Nitrates from Agriculture [EU]

Pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources

Council Directive 91/676/EEC aims to protect waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources through a number of measures incumbant on Member States:

• monitoring surface waters and groundwater;
• making an inventory of polluted waters or waters at risk of being polluted;
• designating vulnerable zones; introducing codes of good agricultural practice and action programmes, and
• reviewing at least every four years the designation of vulnerable zones and the action programmes.

Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources

Summary

Directive 91/676/EEC (henceforth referred to as the “Nitrates Directive” aims to protect waters in Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources from polluting groundwater and surface waters by encouraging the use of good agricultural practices.

The Nitrates Directive is an integral part of the Water Framework Directive and is one of the key instruments for protecting water against agricultural pressures.

The implementation of the Directive will be carried out in a number of stages. Member States shall:

• identify surface water and groundwater affected by pollution or at risk of being so, based on procedures and criteria detailed in the Directive (specifically when the concentration of nitrates in groundwater or surface water reaches 50 mg/l or when the surface water is eutrophic or is at risk of being so);
• designate vulnerable zones, which are all known areas of land in their territories which drain into the identified waters. The Nitrates Directive provides a possibility for Member States to be exempted from the requirement to designate vulnerable zones if the action programmes are applied to the whole of their national territory;
• establish a code of good agricultural practice to be implemented by farmers on a voluntary basis, which shall include the measures detailed in Annex II to the Directive;
• set up compulsory action programmes to be implemented by all farmers who work in vulnerable zones. These programmes must contain the measures listed in the good agricultural practice codes, as well as the additional measures listed in Annex III to the Directive, which aim to limit the land application of mineral and organic fertilisers containing nitrogen, as well as land application of livestock manure.

The Directive authorises Member States to take additional measures or to reinforce their action programmes in order to achieve the objectives of the Directive.

Member States must monitor water quality, applying standardised reference methods to measure the nitrogen-compound content.

The Commission has provided Member States with recommendations on monitoring methods and on the information which must be included in their reports on the application of this Directive. These reports shall be submitted by Member States to the Commission every four years.

Background

Water pollution by nitrates has been made worse by the introduction of intensive farming methods, with increased use of chemical fertilisers and higher concentrations of animals in smaller areas.

Nitrate pollution is causing problems in all Member States. The sources of nitrate pollution are diffuse (multiple discharges which are difficult to locate).

The 1980s saw a progressive worsening of water quality owing to the growth of intensive livestock farming (chickens, pigs) in areas that were already saturated, and of intensive crop-growing involving the use of chemical weedkillers and overfertilisation.

The 1988 Frankfurt Ministerial Conference examined water protection legislation. The participants stressed that the legislation needed improving, and this resulted in the adoption of the Directive on Urban Waste Water and the Nitrates Directive.

References

Act	Entry into force – Date of expiry	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Directive 91/676/EEC	19.12.1991	20.12.1993	OJ L 375, 31.12.1991

DEROGATIONS TO THE ACT

The Nitrates Directive provides the possibility for an exemption from the rule on the maximum quantity of 170 kg of nitrates per hectare and per year allowed for land application of livestock manure, on the condition that it can be established that the objectives of the Directive are still met and that the exemption is based on objectives criteria such as long growing seasons, crops with high nitrogen uptake, high net precipitation or soils with high denitrification capacity. The Commission shall decide whether to grant an exemption or not, based on advice provided by the Nitrates Committee who assists the Commission in the implementation of the Directive. The prerequisites for any exemption are the appropriate designation of nitrate vulnerable zones and action programmes which fully comply with the Directive. Furthermore, the exemption is only valid for the duration of the action programme.

L

Amending act(s)	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003	20.11.2003	–	OJ L 284, 31.10.2003
Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008	11.12.2008	–	OJ L 311 of 21.11.2008

The successive amendments and corrigenda to Directive 91/676/EEC have been incorporated into the original text.

AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT

Annexe III – Measures to be included in the action programmes
Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 [Official Journal L 311 of 21.11.2008].

