1. Carbon dioxide equivalent shall mean the amount of methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) gases which has the same climate change impact as one tonne of carbon dioxide.

2. Joint Implementation (JI) project shall mean an activity and/or measures whose implementation results in reduction of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions or absorption of greenhouse gas and which is implemented in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania by a state indicated in Annex I to the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention on Climate Change”) or by a legal entity registered therein or which is implemented by the Republic of Lithuania or by a legal entity registered therein in the territory of a state indicated in Annex I to the Kyoto Protocol of the Convention on Climate Change.  

3. Emission reduction unit shall mean a unit, as used in a Joint Implementation (JI) project, which is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide or to carbon dioxide equivalent and which is recognised by the states participating in this project and which is used to express the reduced amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

4. Kyoto unit shall be any of the following units: assigned amount unit, emission reduction unit or certified emission reduction unit.  

5. Climate change shall mean the changes in climate which occur, directly or indirectly, as a result of human activities altering the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere and which extend beyond the range of natural climate fluctuations observed at regular time intervals.

6. Greenhouse gas emissions permit shall mean a document allowing greenhouse gas emissions.

7. New entrant to greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter referred to as a “new entrant”) shall mean an installation for operating which the operator must obtain a greenhouse gas emissions permit and whose operation shall commence following approval of the National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances or a list of the operators participating in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme.

8. Assigned amount of greenhouse gases shall mean the amount of greenhouse gases in tonnes as calculated for a state indicated in Annex I to the Convention on Climate Change according to the Kyoto Protocol and registered in the Greenhouse Gas Registry, which may be emitted in the territory of the state within a period defined under international arrangements.

9. Assigned amount unit of greenhouse gases (hereinafter referred to as “assigned amount unit”) shall mean a unit of the amount of greenhouse gases equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide or to carbon dioxide equivalent.

10. Certified emission reduction unit shall mean a unit, as used in a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, which is equal to a tonne of carbon dioxide or to carbon dioxide equivalent and which is recognised by the states participating in this project and which is used to express the reduced amount of greenhouse gas emissions.  

11. Aircraft operator shall mean a person operating an aircraft to carry out the activities indicated in Annex 1 to this Law or the owner of the aircraft where the person operating the aircraft is unidentified or the owner of the aircraft does not indicate the person.

12. Installation emitting greenhouse gases (hereinafter referred to as an “installation”) shall mean a stationary technical unit or a group of stationary technical units which are technologically interrelated and in which one or several economic activities are carried out resulting in greenhouse gas emissions.

13. Greenhouse gases (emissions) shall mean carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆).

14. Greenhouse gas emission allowance (hereinafter referred to as an “allowance”) shall mean the right as granted by an administrative decision to an operator to emit, during a specified period, one tonne of carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent.

15. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project shall mean an activity and/or measures whose implementation results in reduction of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions or absorption of greenhouse gas and which are implemented in the states not indicated in Annex I of the Convention on Climate Change by the Republic of Lithuania as a state indicated in the list of Annex I of the Convention on Climate Change or by a legal entity registered in the Republic of Lithuania.

16. Operator shall mean a person that manages and/or operates the installations emitting greenhouse gases located in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and, under legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, has at its disposal the key economic instruments to address the issues of technical functioning of the installations or an aircraft operator whose activities are included in the list of categories of activities provided in Annex 1 to this Law.

1. The National Strategy for Climate Change Management Policy shall cover the following areas of public administration:

2. The National Strategy for Climate Change Management Policy may, having regard to the strategic goals and/or international commitments of the State, cover also other areas of public administration relating to adaptation of climate change and mitigation of effects of climate change.

3. The National Strategy for Climate Change Management Policy and the plan of its implementation measures shall be drafted by ministries and, on the instruction of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the “Government”), other institutions of public administration.  The National Strategy for Climate Change Management Policy shall be approved by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the “Seimas”), while the plan of its implementation measures – by the Government.

1) the Government, ministries or other institutions authorised by the Government within their sphere of competence;

2) municipal institutions.  

1. The operators engaged in activities according to the list of categories of activities as provided in Annex 1 to this Law must, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment, obtain a greenhouse gas emissions permit, acquire allowances and be entered in the Greenhouse Gas Registry.

2. Operators must, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment in conjunction with another (other) institution (institutions) authorised by the Government, conduct monitoring and keep accounts of greenhouse gases and submit reports thereon.  

3. Every calendar year, operators must, by the time limit set by the Minister of Environment, surrender an amount of allowances which corresponds, in tonnes, to the amount of carbon dioxide emissions over the past calendar year and/or to the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent in tonnes and note this in the Greenhouse Gas Registry. In place of the allowances, the operators shall be allowed to surrender the amount, as specified by the Minister of Environment, of emission reduction units and/or certified emission reduction units from the Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects recognised within the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme.

