Guide to Registering as a Participant - Other Sectors

December 2011

This guide is for persons who carry out Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste or Agriculture activities on 1 January 2011 who:

• must register as a participant by 31st January 2012; or
• wish to voluntarily participate in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS).  

A participant is someone who carries out a greenhouse gas-producing activity detailed in Schedules 3 and 4 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 (the Act). 

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for administering the NZ ETS.

Participants in the New Zealand ETS

There are two types of participants in the NZ ETS.

(1) Mandatory Participants

Mandatory Participants are people who have an statutory obligation to participate in the NZ ETS.  Any person who carries out a Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste or Agriculture activity, as detailed in Schedule 3 of the Act must enter the NZ ETS from 1 January 2012.  They must register as a participant and give notice to the EPA within 20 working days of becoming a participant. For those people who carry out any of the activities below on 1 January 2012, the due date for receipt of notices by the EPA is 31 January 2012. Please note that there are offences and penalties under the Act for failure to notify the EPA when required to do so. 

Mandatory Participants have the option of voluntary reporting of emissions for the 2011 reporting year to help them familiarise themselves with the operation of the NZ ETS. 

Mandatory participation in the Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste and Agriculture sectors include the following activities: 

 
Important:  Please read carefully the exemptions contained in the Climate Change (General Exemptions) Order 2009 as amended by the climate Change (General Exemptions) Order 2010. A "year" means a calendar year from 1 January to 31 December. Thresholds - For mandatory participants if you exceed the threshold during a year then your obligations as a participant apply from 1 January of that same year.  You should notify the EPA within 20 working days of exceeding the threshold during the year.     

(2) Voluntary Participants

Voluntary participants are those persons carrying out a Synthetic Greenhouse Gases activity, as listed in Schedule 4 of the Act, who may choose to register at any time as a participant in the NZ ETS as voluntary participants. Voluntary participants must also have a holding account in the NZEUR.Please refer to Steps 1 to 4 below.

Voluntary participation in relation to Synthetic Greenhouse gases is specific to the activities listed in the table below: 

Upon registration all the relevant requirements of the Act and Regulations become mandatory for voluntary participants to follow.

Timeframe For Participant Registration, Reporting, and Unit Obligations

For voluntary participants who register for carrying out a Synthetic Greenhouse Gases activity listed in Schedule 4 of the Act emissions returns can be filed on a quarterly basis within 20 working days after the dates of 31 March, 30 June and 30 September.

For all other participants in the Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste and Agriculture sectors, the Act allows voluntary reporting of emissions from 1 January 2011 and requires mandatory reporting of emissions from 1 January 2012. For these participants annual emissions returns must be filed between 1 January and 31 March each year, covering emissions during the previous calendar year.  Once full unit obligations begin the due date for surrendering units is 31 May for emissions for the previous reporting year.   For more information on emissions returns please see the Guide to Emissions Returns.

How Do I Register as a Participant?

The Act sets out the requirements to be followed for registering as participants where activities are carried out:

• jointly with one or more persons; or

• on your own.

   

The Act also provides for related companies who carry out activities to form a consolidated group for reporting and compliance purposes under the NZ ETS.  The Participant Notification Forms, based on the sector and nature of activities, are available at www.eur.govt.nz.

No fees are payable for processing registration of participants in the Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste and Agriculture sectors.

Before you complete the participant registration process it is important to determine how you carry out any of the previously listed activities as this will determine the way in which your obligations will be accounted for under the NZ ETS and the registration process you will have to follow to complete your notification or application to the EPA.

(a) Do you jointly carry out any of these activities?

If you jointly carry out any of these activities with one or more other persons (including but not limited to in partnership, through a joint venture, or as the trustees of a trust), then you must together notify the EPA.  In this case, all the people jointly carrying out the activity are treated as a member of an “Unincorporated Body” and the Unincorporated Body is registered as the participant (see section 157 of the Act).  

Each member of an Unincorporated Body is:

• jointly and severally liable for the obligations of the Unincorporated Body as a participant in respect of the activity; and

•  jointly entitled to the benefits of the Unincorporated Body as a participant in respect of the activity.

   

If you carry out activities jointly then you must notify the EPA by using the “Registration form - Persons jointly carrying out activities”.

