COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 12 December 1991
concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates
from agricultural sources (91/676/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s thereof,
Having
regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the
opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of
the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas the nitrate content of
water in some areas of Member States is increasing and is already high as
compared with standards laid down in Council Directive 75/440/EEC of 16
June 1975 concerning the quality required of surface water intended for
the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States (4), as amended by
Directive 79/869/EEC (5), and Council Directive 80/778/EEC of 15 July 1980
relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption (6), as
amended by the 1985 Act of Accession;
Whereas the fourth programme of
action of the European Economic Communities on the environment (7)
indicated that the Commission intended to make a proposal for a Directive
on the control and reduction of water pollution resulting from the
spreading or discharge of livestock effluents and the excessive use of
fertilizers;
Whereas the reform of the common agricultural policy set
out in the Commission's green paper 'Perspectives for the common
agricultural policy` indicated that, while the use of nitrogen-containing
fertilizers and manures is necessary for Community agriculture, excessive
use of fertilizers constitutes an environmental risk, that common action
is needed to control the problem arising from intensive livestock
production and that agricultural policy must take greater account of
environmental policy;
Whereas the Council resolution of 28 June 1988 of
the protection of the North Sea and of other waters in the Community (8)
invites the Commission to submit proposals for measures at Community
level;
Whereas the main cause of pollution from diffuse sources
affecting the Community's waters in nitrates from agricultural
sources;
Whereas it is therefore necessary, in order to protect human
health and living resources and aquatic ecosystems and to safeguard other
legitimate uses of water, to reduce water pollution caused or induced by
nitrates from agricultural sources and to prevent further such pollution;
whereas for this purpose it is important to take measures concerning the
storage and the application on land of all nitrogen compounds and
concerning certain land management practices;
Whereas since pollution
of water due to nitrates on one Member State can influence waters in other
Member States, action at Community level in accordance with Article 130r
is therefore necessary;
Whereas, by encouraging good agricultural
practices, Member States can provide all waters with a general level of
protection against pollution in the future;
Whereas certain zones,
draining into waters vulnerable to pollution from nitrogen compounds,
require special protection;
Whereas it is necessary for Member States
to identify vulnerable zones and to establish and implement action
programmes in order to reduce water pollution from nitrogen compounds in
vulnerable zones;
Whereas such action programmes should include
measures to limit the land-application of all nitrogen-containing
fertilizers and in particular to set specific limits for the application
of livestock manure;
Whereas it is necessary to monitor waters and to
apply reference methods of measurement for nitrogen compounds to ensure
that measures are effective;
Whereas it is recognized that the
hydrogeology in certain Member States is such that it may be many years
before protection measures lead to improvements in water
quality;
Whereas a Committee should be established to assist the
Commission on matters relating to the implementation of this Directive and
to its adaptation to scientific and technical progress;
Whereas Member
States should establish and present to the Commission reports on the
implementation of this Directive;
Whereas the Commission should report
regularly on the implementation of this Directive by the Member
States,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
This
Directive has the objective of:
- reducing water pollution caused or
induced by nitrates from agricultural sources and - preventing further
such pollution.
Article 2
For the purpose of this
Directive:
(a) 'groundwater`: means all water which is below the
surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with
the ground or subsoil;
(b) 'freshwater`: means naturally occurring
water having a low concentration of salts, which is often acceptable as
suitable for abstraction and treatment to produce drinking water;
(c)
'nitrogen compound`: means any nitrogen-containing substance except for
gaseous molecular nitrogen;
(d) 'livestock`: means all animals kept for
use or profit;
(e) 'fertilizer`: means any substance containing a
nitrogen compound or nitrogen compounds utilized on land to enhance growth
of vegetation; it may include livestock manure, the residues from fish
farms and sewage sludge;
(f) 'chemical fertilizer`: means any
fertilizer which is manufactured by an industrial process;
(g)
'livestock manure`: means waste products excreted by livestock or a
mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in
processed form;
(h) 'land application`: means the addition of materials
to land whether by spreading on the surface of the land, injection into
the land, placing below the surface of the land or mixing with the surface
layers of the land;
(i) 'eutrophication`: means the enrichment of water
by nitrogen compounds, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher
forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance
of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water
concerned;
(j) 'pollution`: means the discharge, directly or
indirectly, of nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources into the
aquatic environment, the results of which are such as to cause hazards to
human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage
to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of water;
(k)
'vulnerable zone`: means an area of land designated according to Article 3
(2).
Article 3
1. Waters affected by pollution and waters which
could be affected by pollution if action pursuant Article 5 is not taken
shall be identified by the Member States in accordance with the criteria
set out in Annex I.