4. Operators and/or other persons may exchange allowances for emission reduction units and/or certified emission reduction units from the Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects recognised within the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme.

5. Operators and/or other persons holding allowances and/or Kyoto units may transfer them to third parties in the states of the European Economic Area and/or third countries which are listed in Annex B to the Kyoto Protocol of the Convention on Climate Change and have ratified it, where these allowances and/or Kyoto units are subject to mutual recognition and a decision has been adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment on recognition thereof.  Operators and the persons shall give an immediate notice of transfer of the allowances and/or Kyoto units to the Greenhouse Gas Registry management body.

6. Operators must use the funds obtained from the transfer of allowances and Kyoto units for implementation of measures of greenhouse gas emissions reduction and other measures reducing environmental pollution (introduction of environment-friendly technologies, enhancement of energy efficiency, use of renewable energy sources, reforestation and/or afforestation, scientific research and dissemination thereof, consulting and training of economic entities, public information and education on the issues of climate change policy management and implementation and other measures).

7. The restrictions laid down in paragraph 6 of this Article shall not apply to the following operators:

8. Every calendar year, operators must, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment, submit to the institutions authorised by the Minister of Environment reports on the allocation and use of the funds received for the transfer of allowances and Kyoto units. The reports shall be published on the website of the Ministry of Environment.  

9. Other persons willing to acquire allowances and use or hold them must register with the Greenhouse Gas Registry in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment.

1. The National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances and/or a list of the operators participating in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme shall, in compliance with the legal acts of the European Union and having regard to the requirements and recommendations of the European Commission, be drawn up and approved by the Minister of Environment in conjunction with other institutions authorised by the Government.  

2. The National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances shall be valid until 31 December 2012. The list of the operators participating in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme shall become effective on 1 January 2013.

3. In drawing up the National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances and/or a list of the operators participating in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment, provide information to the public and create conditions for participation thereof.

1. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment, be issued, replaced, updated and revoked by an institution (institutions) authorised by the Minister of Environment.

2. An operator wishing to obtain a greenhouse gas emissions permit shall submit to the issuing institution:

3. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall be issued not later than within 90 days of the receipt of the documents referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and required for the issuance of the permit.

4. A greenhouse gas monitoring plan drawn up by an aircraft operator in compliance with the requirements set forth by legal acts of the European Union and approved by the Minister of Environment shall be held equivalent to a greenhouse gas emissions permit.

5. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall not be issued where:

6. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall be replaced not later than within 90 days of the receipt of an operator’s application for replacement of the permit. The permit shall be replaced in the event of:

7. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall be updated not later than within 45 days of the receipt of an operator’s application for updating of the permit. The permit shall be updated where:

8. A greenhouse gas emissions permit shall be revoked:

1. A procedure for allocating allowances to current operators and the operators planning to operate new installations or new aircrafts and to other persons wishing to acquire allowances and use or hold them shall be laid down by the Minister of Environment in conjunction with other institutions authorised by the Government.

2. Allocation of allowances to an operator and/or to another person entitled to acquire the allowances and to use or hold them, cancellation of the allowances and surrender of such allowances shall be registered with the Greenhouse Gas Registry. The amount of allowances per operator shall be recorded in a greenhouse gas emissions permit and/or indicated in the Greenhouse Gas Registry.

3. Allowances shall be valid during the period of validity of the National Allocation Plan for greenhouse gas emission allowances and/or a list of the operators participating in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme.

4. Allowances shall be cancelled at the request of an operator or a person entitled to hold the allowances in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Environment or in the event of termination of an undertaking.

1. A decision on the entering into assigned amount unit puchase and transfer transactions shall be taken by the Government on the recommendation of an institution authorised by it.

2. The funds obtained from transferred assigned amount units shall be transferred to the Special Programme for Climate Change.

3. Assigned amount units shall be purchased with funds accumulated in the Special Programme for Climate Change and/or funds of the State budget.

1. A Special Programme for Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as the “Programme”) shall be developed to raise additional funding for climate change management measures. Funds of the Programme shall be accumulated in a separate account of the State Treasury. According to the principles of financing of special programmes, the revenue and expenditure relating to the financing of the Programme shall be earmarked in the State budget.

2. The sources of financing of the Programme shall be as follows:

3. The funds of the Programme shall be used for:

4. The general provisions of management of funds of the Programme shall be as follows:

5. The National Committee on Climate Change, that is, the advisory body of an institution authorised by the Government and administering the funds of the Programme, shall consist of representatives of state institutions, associations, institutions of science and studies and other institutions.  The composition and terms of reference of the National Committee on Climate Change shall be approved by the Minister of Environment. The National Committee on Climate Change shall not be a legal entity.