(b) Do you carry out these activities on your own?

If you carry out any of these activities on your own and cannot, or do not want to, give notice of an election to form a consolidated group at the same time that you notify the EPA that you are a participant then you must use the relevant “Participant Notification Form” available at www.eur.govt.nz .
 

(c) Do you carry out any of these activities as a member of a Group and wish to be treated as a member of a Consolidated Group?

When registering as participants, companies that are in a "Group" (a Group means a reporting entity and its subsidiaries as defined by section 2(1) of the Financial Reporting Act 1993) can elect to be treated as a consolidated group by giving notice to the EPA.  This allows these members to consolidate their emissions reporting and surrender obligations (or receive unit entitlements for removal activities) for the purposes of the NZ ETS.

Key requirements of consolidated groups:

• Participant members must be members of the Group.  A “Group” means a reporting entity and its subsidiaries.

• A consolidated group must have at least two participant members.

• Participant members are registered in their own right on the Participant Register and elect to form a consolidated group.

• A nominated entity acts as an agent for the consolidated group.  It is responsible for filing a single emissions return covering the multiple activities that are carried out by participant members.

• The nominated entity must have a Holding Account for the consolidated group. The Holding Account will also record the names of all the members of the consolidated group.

• A consolidated group may, in addition to the participants who are members of the Group, include a member of the Group that is not a participant, if that entity is to act as the nominated entity. Alternatively, one of the participant members can also act as the nominated entity.

• Every member of the consolidated group, including the nominated entity agrees to be jointly and severally liable for any obligations or entitlements under the NZ ETS.

   

Notice to form a consolidated group   

Two options are available for giving notice to the EPA for a consolidated group:

(i) Give notice to form a NEW consolidated group at the same time as you register as a participant

Members of a Group can give notice of their election to form a NEW consolidated group at the same time that they notify the EPA that they are registering as a participant by using the Registration and Election of Persons as Participants in a Consolidated Group form.  If this is the case, then the individual members of the Group are not required to open a Holding Account in the New Zealand Emission Unit Register in their own name, as long as the nominated entity has opened (or has applied to open) a Holding Account for the consolidated group.  The consolidated group will be able to start accounting for their emissions as a group from the 1 January 2011 where they voluntarily register.  Each participant member will still be recorded on the participant register in their own right.

(ii) Give notice to form a consolidated group at a later date

Alternatively, the election to form a consolidated group can be made at a later date by using the Election to Form a Consolidated Group form.  In this case, each member of a Group will have to register individually as a participant and open an account in their own name.   The date the consolidated group can start accounting for their emissions as a group will depend on that later date that the notice to form a consolidated group is received by the EPA.  If the notice is received:

• before 30 September, then the election takes effect on 1 January of that year.
• after 30 September, then the election takes effect on 1 January of the following year.

Agreement to joint and several liability

Every member of the consolidated group, including the nominated entity, must agree:

• to be jointly and severally liable with other members of the consolidated group for any obligations under Parts 4 and 5 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 in respect of emissions and removals resulting from the activities specified by any member; and
• to the transfer of any units to the consolidated group’s Holding Account to which any member of the consolidated group may become entitled to in relation to that member’s removal activities.

This agreement will be contained in the notice to form a consolidated group. 

What do I have to do to Register as a Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste or Agriculture Mandatory Participant?

(1) Register as an NZ ETS participant.  Registered users have approved access rights to the NZEUR.

Register as a user

1. You need to register as a user to get a user name and password. To do this, go to www.eur.govt.nz.  and select the JOIN NOW option.

2. You must supply a unique email address to register as a user.  If you do not have an email address of your own, you may be able to use the email address of a person who you trust. This person will receive emails on your behalf and will be sent emails regarding any transactions involving your holding account.  You will not be able to use an email address that is already being used by another user.

3. You will need to provide the following information:
   • a valid (and unique) email address
   • your full legal name and street address
   • your telephone number

4. Only those persons who wish to have access to the participant’s holding account will need to register as a user.  Each holding account must have at least one person who can operate the Holding Account and can have up to five people.

5. Applications to be approved as a Registered User of the NZEUR will normally be processed within two business days.

6. Once the NZEUR Registrar approves your user registration, you can then proceed with opening a Holding Account at www.eur.govt.nz 

    

(2) Open a holding account with the New Zealand Emission Unit Register.

1. To take part in the NZ ETS, each participant must have a Holding Account in the NZEUR.  This Holding Account is your Participant Holding Account for the purposes of:

• Receiving emission units either as an entitlement from the Crown or as a result of private emissions trading

• Surrendering emission units from the Holding Account to meet a participant obligation under the NZ ETS.

2. A participant involved in more than one activity can use a single Holding Account for all of their activities.  

3. You can open this Holding Account any time in preparation for registering as a participant.

4. Persons authorised to operate a holding account (known as Primary Representatives)

5. Account holders who are individuals may nominate themselves to operate their own account. If the account is owned by a company, or by more than one person, then the account owner will need to decide who will be able to operate the account.  These persons are known as Primary Representatives.

6. The person who applies to open the account will automatically be a primary representative and each account can have up to 5 Primary Representatives.

7. Primary Representatives who are appointed to operate your account will be able to buy, sell and authorise the transfer of units on the account holder’s behalf. Each of the people appointed to operate your holding account will need to register as a user (see step 1).

To apply to open a holding account

1. Log on to the NZEUR using the user name and password that you created in step 1. 

2. Select Accounts.

3. Choose Open an account from the list on the left hand side of the screen.

4. Give a name that you want the account to be known by.

5. Enter information about each account holder – the account holder is the name of the participant.

6. Enter the names of up to four more persons who will be authorised to operate the holding account on the account holder’s behalf.

7. When you submitting your online application, you will be provided the account number for the pending Holding Account. 

8. You must include this Holding Account number in your NZ ETS notice for registering as a participant in the NZ ETS.

9. The last step in the account opening process is to complete the Account Holder Declaration form, which contains important declarations that are required to be made by account holders under the Climate Change (Unit Register) Regulations 2008.  When you submit your online application to open a Holding Account, you will receive an email from the NZEUR containing this form (see step 3).
    

    

(3) Complete the Account Holder Declaration form.

When you have received the form:

1. Print the form and fill it in. The form contains instructions on how to complete it, and explains who must sign the form on behalf of the Account Holder.
2. Attach a photocopy of identification documents for each individual account holder.  Suitable identification includes a current New Zealand drivers licence or a passport.
3. Check your declaration forms carefully before you send them.  If they have not been signed by every account holder, or if identification is missing, then the account cannot be opened by the Registrar. 
4. To submit your completed form, either:
   • Post to: New Zealand Emission Unit Register, Private Bag 63002, Wellington 6140
   • Fax to: +64 4 978 3661
   • Scan and email to: climatechange@epa.govt.nz
5. For more information on the requirements of opening a Holding Account for consolidated groups under the NZ ETS or if you have any questions about the Holding Account application process, contact the administering agency.  Please call 0800 CLIMATE (254 628).

The Registrar will email you when your account has been opened.

(4) Complete the notification process to the EPA. 

1. All mandatory participants in the Synthetic Greenhouse Gases, Waste and Agriculture sectors must notify the EPA by 31 January 2012 if they are carrying out any of the listed activities on 1 January 2012.  They can also choose to register as a participant at any time from 1 January 2011.

2. It is important that you complete your notification by this date as it is an offence under the Act if you fail to do so.   Please contact us if you are unable to meet this date.

3. The EPA has prescribed forms to enable you to complete this notification.  These forms are available at www.eur.govt.nz and require you to provide such information as:

• the full legal name of the person who is required to be registered as a participant

• the participants Holding Account number in the NZEUR

• description of the activities that are being registered in the NZ ETS (including risk management programme number(s) in respect of Agriculture activities)

• contact details for notices issued by the EPA

• signature of a company director or executive officer (or equivalent for other incorporated bodies).

 4. A participant will be notified that they have been entered on the Participant Register.  This Register is publicly available and will show:

• the participant’s name; and
• the ETS-related activity they undertake.

5. If you are unsure as to any of the requirements or which form to use please contact 0800 CLIMATE (254 628). 

This guide is based on the law at the date of issuance. The information in this guide does not alter the laws of New Zealand or other official guidelines or requirements. Readers of this guide should take specific advice from qualified professional people before undertaking any action following information received from this guide.