S.I. No. 257/1991 - Industrial Research and Standards (Section 44) (Petroleum Coke and Other Solid Fuels) Order, 1991.


S.I. No. 257 of 1991.

INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND STANDARDS (SECTION 44) (PETROLEUM COKE AND OTHER SOLID FUELS) ORDER, 1991.

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 44 of the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 (No. 20 of 1961), hereby make the following Order:

1. This Order may be cited as the Industrial Research and Standards (Section 44) (Petroleum Coke and other Solid Fuels) Order, 1991.

2. This Order shall come into operation on the 1st day of November, 1991.

3. (1) In this Order—

"ash content", in relation to petropleum coke or other solid fuel, means ash content as determined by the method specified in Irish Standard/ISO 1171: 1987;

"gross calorific value" means gross calorific value as determined by the method specified in Irish Standard/ISO 1928: 1987;

"petroleum coke" means the principal solid residue arising from the thermal cracking of heavy petroleum fractions.

(2) In determining, for the purposes of this Order, gross calorific value on a moist ash-free basis the moisture level shall be taken to be the level corresponding to moisture-holding capacity as determined by the method for the time being specified in the International Standard for the determination of moisture-holding capacity of hard coals published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (Ref. No. ISO 1018: 1975 (E)).

(3) The method to be used for calculating analyses of fuels to different bases shall be the method for the time being specified in Irish Standard/ISO 1170: 1987.

(4) Prima facie evidence of the International Standard referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article may be given by the production of a copy of the Standard (and, in the case of an amendment of the Standard, a copy of such amendment) purporting to be published by the authority of the International Organisation for Standardisation.

4. (1) It shall be unlawful to manufacture, assemble or sell for domestic use any petroleum coke or other solid fuel which has a gross calorific value greater than 24 megajoules per kilogram on a moist ash-free basis and which contains less than 2.5 per cent ash by weight on a dry basis, unless the petroleum coke or other solid fuel is mixed with another solid fuel such that—

(a) the percentage of petroleum coke or of the other first-mentioned solid fuel (as the case may be) contained in the admixture is not more than 50 per cent by weight on a dry basis, and

(b) the ash content of the admixture is equal to or greater than 2.5 per cent by weight on a dry basis,

and, subject to paragraph (2) of this Article—

(i) the admixture is, when it is sold for domestic use, in a sealed bag, and

(ii) there is printed on that bag in letters at least 2 cm high and in a form which is clearly legible—

(I) the name and address of the person who has packed the admixture, and

(II) the following—

"WARNING! THIS SOLID FUEL MAY SPARK IN USE A CLOSE MESH SPARK GUARD SHOULD BE USED".

"THIS SOLID FUEL COMPLIES WITH THE INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND STANDARDS (SECTION 44) (PETROLEUM COKE AND OTHER SOLID FUELS) ORDER, 1991".

(2) In respect of an admixture referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article that is sold for domestic use before the 1st day of August, 1992—

(a) paragraph (1) (i) of this Article shall not apply to such sale, and

(b) the matters referred to in paragraph (1) (ii) of this Article shall either—

(i) be printed in the manner provided in that provision either on the bag in which the admixture is sold (whether such a bag is sealed or not) or on a label firmly attached to such bag, or

(ii) be set out in a clearly legible form in a delivery docket or invoice furnished to the purchaser at the time of the sale.

5. (1) The requirements of Article 4 of this Order shall be deemed to be satisfied in the case of the sale for domestic use of petroleum coke or other solid fuel where the petroleum coke or other solid fuel is mixed with another solid fuel and the admixture—

(a) can, under the law of any other Member State of the European Communities, be lawfully sold for domestic use in that Member State, and

(b) guarantees an equivalent degree of safety to that which an admixture complying with the said Article 4 guarantees.

(2) Where in a prosecution for an offence involving a contravention of Article 4 of this Order prima facie evidence is adduced that the admixture, the subject of the prosecution, fails to comply with the said Article the onus shall be on the defendant to show that the admixture is an admixture to which paragraph (1) of this Article applies.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 7th day of October, 1991.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of the Order is, in the interests of greater safety, to ensure that petroleum coke and other similar high calorific value solid fuels are not manufactured, assembled or sold for domestic use unless they are mixed with other solid fuels.

Under the Order information must be printed on the bags relating to the packer of the fuel, a warning that the fuel may spark and that a spark guard should be used and a declaration that the fuel complies with the Order. However, this information can be supplied on a label firmly attached to the bag or on a delivery docket/invoice up to 31st July, 1992, after which date the bags must be sealed.

Fuel will be accepted as complying with this Order if it is legally available in any other Member State of the European Communities and it guarantees an equivalent degree of safety.