# The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017, Regulation 3: Duties on Departments


(1) The Department and the Department for Infrastructure must exercise their relevant functions in a manner which secures compliance with the requirements of the Directive, the EQS Directive and the Groundwater Directive.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the Department must determine an authorisation so as, in particular—
(a) to prevent deterioration of the surface water status or groundwater status of a body of water (subject to the application of regulations 18 and 19); and
(b) otherwise to support the achievement of the environmental objectives set for a body of water (subject to the application of regulations 16 to 19).
(3) In paragraph (2) “determine an authorisation” means decide whether to grant, vary or revoke or impose conditions (and if so which conditions) on—
(a) a consent issued under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 ;
(b) an authorisation under the Groundwater Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 ;
(c) a licence issued under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 ;
(d) a permit issued under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 ;
(e) a registration or authorisation under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 ;
(f) a licence for an abstraction or impoundment under the Water Abstraction and Impoundment (Licensing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 .
(4) In exercising its relevant functions, the Department must ensure that the requirements of the Directive for the achievement of its environmental objectives are co-ordinated and must, in particular—
(a) ensure that the programme of measures is co-ordinated for the whole of the river basin district; and
(b) consult the relevant competent authority in the Republic of Ireland to ensure co-ordination of the programme of measures for the whole of each international river basin district.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2017/81/regulation/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/water-environment-water-framework-directive-regulations-northern-ireland-2017/regulation-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.