The Department of the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government

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DISCUSSION DOCUMENT - RATIONALE FOR
DERIVING NATIONAL PRIORITY ACTION,
CANDIDATE RELEVANT POLLUTANT AND

CANDIDATE GENERAL COMPONENT SUBSTANCES
LISTS FOR SURFACE WATERS

NATIONAL DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES EXPERT GROUP

Produced by National Dangerous Substances Expert Group

May 2004

Revision Control Table

The User is Responsible for Checking the Revision Status of this Document

Report Reference Number- SERBD-R-30

    
   

   
 
   

  

Checked b

for Comment

B Cormments of DS Expert F GG AGB March 2004
Group incorporated &
details of monitoring

ogramme added

c Comments of DS Expert 6 AGB April 2004.
Group incorporated &
released for audit

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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AUDIT OF DISCUSSION DOCUMENT
PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 ESTABLISHING NATIONAL PRIORITY ACTION, CANDIDATE RELEVANT
POLLUTANT & CANDIDATE GENERAL COMPONENT SUBSTANCES LISTS

3.0 NATIONAL SUBSTANCES SCREENING MONITORING PROGRAMME

4.0 REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Appendix A Irish Standards Set by Legislation under the Dangerous Substances
Directive

Appendix B Overview of Monitoring Programmes

USER COMMENT FORM

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Acknowledgements

A National Dangerous Substances Expert Group was established to assist with developing lists of
priority action, candidate relevant pollutant and candidate general component substances for surface
waters in Ireland and to design a substances screening monitoring programme as part of fhe
implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The group first met in August 2003, and
there have been seven subsequent meetings during the time of preparation of this discussion document:
September, October and December 2003, January, February, March and early April 2004. In late April

2004 the group met for a final time to agree the final version of the discussion document.
The members of the expert group are as follows:

Dr. Aidan Moody - Dept. of Agriculture and Food, Pesticide Control Service

Dr. Evin McGovem - Marine Institute (Department of Communications, Marine and Natural
Resources)

Mt. Noel Duffy - Director, Clean Technology Centre, Cork Institute of Technology.
Dr. Ciaran O’Donnell - Environmental Protection Agency

Ms. Margaret Keegan - Environmental Protection Agency

Mr. Alan Stephens - Environmental Protection Agency

Mr. Oliver Fogarty - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Mir. Pat Duggan - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Mr. Tim Morns - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Dr. Alan Bar - Shannon River Basın District Project

Ms. Grace Glasgow - South Eastern River Basin District Project

Ms. Fiona Murphy - South Eastern River Basin District Project. .

Administrative Support:

Ms Mary Bootlıman - Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government

Auditors:

Dr. Tom Zabel - Water Research centre (WRc), Swindon, UK
Mr. Mike Gardner - Water Research centre (WRc), Swindon, UK
Dr. Peter Whalley - Water Research centre (WRc), Swindon, UK

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Audit of Discussion Document

In April 2004, WRc (on behalf of ESBI who-are the lead consultants for the Western RBD Project)
undertook an independent audit of the approach to the development of the Irish Dangerous Substances lists
and the design-of the national:screening monitoring programme as set out in this.discussion document.

The auditors provided detailed comments and suggestions which were incorporated in the text and raised a
small number of more substantial points which were further explored and resolved. In summary these
issues and subsequent actions were:

Further screening of the candidate lists would be desirable to reduce the number of pollutants to
be addressed by the monitoring programme, however, comprehensive use of existing Tegisters,
monitoring programmes and expert knowledge has been made.

The report: Transitional Provisions for Council Directive 76/464/EEC and related Directives to
the WFD - Pollution Reduction Programmes in Europe — Updated Report on the Assessment of
Programmes under Article 7 of the DSD (WRc. 2003) identifies some additional substances of
selevance in Member States, The relevant Irish bottom-up study undertaken by CTC has been
included in the compilation of the lists.

The approach of addressing future monitoring by a screening survey is robust, but potentially
demanding. The survey needs defined performance requirements with regard to levels of detection
and substance/matrix combinations. Specifically, consideration should be given to monitoring of
major sewage effluent discharges. This would address diffuse sources that are related to product
use as well as urban run-off and light industry and provide an indication of significant
presence/absence that could be assessed before dilution in the receiving water. The details ofthe
programme were discussed and monitoring at a treatment plant was included as an element of the
screening programme.

Comments acknowledging the advantages and disadvantages of monitoring in various media
(water/sediment/biota) were incorporated in the document.

The overall findings of the audit were as follows:

The discussion document provides a comprehensive description of a rationale for the selection of
pollutants to be monitored under current and future legislation.

The document is consistent with current recommendations issued by the Common Implementation
Strategy working group (IMPRESS), relating to the identification of pressures and assessment of
impacts within the characterisation .of water bodies according to Article 5 of the Water Framework
Directive.

