Below are some of the penalties laid down by Legislative Decree No 26 of 5 March 2013 that may concern companies and private individuals in various capacities, from those working in the sector to those who own equipment operating with fluorinated gases or mixtures thereof: the penalties may be of two types, administrative fines and criminal penalties.
Legislative Decree No 26/2013 sets out the penalties for breaches of the obligations concerning:
a) containment of fluorinated gas leaks (Article 3);
b) recovery of fluorinated gases (Article 4);
c) certification of undertakings (Article 5);
d) transmission of information (Article 6);
e) labelling of products and equipment (Article 7);
f) prohibitions of use (Article 8);
g) placing on the market (Article 9);
h) registration in the Register (Article 10).
Unless the act constitutes a criminal offence:
– an operator who fails to comply with the leak check obligation is liable to an administrative fine of €7,000 to €100,000;
– an operator who does not use certified personnel for the checking or repair of leaks is liable to an administrative fine of €10,000 to €100,000;
– an operator who does not keep the equipment records, or keeps them incompletely or in formats that do not comply with the provisions, is liable to an administrative fine of €7,000 to €100,000;
– an operator who does not make the equipment records available to the competent authority is liable to an administrative fine of €500 to €5,000;
– an undertaking that recovers fluorinated gases from air-conditioning systems in motor vehicles (falling within the scope of Directive 2006/40/EC) using personnel who do not hold an attestation is liable to an administrative fine of €7,000 to €100,000;
– undertakings that take delivery of fluorinated gases using personnel who do not hold the certificate are liable to an administrative fine of €10,000 to €100,000;
– undertakings that carry out the activities referred to in Regulations 303/2007 and 304/2007 without holding the required certification are liable to an administrative fine of €10,000 to €100,000;
– undertakings that fail to comply with the obligation to register in the national F-gas register referred to in Art. 13 of Presidential Decree No 43 of 27 January 2012 are liable to an administrative fine of €1,000 to €10,000;
– anyone who fails to transmit the information referred to in Art. 16 of Presidential Decree No 43 of 27 January 2012 (F-gas declaration) within the prescribed time limits, or who transmits such information in an incomplete or inaccurate manner or not in accordance with the provisions of that decree, is liable to an administrative fine of €1,000 to €10,000;
For the sake of completeness, the decree containing the penalty provisions is attached; it also sets out the other penalties provided for that are not mentioned in this article.
Given the complexity of the subject, and considering the considerable risks to which non-compliance with the rules exposes you, we always recommend considering the third-party responsible person service that we offer. If you entrust us with the care of your systems and equipment, we will take on full responsibility in this regard.