— additional technical requirements for compressed natural gas (CNG) refuelling facilities;

— CNG self-service refuelling

Regulation of the Minister for Climate and the Environment amending the Regulation on Detailed Technical Requirements for Natural Gas Stations

The draft Regulation of the Minister for Climate and the Environment amending the Regulation on DetailedTechnical Requirements for Natural Gas Stations lays down additional technical requirements for compressednatural gas (CNG) refuelling facilities which shall be used for refuelling carried out by non-authorised persons(hereinafter: ‘self-service refuelling’) issued by Transport Technical Supervision (hereinafter: ‘TDT’). Currently,in the Polish legal order, pursuant to with § 15a(1) of the Regulation of the Minister of Transport of 20 October2006 on Technical Conditions for Technical Supervision in the Field of Design, Manufacture, Operation, Repair,and Modernisation of Specialised Pressure Equipment (Journal of Laws of 2014, item 1465, as amended)(hereinafter: ‘Pressure Equipment Regulation’), the filling of CNG vessels installed in vehicle power systemsmay be carried out only by persons with appropriate authorisation issued by the TDT. This shall mean that therefuelling of CNG may only be carried out by filling station personnel with appropriate authorisations whichexcludes self-service refuelling. It is a common practice in EU states (except Latvia) to allow self-service CNGrefuelling provided that the fuelling position is properly adapted to ensure proper safety of use.

In order for the Minister responsible for transport be able to introduce amendments to the Pressure EquipmentRegulation allowing the possibility of filling CNG tanks in vehicles by persons who do not hold authorisationissued by the TDT, additional safety conditions shall be laid down in the amended Regulation. The amendedRegulation does not currently provide for additional security measures for self-service fuelling positions.Enabling self-service refuelling of CNG while maintaining appropriate safety measures shall have a positiveimpact on the development of the use of compressed natural gas in transport in Poland.
Keywords: ‘natural gas stations’, ‘natural gas’, ‘technical requirements’, ‘alternative fuels’, ‘transport fuels’,‘CNG’, ‘CNG self-fuelling’, ‘refuelling infrastructure’.