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REFTESENTATION PERMANENTE RUE FREI j ;

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1040 BRUXEILLFS

 

wu TEI.OR 230 85 BO

FAX O2 220903203

CONFIDENTIAL

Ms Catherine Day

Secretary-General

Secretariat-General

Commission of the European Communities
200 Rue de laLoi

B1049 Bruxelles

Belgium

SG/CIC(2006) No UBG

  

23. 08. 2006

SG-R-2

28 August 2006

European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection
of Waters) Regulations 2006 (S.l. No. 378 of 2006).

Dear Secretary-General

| have been asked by my authorities to refer to my letter of 26 January
2006 and previous correspondence to the European Commission
concerning the Commission’s Letter of Formal Notice dated 22
December 2004 under Article 228 of the Treaty (reference SG-Greffe
(2004) D/206145) relating to measures taken by Ireland to comply with
the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Case C-396/01
regarding Ireland’s implementation of the Nitrates Directive (Council
Directive 91/676/EEC).

| enclose, by way of notification in accordance with Article 12 of the
Nitrates Directive and in response to the judgment in Case C-396/01, two
copies of the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for
Protection of Waters) Regulations 2006 (S.l. No. 378 of 2006). The
Regulations, which give legal effect to Ireland’s national Nitrates Action
Programme, (submitted with my letter of 29 July 2005) were made on 18
July 2006 under section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972.
Notice of the making of the Regulations was published in /ris Oifigidil on
28 July 2006. The Regulations were formally notified to the Commission
under NEMS on 23 August 2006.

The Regulations respond to revised scientific advice received by my
authorities and revoke and re-enact with amendments the European
Communities (Good Agricultura! Practice for Protection of Waters)
Regulations 2005 (S.l. No. 788 of 2005). The new Regulations were

Mass”

finalised following detailed and extensive discussions with Commission
officials. My authorities have asked that | express their sincere gratitude
t9 the Commission for the time and resources it devoted to the resolution
ofthe complex issues involved,

The Regulations set legally binding limits for the use of nitrogen and
phosphorus based on the nutrient requirements of crops. They establish
aı mechanism for improving nutrient recovery from manures, including a
requirement for specific targets to be achieved during the period of the
action programme and future action programmes. The Regulations came
into effect generally on 1 August 2006 with later commencement dates
for certain provisions. The Regulations will be amended to provide for a
stricter offences/penalties regime when the appropriate primary
legislation has been enacted e.g. in October or November 2006.

My authorities have asked that I draw the Commission’s attention to the
fact that the Regulations are additional to the full range of requirements
and powers in the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts and the
Waste Management Act 1996 which, together with other environmental
and planning legislation, continue to apply to agricultural activities. It is
accordingly open to local authorities to provide where necessary (i.e. in
relation to a specific catchment) for more stringent measures than those
specified in the Regulations.

A wide range of agricultural support schemes are and continue to be put
in place to support and encourage compliance with the Regulations.
These include the Rural Environment Protection Scheme and the new
Farm Waste Management Scheme which is specifically intended to assist
farmers meet the storage requirements specified in the Regulations. The
irnplementation of the Regulations will be supported in particular by farm
inspections undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food under
the Cross-Compliance regime.

The Regulations give further effect to a number of European Union
Directives including Council Directive 76/464/EEC on pollution caused by
certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of
the Community (the Dangerous Substances Directive), in that Articles 4
and 5 specifically address the prevention of phosphorus discharges from
farmyard installations. These provisions, when taken together with the
general prohibition on the entry of polluting matter to water under Section
3 ofthe Water Pollution Acts, provide an unequivocal legal prohibition on
the discharge of phosphorus from farmyard installations. This was a key
consideration in the adoption by Ireland of a whole territory approach
under the Nitrates Directive. In this context my authorities would wish the
Commission to accept the notification of the Regulations as a further
formal response to the Commission’s correspondence of 15 June 2005

and 4 April 2006 regarding the measures taken by Ireland to comply with
the European Court of Justice judgment in Case C-282/02 concerning
Ireland’s transposition and implementation of Directive T6/AB4/EEC. A
further comprehensive response to that correspondence is in the course
cf preparation by my authorities.

