​If you wish to apply for a UEF, you must be carrying out one of the eligible activities listed above. The application itself is completed online via the New Zealand Emissions Trading Register (the Register).

Applications must be accompanied by a Verifier's Statement that complies with regulati​on 4(3) of the Climate Change (Unique Emissions Factors) Regulations 2009​, and a plan for ongoing sampling and testing of the activity to which the application relates.

​An application for a UEF in relation to a reporting year must be submitted to the EPA by 31 January following the reporting year to which the UEF relates. The application must be completed before the Annual Emissions Return​ is submitted.

Regulati​on 4(3) of the Climate Change (Unique Emissions Factors) Regulations 2009​

The Verifier's Statement

The UEF Regulations require independent third party review and verification to be carried out where a participant wishes to apply to the EPA for approval to use a UEF.

The verifier's role is to confirm:

• that the UEF is for an eligible activity
• that any samples collected meet the requirements of the UEF Regulations
• that any measurements or other tests meet the requirements of the UEF Regulations
• that the UEF has been calculated correctly in accordance with the prescribed methodology

The verifier must provide a Verifier's Statement including all of the above.

If you are interested in becoming a verifier, please read our guide to becoming a recognised verifier and contact​ the EPA to have an application form sent to you.

Becoming a recognised verifier (pdf 451KB)

List of approved Verifiers

All verifiers must be approved by the EPA. Below is a list of persons currently approved to act as verifiers:

1. Cease your existing UEF in order to apply for a new one

• You’d need to complete this process when there’s been a material change to your existing UEF.
• To do this you’ll need to select ‘Cease UEF’ within the Maintain UEF form. Once this has been approved by the EPA you can apply for a new UEF. Please note, this process is completed in two stages. First we need to receive and approve your application to cease your current UEF. Once that has been processed you can begin your application for a new UEF.

2. Maintain your existing UEF

• This would apply if your regular monitoring shows there’s been no change to your UEF and you’d like to continue it.
• To do this you’ll need to select ‘Confirming no material change’ within the Maintain UEF form in the Register.

3. Notify of a change in your UEF

• This would be the case if there’s been a change in your UEF, but you’re not sure if it would be considered a material change or not.
• To do this you’ll need to select the ‘Notifying a change’ option in the Maintain UEF form in the Register and provide your new measured UEF.  Once we receive your notification, you’ll then be advised of the outcome.
• If in doubt, you’re always welcome to contact us and we can talk to you regarding your circumstances and options.

4. Applying for a new UEF

• This would apply if this is the first time you’re applying for a UEF.
• To do this you’ll need to select ‘Apply for a new UEF’ in the Manage UEFs section in the Register.

5. Cease your UEF and revert to the Default Emissions Factor

• You’d complete this if you’d like to cease your UEF altogether and revert to the DEF.
• To do this you’ll need to select ‘Cease UEF’ within the Maintain UEF form.

You must apply for your UEF by 31 January (following the reporting year to which the UEF relates).

Where your application is relating to waste composition your representative data must cover 12 months

• Where this applies, the 12 month period does not need to be for the period January – December.
• The representative data needs to cover a full 12-month period to ensure any seasonal variation is accounted for.

Your representative data must be relevant to your ongoing operating conditions

• The data you submit must be taken or made at sufficient frequency and duration that it can reliably estimate your ongoing emissions.
• For example: a landfill operator submits data for the period September 2017 to August 2018, but installed new methane wells in October 2018. The data from September 2018 to August 2018 would not be relevant to the operating conditions from October 2018 as the circumstances have changed and so further data would need to be submitted to reflect the change in operating conditions.

Every year you need to maintain your UEF either by continuing, ceasing or notifying of a change

• This can be done within the ‘Maintain UEF’ workflow in the Register.
• If there’s been a material change to the information on which a previously approved UEF was based you’ll need to apply for approval of a new UEF. To do this, please apply to ‘cease’ your existing UEF first, as you cannot apply in the Register to cease your existing UEF at the same time as applying for a new one.
• To ensure you have time to complete both applications by the 31 January deadline, you should submit your application to cease your existing UEF as early as possible.