RELATED ACTS

Application of the legislation

Report from the Commisison to the Council and the European Parliament on implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources based on Member State reports for the period 2004 – 2007 [COM(2010) 47 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

This Report is based on the information provided by the 27 Member States. 66% of the groundwater quality monitoring stations showed stable or decreasing nitrate concentrations. However, 15% of stations showed nitrate concentrations above the quality threshold of 50 mg per litre. The highest concentration of nitrates lies between 5 and 15 metres below the surface.
70% of fresh surface water monitoring stations show stable or decreasing nitrate concentrations compared to the previous report. In 3% the concentration is exceeding 50 mg per litre while in 21% of cases the concentration is below 2 mg per litre. In 33% of the stations monitoring trophic status, the water is defined as eutrophic or hypertrophic. The pressure from agriculture with respect to surface water nitrate pollution has decreased in many Member States, although agriculture still contributes largely to nitrogen loads in surface waters.

In the EU 15, the territory covered by vulnerable zones increased from 43.7% in 2003 to 44.6% in 2007, while 39.6% of the EU 27 territory is now represented.
However, water quality data show that in several regions further increases in designation are necessary according to the criteria set out in the Nitrates Directive.

The quality of action programmes further improved as compared with the last reporting period in the EU 15. All new Member States established action programmes. In order to attain full compliance with the requirements of the Nitrates Directive, improvements are required, particularly with regards to storage construction, balanced fertilisation and establishment of periods during which land application is banned. In order to improve the implementation of programmes, better information for farmers and the application of efficient control programmes are essential.

Commission report of 19 March 2007 on implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources for the period 2000-2003 [COM(2007) 120 final – not published in the Official Journal].
In this report, the Commission notes an improvement in the quality of monitoring and the completeness of the reports submitted by Member States (before the 2004 enlargement). There is a trend towards improvement or stabilisation of groundwater quality. However, increased levels of pollution were recorded in 36% of monitoring stations, and 17% of the sites assessed had nitrate concentrations above the 50 mg/l limit. Surface-water quality also continued to improve or stabilise at most of the sites (86% of monitoring stations), which confirms the trend observed in the previous reporting period. Furthermore, progress was noted in designating vulnerable zones, but there are still gaps which need to be filled. The Commission also stresses the progress made in the quality of the action programmes.

Commission report of 17 July 2002 – Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. Synthesis from year 2000 Member States reports [COM(2002) 407 final – not published in the Official Journal].

All of the Member States (apart from Ireland) have transposed the Directive, set up a monitoring network, drawn up a code of good practice and designated vulnerable zones. The monitoring networks indicate that over 20% of groundwater in the EU and between 30% and 40% of lakes and rivers are showing excessive nitrate concentrations. Nitrogen from agricultural sources accounts for between 50% and 80% of the nitrates entering Europe’s water.

The impact of implementing the Directive will only be felt in a few years’ time, though positive results are already starting to be seen in some regions.
The report considers that action to improve implementation of the Directive is desirable:

• cost-effectiveness studies on preventive measures;
• reinforced controls at field level and penalties for those who fail to comply with the Directive.

Synergy needs to be developed for common implementation of the water Directives, on items such as:

• harmonisation of water sampling points, networks, parameters and frequencies for quality monitoring;
• assessment of losses of nutrients to waters and of the breakdown of their origin;
• development of models correlating environmental impacts and causative factors.

Commission report of 20 January 1998 – Measures taken pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. Summary of reports submitted to the Commission by Member States under Article 11 [COM(98) 16 final – not published in the Official Journal].
In accordance with Article 11 of the Directive, the Commission has presented a summary report giving an overview of the national measures adopted and the situation in each Member State.
Owing to the lack of consistency of the information supplied by the Member States, the Commission recommends the use of a common reporting format for national reports.

Commission report of 1 October 1997 – The implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources [COM(97) 473 final – not published in the Official Journal].
The Commission notes that, four years after the expiry of the deadline set by the Directive (20 December 1993), only four Member States have met their transposition obligations: Denmark, Spain, France and Luxembourg.

Most of the Member States have introduced codes of good agricultural practice, though the Commission feels it is important to examine their content once again and to assess the consistency of codes applying to regions with similar features.

Five Member States have taken up the option not to designate vulnerable zones by applying the action programme to the whole of their territory (Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria). At the time of the report, most Member States had yet to designate vulnerable zones as provided for in the Directive (Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Finland and the United Kingdom).
The introduction of action programmes to help vulnerable zones is the key element of the Nitrates Directive, as the programmes should impose compulsory restrictions on farming activity. They should have commenced on 20 December 1995. In fact, by 30 July 1997, only Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Sweden had notified their action programmes to the Commission.
The Commission believes it is too early to determine the real impact of the Directive on nitrate pollution on account of its delayed and sometimes incomplete transposition.