1. In implementing Joint Implementation (JI) projects, the Republic of Lithuania may transfer emission reduction units to the states indicated in Annex I to the Convention on Climate Change or receive them from the mentioned states under the treaties ratified by the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts.

2. In implementing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, the Republic of Lithuania may, as a state indicated in Annex I to the Convention on Climate Change, be given certified emission reduction units under the treaties ratified by the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts.

3. Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects shall be administered by the Ministry of Environment in conjunction with other institutions authorised by the Government.

4. The Minister of Environment shall lay down a procedure for implementing Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects The Ministry of Environment shall perform the following functions:

5. Operators and/or economic entities whose activities are not included in the list of categories of activities indicated in Annex 1 to this Law may use emission reduction units and certified emission reduction units from Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in order to offset a share of the objective of greenhouse gas emissions reduction as set for them in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Government or an institution authorised by it.

1. The Greenhouse Gas Registry shall be a state register. The Registry shall be established and regulations thereof shall be approved by the Government.

2. The leading Register management body of the Greenhouse Gas Registry shall be the Ministry of Environment, and the Register management body – the public establishment Lithuanian Environmental Investment Fund.

3. Registration of objects with the Greenhouse Gas Registry shall be subject to payment of a fee in the amount specified by the Government, and provision of data of this Registry – a consideration in the amount specified by the Government.  

1. An economic penalty equivalent to one hundred Euro in Litas or adjusted according to the European Consumer Price Index:

2. An economic penalty in the amount ranging from five hundred Litas up to three thousand Litas shall be imposed against operators for the allocation and use of the funds obtained for the transfer of allowances and Kyoto units in contradiction with the requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of Article 5 of this Law. The amount of a penalty shall be determined according to the principle of proportionality having regard to data of a report submitted according to requirements of paragraph 8 of Article 5 of this Law and taking into account the amount of the funds received and unused over the reporting calendar year.

1. Upon establishing a violation (violations) indicated in Article 13 of this Law, an officer of state control of environmental protection shall, not later than within five working days, institute proceedings for imposition of an economic penalty and draw up a report on unlawful greenhouse gas emissions or allocation and use of the funds obtained for the transfer of allowances and Kyoto units not according to their purpose of the form approved by the Minister of Environment (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). The following shall be indicated in the Report:

2. The officer of state control of environmental protection who has drawn up the Report shall, not later than within three working days following the drawing up of the Report, deliver a copy thereof or post it by registered mail to a person suspected of commission of a violation. In addition to the Report, the person suspected of the violation shall be delivered (sent by post) a proposal to provide a clarification in writing concerning the suspected violation, present evidence and requests, also a time limit for presenting them shall be indicated.

3. Economic penalties for the acts provided for in Article 13 of this Law shall be imposed within one year from the day of establishment of a violation, but not later than within three years of the commission of the violation.

1. The following persons shall participate in the proceedings regarding the violations indicated in Article 15 of this Law:

2. The person referred to in subparagraphs 2 and 3 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be considered participants in the proceedings.

3. A person suspected of a violation and participants in the proceedings shall be informed of the place, date and time of examination of the case of imposition of an economic penalty in writing.

1. A case regarding imposition of an economic penalty shall be examined in the presence of a person suspected of a violation and participants in proceedings.

2. During the hearing of a case regarding imposition of an economic penalty, the person suspected of a violation shall have the right to familiarise with the collected material of the case, give oral and written explanations, present evidence, lodge applications.

3. A case regarding imposition of an economic penalty shall be examined in the absence of the person suspected of a violation and/or participants in the proceedings where it is known that they were informed of examination of the case regarding imposition of the economic penalty and they failed to submit a written reasoned request for postponement of the examination of the case.

4. A decision on postponement of examination of a case regarding imposition of an economic penalty shall be taken by the officer of state control of environmental protection examining this case by adopting a reasoned resolution of the form specified by the Minister of Environment.  By this resolution, the officer of state control of environmental protection who examines the case regarding imposition of the economic penalty shall specify a new place, date and time of examination of the case regarding imposition of the economic penalty.

5. The resolution indicated in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be delivered or sent by registered mail to the person suspected of a violation and to participants in the proceedings.

