Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1996/1564 |
| Year | 1996 |
1996 No. 1564 (S.137)
WATER, SCOTLAND
The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996
Made 13th June 1996
Laid before Parliament 28th June 1996
Coming into force 22th July 1996
The Secretary of State for Scotland, being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in 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/EECconcerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources3;
“the 1980 Directive” means Council Directive 80/778/EECrelating to the quality of water intended for human consumption4;
“the 1975 Directive” means Council Directive 75/440/EEC5concerning 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)
(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)
(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...
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