All relevant principal drivers for the selection of relevant pollutants have been :addressed.

Names of Correspondents: Tom Zabel, Mike Gardner.

Preface

This document has been prepared in support of the implementation of Directive 2000/60/EC
establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy (the Water Framework
Directive - WFD).

The objectives of the WFD are to:
-  Achieve:good ecological status and chemical status in surface waters;
—  Achieve good chemical status and quantitative Status in groundwaters;
= Achieve good ecological potential and chemical status in artificial and heavily modified
water'bodies;
-  Prevent deterioration in status of surface and groundwaters;
— Reverse pollution trends;
— _ Achieve objectives and standards for protected areas; and

—  Cease Priority Hazardous Substances discharges.

Consideration of chemical substances in surface water bodies directly addresses several of these
objectives, in particular, those related to achieving good status or potential, prevention of deterioration

of status, reversal of pollution trends and cessation of discharge of’priority hazardous substances.

The approach proposed for identification of dangerous substances in Irish surface waters is in
accordance with guidance issued by the Common Implementation Strategy working group named
IMPRESS, which was dedicated to the identification of pressures and assessment of impacts within the
characterisation of water bodies according to Article 5 ofthe WFD. '

IMPRESS 2002 state that: “Pressures and impacts analyses have a central role in Ihe river basin
management planning process. Their principal aim is to identify where and 10 what extent human

activities may be placing the achievement of the Directive's environmental objectives at risk.

Article 5 of the Water Framework Directive requires, among other things, a review of the impaci of
human activity on the status of surface waters and groundwater. The review must be undertaken in
accordance with Annex II 1.4 - 2.5, and will require Member States to assess the likelihood that water
bodies in their river basin districts will fail to meet the Directive's environmental objectives. In
undertaking this analysis, Member States must use information collected on the type and magnitude of
pressures 10 which water bodies are liable to be subject and on Ihe characteristics of those water
bodies, together with any other relevant information, including existing environmental monitoring

data.

The results ofthe analyses will be used in:

—  Targeting the monitoring programmes required under Article 8, so that they provide suitable
information for validating the analyses and assessing the effectiveness of Ihe programmes of
measures;

— Setting objectives. The analyses will help identify water bodies for which the application of
heavily modified water body designations under Article 4.3, extensions to the timetable under
Article 4.4, less stringent objectives under Article 4.5 or exceptions from the obligation to
‚prevent deterioration in status under Articles 4.6 and 4.7 may be appropriate; and

- Designing targeted and proportionate measures io achieve the Directive’s objectives, in

accordance with Article 11; ”

This document presents the approach used to determine the lists of priority action, candidate relevant
pollutant and candidate general component substances in Ireland and sets out the proposal to undertake

a substances screening monitoring programme to refine the candidate lists. -

This document has been prepared to ensure that the selection process adopted is transparent.

The discussion document should be viewed as a consultative report which presents the rationale behind
the development of the lists of substances arid the approach to be taken to establish a substances
Screening monitoring programme to refine the lists by addressing information gaps. Submissions
regarding the list content and the monitoring programme proposals are welcome and a response form

has been included to encourage and facilitate comment.

The document does not propose to set statutory environmental quality objectives for substänces: that
task awaits the outcome of various European research projects and the analyses of datasets that would

be generated by the proposed Irish Substances Screening Monitoring Programme.

The current lists of substances should be treated as evolving lists which will be subjected to periodic
review to permit developments such as changes in human practices or the findings of new research

which might identify additional substances of concern to be considered for inclusion on future lists.

Abbreviations

BS-
COMMPS ° -
CTC ..
DSD -
DYNAMEC -
EPER .
'EQS .
ELV =
EQualS -
ESBI „5
IMPRESS -
IC -
LC50 -
LOD -
L0Q ö
MPC -
NACE -
NDP -
NOEC -
OSPAR -
PNEC -
UNEP POPS- -
US-EPA -
WRc -
WRe-NSF  -
WWTP .

Commen Implementation Strategy

Combined Monitoring-based and Modelling-based Priority Setting Scheme
Clean Technology Centre

Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EEC)

Dynamic Mechanism for Selection and Prioritisation of Hazardous Substances
European Pollutant Emission Register

Environmental Quality Standards

Emission Limit Value

Database published by the National Centre for Environmental Toxicology, UK
Electricity Supply Board International

Impact and Pressures Common Implementation Strategy Working Group
Integrated Pollution Control

Lethal Concentration, 50" percentile value

Limit of Detection

Limit of. Quantitation

Maximum Permissible Concentrations

Classification of Economic Activities in European Community

National Development Plan

No Observed Effects Concentration

Oslo Paris Convention

Predicted No Effects Concentration

United "Nations Environmental Programme - Persistent Organic Pollutants
United States - Environmental Protection Agency

Water Framework Directive

Water Research Centre

Water Research Centre and National Sanitation Foundation

Waste Water Treatment Plant