1. The officer of state control of environmental protection shall, upon examining a case regarding imposition of an economic penalty, adopt a resolution:

2. The resolution referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall indicate: the officer of state control of environmental protection who has adopted the resolution (full name, place of service); the place, date and time of examination of the case regarding imposition of an economic penalty; the data of the offender (or the person against whom proceedings for imposition of the economic penalty have been instituted) as indicated in subparagraph 1 of paragraph 1 of Article 15 of this Law; the content of a violation, the circumstances of commission of the violation and reasoned assessment thereof; the evidence proving the guilt of the offender; the explanations given by the offender regarding the committed violation; Article 13 of this Law, the paragraph and subparagraph providing for liability for the act committed by the offender; a resolution adopted by the officer of state control of environmental protection (the amount of the economic penalty imposed, where it is actually imposed), the time limits and procedure for appealing against the resolution.

3. The form of the resolution referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be established by the Minister of Environment.

4. A resolution shall, not later than within five working days from the day of adoption thereof, be delivered or sent by registered mail to a person in reference to whom it was adopted.

5. The resolution indicated in subparagraphs 1-3 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall enter into force within thirty days from delivery of a resolution to a person in reference to whom it was adopted and shall be appealed against to a regional administrative court in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Administrative Proceedings.

6. A resolution referred to in subparagraph 4 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall enter into force as of adoption thereof.

1. Where the officer of state control of environmental protection adopts a resolution referred to in subparagraph 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 18, additional investigation must be conducted within two months.

2. Upon completion of additional investigation, a case regarding imposition of an economic penalty shall be examined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 15-18 of this Law.

1. Persons shall pay the imposed economic penalties to the account of the State Treasury indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law not later than within three months from the entry into force of a resolution on imposition of an economic penalty.

2. Where the persons against whom economic penalties have been imposed fail to pay them voluntarily, a resolution on imposition of an economic penalty shall be forwarded to bailiffs and shall be executed in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania. A resolution on imposition of an economic penalty must be forwarded for execution not later than three years from entry into force thereof.

3. The persons against whom an economic penalty has been imposed for the acts referred to in subparagraphs 3 and 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 13 of this Law shall not be released from the obligation to surrender allowances and/or Kyoto units corresponding to the surplus amount of greenhouse gas emissions which would be accumulated in the event of surrender of allowances and/or Kyoto units for the coming calendar year.

1. Requirements of Articles 5 (with the exception of paragraph 2), 7, 8, 13-21 of this Law shall apply to aircraft operators as of 1 January 2012.

2. Requirements of Articles 5 (with the exception of paragraph 2), 7, 8, 13-21 of this Law shall apply to some operators according to the list of categories of activities as indicated in Annex 1 of this Law as of 1 January 2013.

3. Requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 5 of this Law shall apply to some operators according to the list of categories of activities as indicated in Annex 1 of this Law as of 1 January 2010.

1. Requirements of the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme shall not apply to installations or parts of installations used for research, development and testing of new products and processes and installations exclusively using biomass.

2. The thresholds values given below generally refer to production capacities or outputs. Where several activities falling under the same category are carried out in the same installation, the capacities of such activities shall be added together.

3. When the total rated thermal input of an installation is calculated in order to decide upon its inclusion in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme, the rated thermal inputs of all technical units which are part of it, in which fuels are combusted within the installation, shall be added together. These units could include all types of boilers, burners, turbines, heaters, furnaces, incinerators, calciners, kilns, ovens, dryers, engines, fuel cells, chemical looping combustion units, flares, and thermal or catalytic post-combustion units. Units with a rated thermal input under 3 MW and units which use exclusively biomass shall not be taken into account for the purposes of this calculation. “Units using exclusively biomass” includes units which use fossil fuels only during start-up or shut-down of the unit.

4. If a unit serves an activity for which the threshold is not expressed as total rated thermal input, the threshold of this activity shall take precedence for the decision about the inclusion in the European Union greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme.

5. When the capacity threshold of any activity in this Annex is found to be exceeded in an installation, all units in which fuels are combusted, other than units for the incineration of hazardous or municipal waste, shall be included in the greenhouse gas emission permit.

6. From 1 January 2012 all flights which arrive at or depart from an aerodrome situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty establishing the European Community applies shall be included.

Annex 2 to

the Republic of                                                                                                                       Lithuania

Law on Financial                                                                                                                    Instruments for                                                                                                                       Climate Change                                                                                                                      Management

1.Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/E (OJ 2004 special edition, Chapter 15, Volume 7, p. 631) with the latest amendments done by Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 (OJ 2009 L 140, p. 63).

2. Commission Regulation (EC) No 2216/2004 of 21 December 2004 for a standardised and secured system of registries pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Decision No 280/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ 2004 L 386, p. 3) with the latest amendments done by Commission Regulation (EC) No 994/2008 of 8 October 2008 (OJ 2008 L 271, p. 3).

3. Decision No 406/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the effort of Member States to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to meet the Community’s greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments up to 2020 (OJ 2009 L 140, p. 136).