My authorities have also asked that | refer to the Commission’s
Correspondence of 25 November 2002 and 4 April 2006 regarding the
measures taken by Ireland to comply with the European Court of Justice
Judgment in Case C-316/00 concerning Ireland’s implementation and
transposition of Directive 80/778/EEC on the quality of water for human
consumption. This correspondence has been the subject of continuing
comprehensive responses on the part of Ireland. Given the measures
Specified in the enclosed Regulations in the context of the Protection of
drinking water sources, my authorities would also wish the Commission
to accept their notification as a further response to the Commission’s
cörrespondence.

Yours sincerely
7 r
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Environment Counsellor
+32 2 2823264

Ccoh

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.l. No. 378 of 2006

European Communities
(Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters)
Regulations 2006

PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE
DUBLIN
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PRN. A6/1210 Price €6,60

Article

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15.
16.

INDEX

PART 1
PRELIMINARY
Citation and commencement
Revocations
Interpretation

PART 2
FARMYARD MANAGEMENT

Minimisation of soiled water

Collection and holding of certain substances

Structural integrity of storage facilities

General obligations as to capacity of storage facilities
Capacity of storage facilities for effluents and soiled water
Capacity of storage facilities for pig manure

Capacity of storage facilities for poultry manure

Capacity of storage facilities for manure from deer, goats
and sheep

Capacity of storage facilities for manure from cattle
Reduced storage capacity in certain circumstances
Operative dates

PART 3
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Interpretation, commencement etc
Duty of occupier in relation to nutrient management

Page

oO OO ISO

000
—

11
12

PREVENTION OF WATER POLLUTION FROM FERTILISERS AND

1%
18.

19.
20.
21.

PART 4

CERTAIN ACTIVITIES

Distances from a water body and other issues
Requirements as to manner of application of fertilisers,
soiled water etc

Periods when application of fertilisers is prohibited
Limits on the amount of livestock manure to be applied
Ploughing and the use of non-selective herbicides

PART 5
GENERAL

General duty of occupier
Keeping of records by occupier
False or misleading information
Authorised person

Offences

PART 6
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Minister for Agriculture and Food

Making and review of action programme by the Minister
Agency

Local authorities

Compliance with Data Protection Acts

Certificate in relation to nutrient content of fertiliser
Exemption for exceptional eircumstances for research

. Transitional provisions

SCHEDULES

Schedule 1 Soil test

Schedule 2 Criteria as to storage capacity and nutrient

management

Schedule 3 Storage periods for livestock manure

Schedule 4 Periods when application of fertilisers to land is

prohibited

32

34

47

S.l. No. 378 of 2006

European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of
Waters) Regulations 2006

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in
exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the European
Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purposes of giving
further effect to Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975', Directive
76/464/EEC of 4 May 19762, Directive 80/68/EEC of 17 December 1979,
Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991*, Directive 2000/60/EC of 23
October 2000° and Directive 2003/35/EC of 26 May 2003° hereby makes
the following Regulations:

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1. (a) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities
(Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters)
Regulations 2006.

(b) These Regulations shall come into effect on 1 August, 2006
save as is otherwise provided in relation to any particular
provision.

O J.No.L 194/39, 25 July 1975

O.J. No. L 129/23, 18 May 1976
O.J. No. L 20/43, 26 January 1980
O.J. No L 375/1, 31 December 1991
O.J. No. L 327/1, 22 December 2000
O.J. No.L 156/17, 25 June 2003

eanswunn

Revocations

2. The European Communities (Protection of Waters Against Pollution
from Agricultural Sources) Regulations, 2003 (S.l. No.213 of 2003)
and the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for
Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2005 (S.l. No. 788 of 2005) are
hereby revoked.

