European Communities (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 490 of 2012).

These Regulations provide for the implementation in the State of a scheme for greenhouse gas emissions allowance trading within the European Community in order to promote reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from activities in a cost effective and economically efficient manner. The Regulations, which carry into effect amendments made by Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to Directive 2003/87/EC, apply to emissions from the activities listed in Schedule 1 and greenhouse gases listed in Schedule 2. They provide for: (a) the designation of the Environmental Protection Agency as Focal Point and National Authority for the purposes of Articles 6 and 12, respectively, of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the decisions adopted pursuant to the Convention and the Protocol; (b) the establishment of a registry, and designation of the Agency as national registry administrator, for the purposes of Article 7 of the Protocol and the decisions adopted pursuant to the Convention and the Protocol.