DEPARTMENT OF

THE ENVIRONMENT

CUSTOM HOUSE. DUBLIN I

TEL 01 679 3377
FAX 01 874 2710
TELEX 31014

GTN 7108

DEPARTMENT OF THE

ENVIRONMENT

24 August 1998

Secretary General r
Commission of the European Communities - 13005
Rue de la Loi 200

B-1049 Brussels

Belgium

P-

Implementation in Ireland of the Dangerous Substances
Directive (76/464/EEC)

Water Quality Standards for Phosphorus

Infringement Procedures No. 90/5220 and 90/0961

Dear Secretary General

I wish to refer to previous correspondence regarding
implementation in Ireland of Directive 76/464/EEC on
the prevention of pollution caused by the release of
certain dangerous substances into the aquatic
environment. I refer in particular, to the
communication from Ireland to the Commission in June,
1997 of the strategy document "Managing Ireland’s
Rivers and Lakes - A Catchment-Based Strategy Against
Eutrophication" which addresses eutrophication in
Irish rivers and lakes. This document was submitted as
Ireland’s pollution reduction programme for
phosphorus, as required by article 7 of the Directive.
These matters are the subject of infringement
procedures Nos. 90/5220 and 90/0961.

Statutory Water Quality Standards for Phosphorous

The purpose of this letter is to advise the Commission
that statutory effect has recently been given to the
water quality standards for phosphorus which were
detailed in Appendix 2 of the strategy document.

These standards are now prescribed by the Local
Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 (Water Quality
Standards for Phosphorous) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No
258 of 1998). A copy of the Regulations is enclosed,

Printed on recycled paper

It will be noted that, in the case of lakes, the
standards set out in table 2 of Appendix 2 now apply
to all lakes (i.e. the more stringent of the two sets
of standards set out in tables 2 and 3 of Appendix 2).
Also enclosed is a copy-of the press statement issued
by Mr. Dan Wallace, T.D., Minister of State at the
Department of the Environment and Local Government, on
the making of the Regulations.

As the Commission will be aware, phosphorus is the
nutrient of primary concern in Irish rivers and lakes.
These Regulations, therefore, represent a very
substantial response by Ireland to the obligations
arising under article 7 of Directive 76/464/EEC. The
Commission is requested to have due regard to the
significance of these Regulations in its further
consideration of the issues arising under the
infringements proceedings initiated by the Commission
in respect of Ireland’s implementation of the
Directive.

The Regulations set out specific targets for reducing
phosphorus levels in rivers and lakes. Asa starting
point, articles 3(1) and 3(5) provide that the
existing quality rating/status of a river or lake
shall be maintained i.e. no disimprovement in quality
will be allowed. Articles 3(2), 3(3), 3(6) and 3(7)
provide for incremental improvements in water quality
to be achieved in rivers and lakes affected by
pollution. The detailed requirements are set out in
the Third Schedule of the Regulations.

The benchmark for water quality rating/status, for the
purpose of assessing compliance with the Regulations,
will be that assigned by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) on the basis of monitoring carried out
between 1995 and 1997. The results of the EPA s
assessment of water quality for this period will be
published later this year. In advance of publication
by the EPA, local authorities have been advised to
consult the EPA’s interim reports for 1995 and 1996 on
river monitoring or otherwise to consult the Agency
directly in relation to the water quality assessment
of other water bodies.

Timeframe for Implementation

The timeframe for complying with the quality standards
is dealt with in articles 3(4), 3(8) and 3(9). Under
articles 3(4)(a) and 3(8)(a), a deadline of 31
December, 2007 applies in the case of a river or lake
(or part thereof) which is assigned a quality
rating/status by the EPA based on monitoring carried
out between 1995 and 1997. Otherwise, a maximum 10

3

year timeframe will apply from the time the EPA first
assigns a rating based on monitoring carried out after
:1997 (articles 3(4)(b) and 3(8)(b)).

Local authorities have been advised that the 10 year
timeframe is the maximum allowed for achieving
compliance with the standards and that, depending on
local circumstances, it may be possible to achieve the
standards within a shorter timeframe or even higher
quality standards within the 10 year timeframe. Local
authorities have been urged to make every effort to
accelerate the rate at which the prescribed standards
are met.

