bowsers
available for retail sale of petrol-ethanol blend at
each of those service stations
6. the number of service stations at which regular
unleaded petrol is available for retail sale, how many
of those service stations are volume fuel service
stations and the number of nozzles and bowsers
available for retail sale of regular unleaded petrol at
each of those service stations.
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The Minister may also grant an exemption if the retailer is
unable to comply with the ethanol mandate, despite
having taken all the following steps:
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How do I submit my quarterly returns?
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From 2017, quarterly returns by volume fuel retailers will
be submitted via an online form connected to FuelCheck.
Detailed instructions on how to use the online form will
be provided at a later date.
●
Can I get an exemption from a minimum
biofuels requirement?
If a volume fuel retailer cannot meet the biofuels
mandates, or needs further time to comply, an application
for exemption can be made.
Exemptions can only be granted by the Minister for
Innovation and Better Regulation, following consideration
by an Expert Panel, and conditions will often be attached.
The Exemption Framework document, including the
Minister´s Guidelines to the Expert Panel, outlines how
exemption applications will be considered. View or
download the Biofuels Mandate Exemption Framework
from the Fair Trading website.
Volume fuel retailers are eligible for an exemption if they
can satisfy the Minister that:
the retailer has taken all the steps set out in the
regulations to comply with the mandate, or has
otherwise taken all reasonable steps to comply; or
● the exemption is reasonable in order to allow the
retailer a period of time to take all steps required to
comply with the mandates; or
● compliance by the retailer may result in a risk to
public health or safety; or
●
compliance would not be economically viable; or
other extraordinary circumstances prevent
compliance.
●
installed or upgraded infrastructure at their service
stations to enable supply of a petrol-ethanol blend
and
made a petrol-ethanol blend available at their service
stations and
secured sufficient supply of petrol-ethanol blend for
their service stations and
marketed the petrol-ethanol blend they sell, including
at a minimum ensuring the price of E10 is displayed
prominently on a price board alongside the price of
other fuels and
ensured that all E10 sold contains at least 9%
ethanol.
Applying for an exemption
Volume fuel sellers who are registered under the current
laws will need to continue to submit quarterly returns and
apply for exemptions via the paper-based method for the
remainder of 2016. A new form will shortly be available
for advance exemption applications for the first quarter of
2017.
In January 2017, an online hub linked to FuelCheck will
be launched. This hub will enable volume fuel retailers to
submit online:
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volume fuel retailer registrations
quarterly sales reports
exemption applications.
From 2017, the biofuels regime will be administered via
this online form, and no hard copy paperwork will be
used.
Detailed instructions on how to use forms, including how
to apply for an exemption, will be provided at a later date.
December 2016
What is the process for a 'branded'
service station within a larger network
If you operate a volume fuel service station that is
branded as one of the major fuel retail companies (such
as BP, Caltex, or 7-Eleven), you should first check with
corporate head office to clarify your obligations under the
Biofuels Act, if any. At many of those service stations, the
corporate head office will be the volume fuel retailer for
the purposes of the Biofuels Act.
If you can't resolve the question with corporate head
office, you can contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20.
Fair Trading officers will help determine your compliance
responsibilities under the new biofuels laws.
I am currently a 'major retailer' under the
Biofuels Act. What do I need to do?
Major retailers will be volume fuel retailers after the
changes to the Act come into effect on 1 January 2017. A
simplified, online process for providing quarterly fuel
sales returns and applying for an exemption is being
developed. In the meantime, the current paper-based
system is being used until further notice.
You will be advised on how to access the online system
as soon as it is operational.
What happens if I do not comply?
There are significant penalties for failing to comply with
the requirements of the legislation, without an
appropriate exemption. Penalty notices can be issued
for:
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failing to comply with a biofuel mandate ($5,500)
failing to make a petrol-ethanol blend available at a
volume fuel service station which is as accessible as
any other petrol product ($5,500)
contravening a condition of an exemptions ($5,500)
failing to provide a biofuels return (quarterly report) or
knowingly providing a return which contains false or
misleading information ($5,500)
failing to keep records as required in the legislation
or knowingly keeping records which are false or
misleading ($5,500)
failing to register as a volume fuel retailer or primary
wholesaler and keep details up to date ($1,100).
Less serious incidences of non-compliance with the
legislation are dealt with by penalty notice. For serious
breaches of the Act, a business can be prosecuted in
court. If prosecution leads to a guilty verdict, the court
can impose penalties up to $550,000. Fair Trading´s
enforcement policy calls for education as the first
response. Prosecution is utilised where other methods of
achieving compliance have not succeeded or where
there is a case of significant consumer or community
harm.
What do operators of other service
stations have to do?
A person who operates or controls the operation of less
than 20 service stations that are not volume fuel service
stations must be registered under the Biofuels Act.
The FuelCheck order under the Fair Trading Act already
requires operators of service stations to be registered. If
you operate service stations and your FuelCheck
registration is up to date, you do not need to take any
extra registration steps. Fair Trading will use the
information from your existing FuelCheck registration in
order to register you under the Biofuels Act.
Operators of other service stations may also be required,
on occasion, to submit a sales volume return to Fair
Trading. This will only be required if and when the
Secretary publishes an order on the NSW Legislation
website requesting information about a particular quarter.
You will receive notification if an order is published
requiring you to submit a quarterly return.
Record keeping requirements for service
station operators
In order to submit quarterly returns as required, all
service station operators must keep certain records of
their fuel and diesel sales.
The Biofuels Regulation requires the following
information to be included in those records:
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the volume of petrol or diesel sold in the transaction
whether the petrol sold was or was not petrol-ethanol
blend
December 2016
whether the diesel sold was or was not biodiesel
blend
● in the case of a sale of petrol-ethanol blend - the
amount of ethanol in the petrol-ethanol blend
● in the case of a sale of biodiesel blend - the amount
of biodiesel in the biodiesel blend
● whether the petrol-ethanol blend or biodiesel blend
sold complies with one of the prescribed biofuel
sustainability standards, including details of any
relevant certification.
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The records may be kept in the form of copies of invoices
or other records of sale and must be retained for at least
seven years after the end of the financial quarter in which
the purchase was made.
I am a consumer, how does this affect
me?
Consumers will have improved access to E10 as more
service stations will be required to offer a petrol-ethanol
blend. E10 is usually the lowest priced fuel and is safe to
use in most petrol powered cars manufactured after
1986.
Can I use E10 in my vehicle?
Most cars manufactured since 1986 to run on regular
unleaded petrol are able to use E10. The Federal
Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) represents
vehicle manufacturers in Australia and their website has
a comprehensive, authoritative list of vehicle makes and
models and whether or not they are ethanol-compatible.
Will I have to use E10 in my vehicle?
No. Consumers will continue to be able to choose which
fuel they use in their vehicle.
www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au
Fair Trading enquiries 13 32 20
TTY 1300 723 404
Language assistance 13 14 50
This fact sheet must not be relied on as
legal advice. For more information about
this topic, refer to the appropriate
legislation.
© State of New South Wales through NSW Fair Trading
You may freely copy, distribute, display or download this information with some important
restrictions. See NSW Fair Trading's copyright policy at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au or email
[email protected]