Interpretation

3. (1) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise
requires-—

“Act of 1992” means the Environmental Protection Agency
Act, 1992 (No. 7 of 1992);

“Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency
established under section 19 of the Act of 1 992;

“agriculture” includes the breeding, keeping and sale of
livestock (including cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, sheep and
any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or
fur), the making and storage of silage, the cultivation of
land, and the growing of crops (including forestry and
horticultural crops);

“application to land”, in relation to fertiliser, means the
addition of fertiliser 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 but does not include the direct deposition of
manure to land by animals:

“aquifer" means any stratum or combination of strata that
stores or transmits groundwater;

“chemical fertilise"” means any fertiliser that is
manufactured by an industrial Process;

“farmyard manure” means a mixture of bedding material
and animal excreta in solid form arising from the housing of
cattle, sheep and other livestock excluding poultry;

"fertiliser” means any substance containing nitrogen or
phosphorus or a nitrogen compound or phosphorus
compound utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation
and may include livestock manure, the residues from fish
farms and sewage sludge;

-2-

“groundwater" means all water that is below the surface of
the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with
the ground or subsoil;

“holding” means an agricultural production unit and, in
relation to an occupier, means all the agricultural
production units managed by that occupier:

“Iivestock"” means all animals kept for use or profit
(including cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, sheep and any
creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur);

"livestock manure” means waste products excreted by
livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted
by livestock, even in processed form;

"local authority’ means a city council or county couneil
within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 2001 (No.
37 of 2001);

"the Minister“ means the Minister for the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government;

“net area”, in relation to a holding and the grassland
stocking rate, means the gross area of the holding or the
grassland as appropriate excluding areas under farm
roads, paths, buildings, farmyards, woods, dense scrub,
rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, sandpits, quarries, expanses
of bare rock, areas of bogland not grazed, areas fenced off
and not used for production, inaccessible areas and areas
of forestry (including Christmas trees), or required to be
totally destocked under a Commonage Framework Plan:

“the Nitrates Directive” means Council Directive
91/678/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the
protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates
from agricultural sources:

“occupier", in relation to a holding, includes the owner, a
lessee, any person entitled to occupy the holding or any
other person having for the time being control of the
holding;

“organic fertiliser" means any fertiliser other than that
manufactured by an industrial process and includes
livestock manure, dungstead manure, farmyard manure,
slurry, soiled water, non-farm organic substances such as
sewage sludge, industrial by-products and sludges and
residues from fish farms;

“ploughing” includes ploughing and primary cultivation,
excluding light cultivation carried out to encourage natural
regeneration;

“relevant local authority’ means the local authority in whose
administrative area a farm holding or part of a farm holding
is situated;

“river basin district" means a river basin district established
by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations,
2003 (S.l. No. 722 of 2003);

“slurry” includes -

(a) excreta produced by livestock while in a
building or yard, and

(b) a mixture of such excreta with rainwater,
washings or other extraneous material or any
combination of these,

of a consistency that allows it to be pumped or discharged
by gravity at any stage in the handling process but does not
include soiled water;

“soil test" means a soil sample taken in accordance with
the soil sampling procedure set out in Schedule 1 and
analysed in accordance with that Schedule, ata laboratory
approved for this purpose by the Minister for Agriculture
and Food;

"soiled water" has the meaning assigned by sub-article (2);
"steep slope” means ground which has an average incline
of 20% or more in the case of grassland or 15% or more in
the case of other land;
“tidal waters” includes the sea and any estuary up to high
water mark medium tide and any enclosed dock adjoining
tidal waters;
"waters” includes —
(a) any (or any part of any) river, stream, lake, canal,
reservoir, aquifer, pond, watercourse, or other
inland waters, whether natural or artificial,

(b) any tidal waters, and