Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 1564 (S.137)

The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996

---

© Crown Copyright 1996

Statutory Instruments printed from this website are printed under the superintendence and authority of the Controller of HMSO being the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament.

The legislation contained on this web site is subject to Crown Copyright protection. It may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users.

It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Instruments does not extend to the Queen's Printer imprints which should be removed from any copies of the Statutory Instrument which are issued or made available to the public. This includes reproduction of the Statutory Instrument on the Internet and on intranet sites. The Royal Arms may be reproduced only where they are an integral part of the original document.

The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument which is published by the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. A print version is also available and is published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996, ISBN 0110553861. The print version may be purchased by clicking here. Braille copies of this Statutory Instrument can also be purchased at the same price as the print edition by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0870 600 5522 or e-mail:customer.services@tso.co.uk.

Further information about the publication of legislation on this website can be found by referring to the Frequently Asked Questions.

To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

1996 No. 1564 (S.137)

WATER, SCOTLAND

The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996

The Secretary of State for Scotland, being a Minister designated^[1] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972^[2] in relation to measures relating to the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution of water, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:-

Citation, commencement and extent
    1.    These Regulations may be cited as the Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996, shall come into force on 22 July 1996 and shall extend to Scotland.

Interpretation
    2.    —(1)  In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires-
"action programme" means an action programme established in accordance with regulation 6;
"chemical fertiliser" means any fertiliser which is manufactured by an industrial process;
"the 1991 Directive" means Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources^[3];
"the 1980 Directive" means Council Directive 80/778/EEC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption^[4];
"the 1975 Directive" means Council Directive 75/440/EEC^[5] concerning the quality of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in Member States, as amended by the 1980 Directive and the 1991 Directive;
"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;
"fertiliser" means any substance containing a nitrogen compound or nitrogen compounds utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation, and may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge;
"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;
"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;
"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;
"livestock" means all animals kept for use or profit;
"livestock manure" means waste products excreted by livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form;
"nitrate vulnerable zone" has the meaning given in regulation 3;
"nitrogen compound" means any nitrogen-containing substance except for gaseous molecular nitrogen;
"the Objectives" means the objectives specified in Article 1 of the Directive, that is to say-
 (a) reducing water pollution caused or induced by nitrates from agricultural sources; and
 (b) preventing further such pollution;


"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;
"SEPA" means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

and other expressions used in the 1991 Directive have the same meaning as in that Directive.    (2)  Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule so numbered in these Regulations.

Nitrate vulnerable zones
    3.—(1)  In these Regulations"nitrate vulnerable zone" means the area of land at Balmalcolm in the local government area of Fife, more particularly shown outlined in black on the plan annexed and signed as relative to this regulation, being the only known area of land in Scotland which drains into and contributes to pollution of the waters which the Secretary of State has identified, in accordance with the criteria set out in Schedule 1, as waters affected by pollution and waters which could be affected by pollution if action pursuant to regulation 6 were not taken.

    (2)  The Secretary of State shall, by 19 December 1997, and at least every four years thereafter, review and if necessary revise or add to the designation of nitrate vulnerable zones to take into account changes and factors unforseen at the time of the previous designation.

Monitoring
    4.—(1)  For the purpose of the designation and revision of designations of nitrate vulnerable zones, SEPA-
 (a) subject to paragraph (2) below, shall have monitored by 19th December 1997 and at least every four years thereafter shall 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 the 1975 Directive or at other sampling stations which are representative of surface waters, or at both, at least monthly and more frequently during flood periods; and
 (ii) at sampling stations which are representative of the groundwater aquifers, at regular intervals and taking into account the provisions of the 1980 Directive; and
 (b) shall review the eutrophic state of fresh surface waters, estuarial and coastal waters by 19th December 1997 and every four years thereafter.

    (2)  Where the nitrate concentration in all previous samples taken in pursuance of the 1991 Directive at any sampling station has been below 25 mg/1 and no new factor likely to increase the nitrate content has appeared, paragraph (1)(a) above shall have effect in relation to that sampling station as if the reference to 1997 and the reference to four years were references to 2001 and eight years respectively.

    (3)  Monitoring under this regulation shall be carried out using the reference methods of measurement set out in Schedule 2.

Codes of good agricultural practice
    5.    Those parts of the Code of Good Practice for the Prevention of Environmental Pollution from Agricultural Activity published in 1992 by the Scottish Office which are aimed at providing all waters with a general level of protection against pollution shall have effect as the code of good agricultural practice established for the purposes of Article 4 of the Directive.

Action programmes
    6.—(1)  The Secretary of State shall, for the purpose of achieving the Objectives, by regulations under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, make provision establishing action programmes in respect of nitrate vulnerable zones.

    (2)  An action programme may relate to more than one nitrate vulnerable zone, and different action programmes may be established in respect of different nitrate vulnerable zones or parts of zones.

    (3)  An action programme in respect of a nitrate vulnerable zone shall be established-
 (a) in the case of the nitrate vulnerable zone designated under regulation 3(1), as soon as practicable; and
 (b) in the case of a nitrate vulnerable zone designated under regulation 3(2), one year after the designation of that zone.

    (4)  an action programme shall be implemented-
 (a) in the case falling within paragraph (3)(a) above, by 19th December 1999;
 (b) in any other case, within four years of its establishment.

    (5)  The Secretary of State shall draw up and implement suitable monitoring programmes to assess the effectiveness of action programmes.

    (6)  The Secretary of State shall, at least every four years, review and if necessary revise the action programmes, including any additional measures taken pursuant to regulation 7(2).

Contents of action programmes
    7.—(1)  An action programme shall include-
 (a) the provisions described in Schedule 3; and
 (b) provisions embodying the measures contained in the code of good agricultural practice referred to in regulation 5, other than such provisions as have been superseded by the provisions described in Schedule 3.

    (2)  An action programme shall also contain such additional requirements, restrictions and prohibitions as the Secretary of State considers necessary if, at the outset or in the light of experience gained in implementing the programmes, it becomes apparent to him that the provisions referred to in paragraph (1) above will not be sufficient for achieving the Objectives.

    (3)  In determining the provisions of an action programme, the Secretary of State 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.

    (4)  In selecting the additional provisions referred to in paragraph (2) above, the Secretary of State shall take into account the effectiveness and cost of such provisions relative to other possible preventive provisions.

Information required in connection with implementation of the Directive
    8.—(1)  It shall be the duty of SEPA to give to the Secretary of State such information as he may by notice require to enable him to fulfil-
 (a) the obligations imposed under Article 10 of the 1991 Directive to provide the Commission with information; and
 (b) his duties under these Regulations.

    (2)  Any such notice may specify the form and manner in which, the period within which, or the times at which such information is to be given.

Lindsay

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
St Andrew's House, Edinburgh

13th June 1996

[1] S.I. 1989/2393. back

[2] 1972 c. 68. back

[3] OJ No. L375, 31.12.91, p.1. back

[4] OJ No. L229, 30.8.80, p.11. back

[5] OJ No. L194, 25.7.75, p.26. back

Explanatory Note