Article 3(9) makes provision for a maximum 6 year
extension to the periods referred to in articles 3(4)
and 3(8) for the achievement of the specified levels
of improvement, where exceptional circumstances apply.
The extended timeframe is designed to cover
exceptional circumstances whereby additional time
would be necessary to allow for achievement of the
quality standards.

Measures for Implementation

Article 4(1) of the Regulations imposes a statutory
obligation on local authorities, and the EPA insofar
as IPC licensing is concerned, to take the measures
necessary to secure compliance with the standards
prescribed in article 3. Local authorities have been
requested to avail of their wide powers under the
Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts, 1977 and 1990
to reverse the deterioration in water quality in
rivers and lakes in line with the specific
requirements of Parts I and II of the Third Schedule
of the Regulations. For this purpose, local
authorities will be required to draw up, in the
context of the aforementioned catchment-based approach
to combat euthrophication, a detailed programme of
measures which will be necessary to achieve this
objective.

The role of the EPA in applying appropriate controls
under its licensing of IPC related activities will be
an integral feature of implementation of the
Regulations. The need for a high degree of co-
operation between the EPA and local authorities in the
exercise of their respective functions has been
emphasised to the Agency and all local authorities in
the context of ensuring that their joint efforts
contribute to achievement of the quality standards set
out in the Regulations.

Progress Reports

Articles 4 (2),(3) and (4) of the Regulations give the
EPA an important supervisöry and reporting function in
relation to overall implementation of the Regulations.
Article 4 (2) requires local authorities to submit to
the EPA, by 31 July, 1999, a report of measures to be
taken under the terms of the Regulations. Article 4
(3) requires local authorities to submit to the EPA,
by 31 July, 2000, the first progress report on
implementation of measures and to submit further such
progress reports at intervals of not more than two
years. Under article 4 (4), the EPA is required,
within 9 months of the deadlines for receipt of
progress reports from the local authorities, to
prepare and publish reports on progress in relation to
implementation of the Regulations. Such reports by the
EPA, in addition to including material from the local
authorities, will also incorporate material in
relation to the measures being taken by the Agency
under IPC licensing provisions. The EPA may also
include in these reports such recommendations as it
considers appropriate.

Sectoral Sources of Nutrients

The phosphorus standards will have implications for
all sectors which contribute to the phosphorus load
reaching rivers and lakes. The EPA Report on Water
Quality for the period 1991-1994 ascribed, for the
first time, the proportion of slight and moderate
pollution generated by different sectors, the
principal ones being agriculture, sewage and industry.
It will be a matter for local authorities, in the
first instance, to identify the sectors responsible
for pollution in a particular area and the relative
contribution in terms of phosphorus inputs from each
sector.In this way, local authorities will be able to
focus on those activities and operations which are the
primary contributors to the overall phosphorus load in
a catchment and to tailor strategies to the particular
circumstances of each catchment. The approach required
in each case will depend on the contribution from each
sector and the nature of the activities/operations
involved.

Sewage Discharges

In the case of sewage discharges, the water services
investment programme, which is part-funded by the
Cohesion and European Regional Development Funds, will
continue to play an important role in reducing the
phosphorus load to individual catchments. Priorities
in this area are already well established on foot of

5

the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive (91/271/EEC), in particular in the case of
sensitive areas identified under the Directive. The
assessment of measures required by the new Regulations
should help to further clarify these priorities.

Industrial Discharges

Insofar as industrial discharges licensed by local
authorities and IPC related activities licensed by the
EPA are concerned, local authorities and the EPA are
now required to review any licence in respect of a
discharge to a water body affected by the requirements
of the Regulations. The purpose of such reviews will
be to examine how current levels of phosphorus inputs
can be reduced as part of the overall strategy to
secure compliance with the statutory quality standards
for phosphorus. Local authorities and the EPA have
been advised of the need to identify at an early stage
the measures required of licensees so that licensees
can take the necessary steps to ensure that the
targeted reductions in phosphorus levels can be
achieved over the timeframe allowed for compliance
with the quality standards. Progress in relation to
achievement of the reduced phosphorus levels will be
monitored on a regular basis under the licence review
provisions of the Water Pollution Acts and the EPA
Act, 1992.

Similar licence review provisions apply with respect
to the licensing by local authorities of industrial
discharges to sewers.

Agriculture: Nutrient Management Planning

In the context of the reducing the contribution of
agriculture to overall phosphorus inputs to waters,
nutrient management planning (NMP) was identified in
the strategy document "Managing Ireland’s Rivers and
Lakes" as a key management tool for farmers. The
provisions of section 21A of the Local Government
(Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act, 1990 (inserted by
the Waste Management Act, 1996) in relation to NMP are
an important addition to the range of measures
available to local authorities to prevent or reduce
pollution from the agricultural sector. To coincide
with the making of the Regulations in relation to
phosphorous levels, my authorities have published
guidelines for Local Authorities on how best these
provisions can be utilised to achieve maximum benefit
for water quality in rivers and lakes. These
guidelines are set out in the document "Protecting our
Freshwaters: Nutrient Management Planning Guidelines

6

for Local Authorities", a copy of which is enclosed.
Regulations have also been made to require local
authorities to consult with the EPA in relation to the
exercise of their powers under section 21A of the 1990
Act. This requirement is prescribed in the Local
Government (Water Pollution) (Nutrient Management
Planning Consultation) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No 257
of 1998), a copy of which is enclosed for information.

Review of Standards

The Department of the Environment and Local Government
will keep the general position relating to phosphorus
quality standards under review. The intention will be
to set further and more ambitious standards in the
future in keeping with the long term aim of achieving
unpolluted conditions in all rivers and lakes.

Yours sincerely

IF, > C 5 \
ZZ CH. Br

 

ZZ
rrincipal Officer
Water Quality Section

Ext. 2481

c.c. Director General DGXI

Department of the Environment and Local An Roinn Comhshaoil agus Rialtais Aitiuil
Govemment, Teach an Chustaim,

Custom House, Baile Ätha Cliath 1 Tel: (01) 679 3377
Dublin 1 Tel: (01)679 3377 Fax: (01) 874 8402
Fax: (01) 874 8402 ’ ;

 

EMBARGOED until 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday Sth of August

WALLACE ANNOUNCES MAJOR INITIATIVES TO TACKLE WATER POLLUTION

Mr. Dan Wallace, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local
Government, today ( 5 August, 1998) announced a number of important initiatives as part ofthe

ongoing effort to tackle water pollution in our rivers and lakes.

New water quality standards for phosphorus are being set to tackle eutrophication in
rivers and lakes.

Guidelines for local authorities on nutrient management planning are being published.

Monitoring/management systems for the Liffey, Boyne and Suir are being put in place.

Phosphorus Regulations
) "The new Regulations which I have made prescribing water quality standards for phosphorus

are the most significant ever made in respect of water quality in Ireland" said the Minister. "For
the first time, nafenal standards have been set in respect ofthe nutrient, phosphorus, which
plays a vital role in teinis of water quality in Ireland. We now have clearty formulated targets
for reducing phosphorus levels in rivers and lakes. While water quality cannot be allowed to

disimprove any further, in general, a 10 year timeframe will apply to the achievement of the new

targets."

The Regulations address the problem of eutrophication of rivers and lakes caused by excessive

'inputs of phosphorus from a range of sources - agriculture, industry, forestry and sewage.

They will provide the focus for concerted action by all sectors, under the overall supervision and
control of local authorities and the EPA, to redress the deterioration in water quality which has

Occured over the last few decades. “

Compliance with the water quality standards will require the adoption of comprehensive _
measures by local authorities addressing all sources of phosphorus inputs to rivers and lakes.
The primary means of implementing the standards will be through the catchment-based
initiatives which have been/are being developed as part ofthe Department's overall strategy to
tackle the increasing levels of eutrophication in rivers and lakes. The making of these

Regulations will provide an important impetus to the development of these initiatives.