2. Member States shall, within a two-year period
following the notification of this Directive, designate as vulnerable
zones all known areas of land in their territories which drain into the
waters identified according to paragraph 1 and which contribute to
pollution. They shall notify the Commission of this initial designation
within six months.
3. When any waters identified by a Member State in
accordance with paragraph 1 are affected by pollution from waters from
another Member State draining directly or indirectly in to them, the
Member States whose waters are affected may notify the other Member States
and the Commission of the relevant facts.
The Member States concerned
shall organize, where appropriate with the Commission, the concertation
necessary to identify the sources in question and the measures to be taken
to protect the waters that are affected in order to ensure conformity with
this Directive.
4. Member States shall review if necessary revise or
add to the designation of vulnerable zones as appropriate, and at last
every four years, to take into account changes and factors unforeseen at
the time of the previous designation. They shall notify the Commission of
any revision or addition to the designations within six months.
5.
Member States shall be exempt from the obligation to identify specific
vulnerable zones, if they establish and apply action programmes referred
to in Article 5 in accordance with this Directive throughout their
national territory.
Article 4
1. With the aim of providing for
all waters a general level of protection against pollution, Member States
shall, within a two-year period following the notification of this
Directive:
(a) establish a code or codes of good agricultural practice,
to be implemented by farmers on a voluntary basis, which should contain
provisions covering at least the items mentioned in Annex II A;
(b) set
up where necessary a programme, including the provision of training and
information for farmers, promoting the application of the code(s) of good
agricultural practice.
2. Member States shall submit to the Commission
details of their codes of good agricultural practice and the Commission
shall include information on these codes in the report referred to in
Article 11. In the light of the information received, the Commission may,
if it considers it necessary, make appropriate proposals to the
Council.
Article 5
1. Within a two-year period following the
initial designation referred to in Article 3 (2) or within one year of
each additional designation referred to in Article 3 (4), Member States
shall, for the purpose of realizing the objectives specified in Article 1,
establish action programmes in respect of designated vulnerable
zones.
2. An action programme may relate to all vulnerable zones in the
territory of a Member State or, where the Member State considers it
appropriate, different programmes may be established for different
vulnerable zones or parts of zones.
3. Action programmes shall take
into account:
(a) available scientific and technical data, mainly with
reference to respective nitrogen contributions originating from
agricultural and other sources;
(b) environmental conditions in the
relevant regions of the Member State concerned.
4. Action programmes
shall be implemented within four years of their establishment and shall
consist of the following mandatory measures:
(a) the measures in Annex
III;
(b) those measures which Member States have prescribed in the
code(s) of good agricultural practice established in accordance with
Article 4, except those which have been superseded by the measures in
Annex III.
5. Member States shall moreover take, in the framework of
the action programmes, such additional measures or reinforced actions as
they consider necessary if, at the outset or in the light of experience
gained in implementing the action programmes, it becomes apparent that the
measures referred to in paragraph 4 will not be sufficient for achieving
the objectives specified in Article 1. In selecting these measures or
actions, Member States shall take into account their effectiveness and
their cost relative to other possible preventive measures.
6. Member
States shall draw up and implement suitable monitoring programmes to
assess the effectiveness of action programmes established pursuant to this
Article.
Member States which apply Article 5 throughout their national
territory shall monitor the nitrate content of waters (surface waters and
groundwater) at selected measuring points which make it possible to
establish the extent of nitrate pollution in the waters from agricultural
sources.
7. Member States shall review and if necessary revise their
action programmes, including any additional measures taken pursuant to
paragraph 5, at least every four years. They shall inform the Commission
of any changes to the action programmes.
Article 6
1. For the
purpose of designating and revising the designation of vulnerable zones,
Member States shall:
(a) within two years of notification of the
Directive, monitor the nitrate concentration in freshwaters over a period
of one year:
(i) at surface water sampling stations, laid down in
Article 5 (4) of Directive 75/440/EEC and/or at other sampling stations
which are representative of surface waters of Member States, at least
monthly and more frequently during flood periods;
(ii) at sampling
stations which are representative of the groundwater aquifers of Member
States, at regular intervals and taking into account the provisions of
Directive 80/778/EEC;
(b) repeat the monitoring programme outlined in
(a) at least every four years, except for those sampling stations where
the nitrate concentration in all previous samples has been below 25 mg/l
and no new factor likely to increase the nitrage content has appeared, in
which case the monitoring programme need be repeated only every eight
years;
(c) review the eutrophic state of their fresh surface waters,
estuarial and coastal waters every four years.
2. The reference methods
of measurement set out in Annex IV shall be used.
Article 7
Guidelines for the monitoring referred to in Article 5 and 6 may be
drawn up in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
9.
