Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources^f1 and, in particular, the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III thereto,

Whereas:

If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from those specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, that amount is to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and it has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

On 29 May 2009, the Commission adopted Decision 2009/431/EC granting a derogation requested by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with regard to England, Scotland and Wales pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources^f2, allowing the application of livestock manure up to a limit of 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year, under certain conditions, within the framework of the Action Programmes in England (Regulation 2008 No 2349), Scotland (Regulation 2008 No 298, as amended) and Wales (Regulation 2008 No 3143) and which has an expiration date of 31 December 2012.

The derogation granted by Decision 2009/431/EC concerned 433 farms in 2010 (425 in England, 6 in Scotland and 2 in Wales), 404 farms in 2011 (396 in England, 7 in Scotland and 1 in Wales), and 390 farms in 2012 (385 in England, 4 in Scotland and 1 in Wales). The derogation granted by Decision 2009/431/EC, in the years 2009-2012 concerned approximately 110 000 livestock units (corresponding to 0,9 % of the total), 45 000 hectares of grassland (corresponding to 0,4 % of the total) and 5 000 hectares of arable land (corresponding to 0,1 % of the total), in Great Britain.

On 20 December 2012, the United Kingdom submitted to the Commission a request for renewal of the derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC, subject to the same conditions as those laid down in Decision 2009/431/EC.

The United Kingdom has established Action Programmes for the period 2013-2016, in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 91/676/EEC, by means of the following regulations: the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2349) and amending regulations SI 2009/3160, SI 2012/1849, SI 2013/1001 and SI 2013/2619 in England; the Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Regulations 2008 (Scottish SI 2008/298) and amending regulations Scottish SI 2013/123 in Scotland; the Nitrate Pollution Prevention (Wales) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2506 (W. 245)) in Wales.

The designated vulnerable zones to which the action programmes apply, according to Regulation SI 2013/2619 for England, Scottish SI 2002 No 276 and Scottish SI 2002 No 546 for Scotland and Regulation SI 2013/2506 (W. 245) for Wales, cover 58 % of the total area of England, 14 % of the total area of Scotland and 2,3 % of the total area of Wales.

Water quality data submitted show that for groundwater in England 85 % of groundwater bodies have mean nitrate concentrations below 50 mg/l nitrate and 60 % concentrations below 25 mg/l nitrate. For Wales, 95 % of groundwater bodies have mean nitrate concentrations of less than 50 mg/l nitrate, and 87 % have concentrations below 25 mg/l. For Scotland over 87 % of groundwater bodies have mean nitrate concentrations of less than 50 mg/l nitrate, and 62 % have concentrations below 25 mg/l. For surface waters in England 59 % of monitoring sites have mean nitrate concentrations below 25 mg/l and 8 % have concentrations over 50 mg/l nitrate. For Scotland and Wales over 95 % of monitoring sites have mean nitrate concentrations below 25 mg/l. For Scotland no monitoring sites have mean nitrate concentrations over 50 mg/l nitrate and for Wales 1 % of monitoring sites have concentrations over 50 mg/l nitrate.

The Commission, after examination of the request of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and in the light of the experience gained from the derogation provided for in Decision 2009/431/EC considers that the amount of manure proposed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year, will not prejudice the achievement of the objectives of Directive 91/676/EEC, subject to certain strict conditions being met.

The supporting documents presented by the United Kingdom show that the proposed amount of 250 kg per hectare per year nitrogen from grazing livestock manure in grassland farms is justified on the basis of objective criteria such as high net precipitation, long growing seasons and high yields of grass with high nitrogen uptake.

Decision 2009/431/EC has an expiration date of 31 December 2012. For the purpose of ensuring that the farmers concerned may continue to benefit from the derogation, it is appropriate to extend the validity of Decision 2009/431/EC.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Nitrates Committee set up pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: