£1m penalty for F-gas breaches issued by Environment Agency

The Cooling Post reported in September 2021 that the GB Environment Agency has issued penalties totalling over £1m on a UK company for breaches of the F-gas regulations. The company, IMO Gas Supplies Ltd, was issued with seven civil penalties, totalling £1,011,500, by the Environment Agency on September 2. These all related to breaches of regulation 31A of the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No.310) during 2018 and 2019.

Specifically, IMO Gas Supplies received five penalties of £200,000 each for failing to ensure that the quantity of HFCs placed on the market did not exceed its quota. The company received a further penalty of £10,000 for failing to report imports of HFCs during the preceding calendar year to the European Commission by March 31 and a £1,500 penalty for not keeping records in accordance with the regulation on purchasers of HFCs including prescribed details.

An Environment Agency spokesperson told the Cooling Post: “This fine shows that we believe strongly in ensuring compliance with The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015, and will take strict enforcement action where necessary.   Like all gas suppliers, IMO Gas Supplies Limited has a responsibility to operate in accordance with these regulations and protect against environmental harm.”

The Cooling Post has, so far, received no response for a comment from the company, but according to the Environment Agency, IMO Gas Supplies appealed these civil penalties but subsequently withdrew its appeal.

IMO was known to have been dealing in a range of refrigerants including R134A, R404A, R410A and R407C.

Read more at https://www.coolingpost.com/uk-news/company-hit-by-1m-penalty-for-f-gas-breaches/