The draft Regulation lays down technical and construction rules for liquid fuel depots and stations, liquid gas depots and stations, and long-distance transmission pipelines for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products and their location.

Regulation of the Minister for Climate and the Environment on the technical conditions to be met by liquid fuel depots and stations, liquid gas depots and stations, long-distance transmission pipelines for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products and their location

The adoption of this Regulation on the technical conditions to be met by liquid fuel depots and stations, liquid gas depots and stations, long-distance transmission pipelines for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products and their location is based on the provisions of the Act on Ensuring Accessibility to Persons with Special Needs of 19 July 2019 (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2240).

The draft Regulation stipulates that the requirements set out in Article 6(1) of the Act on Ensuring Accessibility to Persons with Special Needs of 19 July 2019 apply when constructing and reconstructing the buildings of liquid fuel stations and a stand-alone liquid gas station.
The aim of the Regulation is to create a transparent legal situation in order to improve the functioning conditions of persons with special needs at a liquid fuel station and a stand-alone liquid gas station, so that these customers, because of a disability or reduced level of fitness due to illness or age, are not subjected to difficult access to the use of these buildings. It should be borne in mind that some of these persons very often enjoy the offer of liquid fuel stations and stand-alone liquid gas stations to some extent, and therefore the current infrastructure of these stations should be adapted to accommodate persons with disabilities as far as possible.
In addition, the draft Regulation introduces a transitional provision stipulating that the provisions of the Regulation shall not apply to the construction and reconstruction of the buildings of liquid fuel stations and the buildings of stand-alone liquid gas station as referred to in § 3(5) in respect of which an application for a building permit decision was submitted, an application for a separate decision approving a plot or land development design or an architectural and construction design was submitted, or a notification of a construction or execution of works was made prior to the entry of the Regulation into force.
At the same time, the paragraphs of § 97 of the draft Regulation have been renumbered, and § 97(3) has been reworded to read as follows: “Member States shall ensure, from the date Stage II fuel vapour recovery systems become mandatory under Article 3, a fuel vapour capture efficiency of such systems equal to or greater than 85 %, based on the manufacturer’s confirmation in accordance with the standard transposing EN 16321-1:2013 standard” in accordance with the provisions of Commission Directive 2014/99/EU of 21 October 2014 amending, for the purposes of its adaptation to technical progress, Directive 2009/126/EC on Stage II petrol vapour recovery during refuelling of motor vehicles at service stations (OJ EU L 304, 23.10.2014, p. 89).