Article 8
The Annexes to this Directive may be adapted to
scientific and technical progress in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 9.
Article 9
1. The Commission shall be
assisted by a Committee composed of the representative of the Member
States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
2. The
representative of the Commission shall submit to the Commission a draft of
the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the
draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the
urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid
down in Article 148 (2) of the EEC Treaty in the case of decisions which
the Council is required to adopt a proposal from the Commission. The votes
of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be
weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not
vote.
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they
are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee.
(b) If the
measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the
Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without
delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be
taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
(c) If, on the
expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the
Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted
by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said
measures by a simple majority.
Article 10
1. Member States
shall, in respect of the four-year period following the notification of
this Directive and in respect of each subsequent four-year period, submit
a report to the Commission containing the information outlined in Annex
V.
2. A report pursuant to this Article shall be submitted to the
Commission within six months of the end of the period to which it
relates.
Article 11
On the basis of the information received
pursuant to Article 10, the Commission shall publish summary reports
within six months of receiving the reports from Member States and shall
communicate them to the European Parliament and to the Council. In the
light of the implementation of the Directive, and in particular the
provisions of Annex III, the Commission shall submit to the Council by 1
January 1998 a report accompanied where appropriate by proposals for
revision of this Directive.
Article 12
1. The Member States
shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions
necessary to comply with this Directive within two years of its
notification (1). They shall forthwith inform the Commission
thereof.
2. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on
the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a
reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
3. Member States
shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of
national law which they adopt in the field governed by this
Directive.
Article 13
This Directive is addressed to the Member
States.
Done at Brussels, 12 December 1991.
For the CouncilThe
PresidentJ.G.M. ALDERS
(1)OJ N° C 54, 3. 3. 1989, p. 4 and OJ N° C 51,
2. 3. 1990, p. 12.
(2)OJ N° C 158, 26. 6. 1989, p. 487.
(3)OJ N° C
159, 26. 6. 1989, p. 1.
(4)OJ N° L 194, 25. 7. 1975, p. 26.
(5)OJ N°
L 271, 29. 10. 1979, p. 44.
(6)OJ N° L 229, 30. 8. 1980, p.
11.
(7)OJ N° C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.
(8)OJ N° C 209, 9. 8. 1988,
p. 3.
(1)This Directive was notified to the Member States on 19
December 1991.
ANNEX I
CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING WATERS
REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3 (1)
A. Waters referred to in Article 3 (1)
shall be identified making use, inter alia, of the following
criteria:
1. whether surface freshwaters, in particular those used or
intended for the abstraction of drinking water, contain or could contain,
if action pursuant to Article 5 is not taken, more than the concentration
of nitrates laid down in accordance with Directive 75/440/EEC;
2.
whether groundwaters contain more than 50 mg/l nitrates or could contain
more than 50 mg/l nitrates if action pursuant to Article 5 is not
taken;
3. whether natural freshwater lakes, other freshwater bodies,
estuaries, coastal waters and marine waters are found to be eutrophic or
in the near future may become euthropic if action pursuant to Article 5 is
not taken.
B. In applying these criteria, Member States shall also take
account of:
1. the pyhsical and environmental characteristics of the
waters and land;
2. the current understanding of the behaviour of
nitrogen compounds in the environment (water and soil);
3. the current
understanding of the impact of the action taken pursuant to Article
5.
ANNEX II
CODE(S) OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
A. A code or codes of good agricultural practice with the objective of
reducing pollution by nitrates and taking account of conditions in the
different regions of the Community should certain provisions covering the
following items, in so far as they are relevant:
1. periods when the
land application of fertilizer is inappropriate;
2. the land
application of fertilizer to steeply sloping ground;
3. the land
application of fertilizer to water-saturated, flooded, frozen or
snow-covered ground;
4. the conditions for land application of
fertilizer near water courses;
5. the capacity and construction of
storage vessels for livestock manures, including measures to prevent water
pollution by run-off and seepage into the groundwater and surface water of
liquids containing livestock manures and effluents from stored plant
materials such as silage;
6. procedures for the land application,
including rate and uniformity of spreading, of both chemical fertilizer
and livestock manure, that will maintain nutrient losses to water at an
acceptable level.
B. Member States may also include in their code(s) of
good agricultural practices the following items:
7. land use
management, including the use of crop rotation systems and the proportion
of the land area devoted to permanent crops relative to annual tillage
crops;
8. the maintenance of a minimum quantity of vegetation cover
during (rainy) periods that will take up the nitrogen from the soil that
could otherwise cause nitrate pollution of water;
9. the establishment
of fertilizer plans on a farm-by-farm basis and the keeping of records on
fertilizer use;
10. the prevention of water pollution from run-off and
the downward water movement beyond the reach of crop roots in irrigation
systems.
ANNEX III
MEASURES TO BE INCLUDED IN ACTION
PROGRAMMES AS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 5 (4) (a)
1. The measures shall
include rules relating to:
1. periods when the land application of
certain types of fertilizer is prohibited;
2. the capacity of storage
vessels for livestock manure; this capacity must exceed that required for
storage throughout the longest period during which land application in the
vulnerable zone is prohibited, except where it can be demonstrated to the
competent authority that any quantity of manure in excess of the actual
storage capacity will be disposed of in a manner which will not cause harm
to the environment;
3. limitation of the land application of
fertilizers, consistent with good agricultural practice and taking into
account the characteristics of the vulnerable zone concerned, in
particular:
(a) soil conditions, soil type and slope;
(b) climatic
conditions, rainfall and irrigation;
(c) land use and agricultural
practices, including crop rotation systems;
and to be based on a
balance between:
(i) the foreseeable nitrogen requirements of the
crops,
and (ii) the nitrogen supply to the crops from the soil and from
fertilization corresponding to:
- the amount of nitrogen present in the
soil at the moment when the crop starts to use it to a significant degree
(outstanding amounts at the end of winter),
- the supply of nitrogen
through the net mineralization of the reserves of organic nitrogen in the
soil,
- additions of nitrogen compounds from livestock manure,
-
additions of nitrogen compounds from chemical and other fertilizers.
2.
These measures will ensure that, for each farm or livestock unit, the
amount of livestock manure applied to the land each year, including by the
animals themselves, shall not exceed a specified amount per
hectare.
The specified amount per hectare be the amount of manure
containing 170 kg N. However:
(a) for the first four year action
programme Member States may allow an amount of manure containing up to 210
kg N;
(b) during and after the first four-year action programme, Member
States may fix different amounts from those referred to above. These
amounts must be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the
objectives specified in Article 1 and must be justified on the basis of
objectives criteria, for example:
- long growing seasons,
- crops
with high nitrogen uptake,
- high net precipitation in the vulnerable
zone,
- soils with exceptionally high denitrification capacity.
If a
Member State allows a different amount under subparagraph (b), it shall
inform the Commission which will examine the justification in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 9.
3. Member States may
calculate the amounts referred to in paragraph 2 on the basis of animal
numbers.
4. Member States shall inform the Commission of the manner in
which they are applying the provisions of paragraph 2. In the light of the
information received, the Commission may, if it considers necessary, make
appropriate proposals to the Council in accordance with Article
11.
ANNEX IV
REFERENCE METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
Chemical fertilizer
Nitrogen compounds shall be measured using
the method described in Commission Directive 77/535/EEC of 22 June 1977 on
the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to methods of
sampling and analysis for fertilizers (1), as amended by Directive
89/519/EEC (2).
Freshwaters, coastal waters and marine waters
Nitrate concentration shall be measured in accordance with Article 4a
(3) of Council Decision 77/795/EEC of 12 December 1977 establishing a
common procedure for the exchange of information on the quality of surface
fresh water in the Community (3), as amended by Decision 86/574/EEC
(4).
(1)OJ N° L 213, 22. 8. 1977, p. 1.
(2)OJ N° L 265, 12. 9.
1989, p. 30.
(3)OJ N° L 334, 24. 12. 1977, p. 29.
(4)OJ N° L 335,
28. 11. 1986, p. 44.
ANNEX V
INFORMATION TO BE
CONTAINED IN REPORTS TO IN ARTICLE 10
1. A statement of the preventive
action taken pursuant to Article 4.
2. A map showing the
following:
(a) waters identified in accordance with Article 3 (1) and
Annex I indicating for each water which of the criteria in Annex I was
used for the purpose of identification;
(b) the location of the
designed vulnerable zones, distinguishing between existing zones and zones
designated since the previous report.
3. A summary of the monitoring
results obtained pursuant to Article 6, including a statement of the
considerations which led to the designation of each vulnerable zone and to
any revision of or addition to designations of vulnerable zones.
4. A
summary of the action programmes drawn up pursuant to Article 5 and, in
particular:
(a) the measures required by Article 5 (4) (a) and
(b);
(b) the information required by Annex III (4);
(c) any
additional measures or reinforced actions taken pursuant to Article 5
(5);
(d) a summary of the results of the monitoring programmes
implemented pursuant to Article 5 (6);
(e) the assumptions made by the
Member States about the likely timescale within which the waters
identified in accordance with Article 3 (1) are expected to respond to the
measure in the action programme, along with an indication of the level of
uncertainty incorporated in these assumptions.