The EPA's most recent national overview of water quality covering the period 1991-1994 found
that the level of slight to moderate pollution had increased from 21.5% (in the period 1987- |
1990) to 28.2% while serious pollution had reduced from 1.0% 10 0.6% of river length
monitored. Of 135 lakes monitored over the period 1991-1994, 18% indicated polluted
conditions. A further 5% displayed a moderate level of artificial enrichment ( involving no
significant adverse effects on beneficial uses). The results of monitoring for the period 1995-
1997 which will be published by the EPA later this year will provide the benchmark against

which compliance with the new phosphorus standards will be measured.

Minister of State Wallace added "The setting of water quality standards for phosphorus
represents a key response to EU Commission concerns about implementation by Ireland of the
Dangerous Substances Directive.* The Commission has recognised for some time the crucial
role which phosphonus plays in terms of water quality in ireland. The Irish standards will, the
Minister believes, set an important benchmark for other Member States in the context of overall
strategies to tackle water pollution throughout the EU.

A summary ofthe main provisions of the Regulations is included in the appendix.

Nutrient Management Planning
Minister of State Wallace also announced the publication of Guidelines for Local Authorities on

Nutrient Management Planning‘. "Under the terms ofthe Phosphonus Regulations, agriculture,

as the single biggest contributor to slight to moderate pollution of rivers and lakes, will, along
with all other sectors, be required to adopt practices which seek to reduce phosphonus losses to
waters ", the Minister said. "Nutrient management planning will be a key management tool for
farmers in this respect in helping to reduce the estimated annual 46,000 tonnes excess
phosphorus usage in agriculture."

The Guidelines provide guidance for local authorities on how they should implement the
nutrient management planning provisions in the Waste Management Act, 1996. In particular,
they advise on how best these provisions can be utilised to achieve maximum benefit for water

quality in rivers and lakes.

"Under the Waste Management Act, 1996, local authorities have power to require the
preparation of nutrient management plans in circumstances where this is necessary to prevent,
eliminate or minimise nutrient losses to waters. I want to see more extensive use of these
provisions by local authorities."

The objective of nutrient management planning is to minimise nutrient applications to crops
consistent with achieving optimum production targets while, at the same time, avoiding nutrient
losses to waters. All relevant sources of nutrients are taken into account - chemical and organic
fertilisers and nutrients available in the soil. Priority is given to the use of slurries and other
organic fertilisers, with applications of chemical fertilisers limited to such topping-up as is
required to reach recommended nutrient application rates. The planning process promotes

awareness ofthe valuable sources of nutrients represented by animal slurries and manures.

Monitoring/Management Systems for Liffey, Boyne and Suir
As part of the Department's on-going development of catchment-based initiatives for the

management of Irish water resources, the Minister also announced that consultants have been
selected to develop monitoring and management systems for the rivers Liffey, Boyne and Suir at
a combined cost of £3.4 million. Work on these will start in August.

"This type of investment is a key element in the Department's overall strategy towards more
effective management of river and lake systems. As a consequence, local authorities will be
better equipped to plan and implement the measures necessary to ensure compliance with the
phosphorus standards being launched today and to tailor strategies to the particular
circumstances of each catchment" said the Minister.

The Minister continued "These monitoring/management systems will, in addition to assessing
the impact of sewage investment, also identify and assess the effects of other point and diffuse

sources of pollution, including that from agriculture. "

Work on the development of monitoring/management systems in the Lough Derg and Lough
Ree catchments began in 1997 at a combined cost of over £2 million while consultants have
recently been appointed to undertake a similar programme for the Lough Leane catchment at a
cost of £800,000.

These monitoring/management systems are being developed alongside substantial investment in
sewage treatment infrastructure in the catchments concerned. Combined investment in the 6
catchments (Derg, Ree, Leane, Liffey, Boyne, Suir) will be approximately £123 million, backed
by Cohesion Fund assistance.

ENDS

5/8/98

Further information:
Orla O' Gorman
Press and Information Office
Tel: (01) 873 0363 (direct)
(01) 879 3377 Ext 2510
087 575232 (Mobile)
E-Mail: press-office@environ.irigov.ie
Website: www.environ.ie