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Air Pollution Act 1987 (Solid Fuels) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 529 of 2022)

The Regulations came into effect on 31st October 2022, replacing the Air Pollution Act (Marketing, Sale, Distribution and Burning of Specified Fuels) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 326 of 2012) as amended. The objective of these regulations is to limit the release of pollutants from domestic combustion of solid fuel and to protect and improve air quality.

Under the Regulations, it is prohibited to retail or distribute solid fuel for the purposes of combustion for heating (space or water) in a fireplace in a domestic or a licensed premises that is not an approved solid fuel under the Regulations.

To be approved, a solid fuel must conform to the relevant requirements:

  • Coal products and manufactured solid fuels must have a smoke emission rate of less than 10 grams per hour
  • Manufactured part-biomass products must have a smoke emission rate of less than 5 grams per hour
  • Coal products and manufactured solid fuels, including manufactured part-biomass products, must have:
    • Until 31st August 2030 (subject to market assessment) a sulphur content less than 2% by weight on a dry, ash-free basis.
  • Fuel products which are 100% biomass products, including wood products and wood logs, (other than wood supplied in units of two cubic metres or more), must have:
    • a moisture content of less than 20%.

Solid Fuel Producer Registration

A solid fuel producer is a person who, for the purposes of combustion or heating, produces or treats or imports solid fuel for retail or distribution in the State.

The Regulations require that producers of solid fuels must register with the EPA to be placed on a Fuels Register. The EPA is responsible for the administration of the Fuel Register, and issues a unique registration number to each registered producer.

Producers must register annually by 1st September each year. Registration for the 2025-2026 heating season has now commenced.

How to register

In order to be placed on the Fuels Register for the heating season, a producer must submit a completed application form.

Fill out the online application form

You must complete the following steps before submitting your application form:

  • Submit a copy of your valid Certificate of Compliance issued by a third-party Certification Body for all your intended products. 

If you are applying for the 2026/27 season, the Certificate of Compliance should cover the full heating season from 1st September 2026 to 31st August 2027. 

  • Pay your €100 fee to the Environmental Protection Agency;
  • Submit a valid Irish tax clearance certificate, 
  • For those applying for more than 5 different products, you must complete the template appendix and submit this as part of your application to fuelregistration@epa.ie.

Clarification regarding Certificates of Compliance for approval of solid fuel products 

EPA considers that it may be helpful to provide additional clarity to producers about the certification process and how they must procure the certification of each of their products as an approved solid fuel under the Regulations for the 2026-2027 heating season.  

In order to obtain a Certificate of Compliance, the producer is obliged to arrange for the assessment of compliance with the requirements of Regulation 5 for each product they intend to place on the market in the next heating season.  

To do this, the producer must arrange for: 

  • Analysis of each product by  
    • analytical laboratories accredited to ISOEN17025 or equivalent; 
    • using the appropriate analytical methods particular to each type of product as specified in Regulation 10.
  • Submission of results that conform with Regulation 5 to a third-party certification body,that is independent of the analytical laboratories that conducted the analyses, for the purposes of the annual audit by the certification body.
  • Request that the independent third-party certification body provides a Certificate of Compliance for those products that conform with Regulation 5 which includes a copy of the analytical results for each conforming product.

How to pay the €100 fee:

You can pay the fee by submitting payment to the following methods

  • To pay by debit/credit card, please email EPA’s Accounts Section at accountsreceivable@epa.ie and you will be contacted to arrange payment over the phone.
  • To pay by bank transfer, please see the account details here. Ensure you include a clear reference to your application as part of your payment so that this can be matched to your application.

See link to the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications FAQs document in the ‘Learn More’ section below for further details.

Fuels Register

A list of registered solid fuel producers, for the period 1st September 2025 to 31st August 2026 is available here.

A list of registered solid fuel producers, for the period 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025 is available here.

A database of registered solid fuel products, for the period 1st September 2025 to August 31st 2026

Solid fuel retailer obligations

A retailer must ensure that any solid fuel retailed is sourced from a registered producer and is an approved solid fuel.

 

Learn more
Contact us

Email: fuelregistration@epa.ie