Article 75B Restriction on disclosing informationF1

(1)

This article applies to the following persons—

(a)

the UK ETS authority;

(b)

a national authority;

(c)

a regulator;

(d)

the registry administrator.

(2)

A person to whom this article applies must not disclose information held or obtained under UK ETS legislation to another person.

(3)

But paragraph (2) does not apply to the disclosure of information by the person in any of the following circumstances—

(a)

if the disclosure is required by law;

(b)

if the disclosure is necessary or expedient—

(i)

for the exercise of the person's functions under UK ETS legislation;

(ii)

for the purpose of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties;

(iii)

in the case of a disclosure by a national authority—

(aa)

for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the UK ETS;

(bb)

for the purpose of preparing and publishing national energy and emissions statistics or the national inventory referred to in Article 4(1)(a) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

(F2cc)

for the purpose of relevant policy development or implementation by a national authority, a Minister of the Crown (as defined in section 8(1) of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975), His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or a Northern Ireland department;

(dd)

for the purpose of supporting the Committee on Climate Change in performing its functions under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 or the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022.

(iv)

in the case of a disclosure by the Environment Agency, for the exercise of the Environment Agency's functions under the Emissions Performance Standard Regulations 2015;

(v)

in the case of a disclosure by the chief inspector, for the exercise of the chief inspector's functions under the Emissions Performance Standard Monitoring and Enforcement Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016;

(vi)

in the case of a disclosure by NRW, for the exercise of NRW's functions under the Emissions Performance Standard (Enforcement) (Wales) Regulations 2015;

(c)

if the disclosure is made with the consent of the person from or on behalf of whom the information was obtained;

(d)

if the disclosure is to another person to whom this article applies;

(F3e)

in the case of a disclosure by the UK ETS authority, if the disclosure is permitted under article 75BA (power to publish UK ETS information).

(F43A)

In paragraph (3)(b)(iii)(cc), “relevant policy development or implementation” means the development or implementation of policies—

(a)

to limit, or encourage activities that reduce or remove, greenhouse gas emissions;

(b)

to counter carbon leakage;

(c)

to mitigate the effects of climate change.

(3B)

In paragraph (3A)(b), “carbon leakage” means the movement of production and associated emissions from the United Kingdom to another country due to differences in climate regulation between the United Kingdom and that other country.

(4)

In this article, “UK ETS legislation” means any of the following—

(a)

this Order;

(b)

the Monitoring and Reporting Regulation 2018;

(c)

the Verification Regulation 2018;

(d)

the Free Allocation Regulation;

(e)

the Activity Level Changes Regulation.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Arts. 75A-75C inserted (31.12.2020) by The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/1557), arts. 2(1), 32
F2: Art. 75B(3)(b)(iii)(cc)(dd) inserted (31.3.2025) by The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/124), arts. 2, 26(2)
F3: Art. 75B(3)(e) inserted (1.1.2023) by The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2022 (S.I. 2022/1173), arts. 2, 10(2)
F4: Art. 75B(3A)(3B) inserted (31.3.2025) by The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/124), arts. 2, 26(3)