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Is there any guidance explaining what operators need to do?

Additional guidance on the meaning of 'UK operator', 'aircraft operator',  and 'aviation activity', in accordance with the UK regulations, has been produced to assist operators compiling their emissions/benchmarking plans:

Guidance on completing monitoring plans

The Dutch Emissions Authority, in cooperation with the Environment Agency, has produced a practical interpretation of the Commission’s Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines, to assist operators in completing their monitoring plans. 

Whilst this guidance can be read as a stand alone document, it is not legally binding and you should make sure you have a good understanding of the relevant legal documents:

In addition, we have produced completed exemplars for both emissions and benchmark monitoring plans for small and large aviation operators. These give an indication of our expected responses against each section of the plan. Please note that the documents are provided for illustration purposes only and do not represent the Commission’s approved monitoring templates:

Below are some examples of pictorial data flows which operators are asked to include with their monitoring plan submissions:

All aircraft operators included in the Aviation EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and allocated to the UK for regulation will be able to access our web-based portal, in order to prepare their applications, once they receive their registration details from the Environment Agency.

If you haven’t already done so, you should send an email to us confirming the aircraft operator’s name (as it appears on the Commission’s list of operators), your own name, telephone number and email address. Please use the link below:

We cannot grant access to the web-based portal without a valid email address. Once you have received your invitation, the web-based portal can be accessed here:

IMPORTANT: Operators will be able to submit their plans via the portal from 17 September 2009. We encourage them to do so as soon as possible after this date and no later than 12 November 2009 (the deadline given in the regulations). Regulators are required to approve or refuse to issue a plan within four months of the date of receiving an application.

Further information

We staged two half-day seminars at the beginning of June, outlining what operators need to do to get approved monitoring plans in place. Copies of the slides, together with synchronised audio from the first seminar, can be accessed here:

Copies of the slides from the presentation can also be downloaded in Acrobat PDF format, for offline viewing:

We have also produced a document containing answers to some of the frequently asked questions raised at the seminar and through our Aviation Helpdesk. These can be viewed here:

If the guidance/FAQs do not address your specific queries, these can be addressed to our Helpdesk via email: