S.L. 549.100 Art. 5Environmental objectives.

(1) In making operational the programmes of measures specified in the water catchment management plans -

(a) for surface waters, without prejudice to any relevant international agreements:

(i) the competent authority shall implement the necessary measures to prevent deterioration of the status of all bodies of surface water, subject to the application of sub-regulations (6) and (7) and without prejudice to sub-regulation (8);

(ii) the competent authority shall take the necessary measures to protect, enhance and restore all bodies of surface water, subject to the application of sub-sub-paragraph (iii) for artificial and heavily modified bodies of water, with the aim of achieving good surface water status by the end of November of the year 2015, in accordance with the provisions laid down in Schedule V, subject to the application of extensions determined in accordance with sub-regulation (4) and to the application of sub-regulations (5), (6) and (7) without prejudice to sub-regulation (8);

(iii) the competent authority shall take the necessary measures to protect and enhance all artificial and heavily modified bodies of water, with the aim of achieving good ecological potential and good surface water chemical status by the end of November of the year 2015 in accordance with the provisions laid down in Schedule V, subject to the application of extensions determined in accordance with sub-regulation (4) and to the application sub-regulations (5), (6) and (7) without prejudice to sub-regulation (8);

(iv) the competent authority shall implement the necessary measures with the aim of progressively reducing pollution from priority substances and ceasing or phasing out emissions, discharges and losses of priority hazardous substances;

(b) for groundwater -

(i) the competent authority shall implement the measures necessary to prevent or limit the input of pollutants into groundwater and to prevent the deterioration of the status of all bodies of groundwater, subject to the application of sub-regulations (6) and (7) and without prejudice to sub-regulation (8) and subject to the application of regulation 12 (3)(j);

(ii) the competent authority shall take the necessary measures to protect, enhance and restore all bodies of groundwater, ensure a balance between abstraction and recharge of groundwater, with the aim of achieving good groundwater status by the end of November of the year 2015, in accordance with the provisions laid down in Schedule V, subject to the application of extensions determined in accordance with sub-regulation (4) and to the application of sub-regulations (5), (6) and (7) without prejudice to sub-regulation (8) and subject to the application of regulation 12 (3)(j);

(iii) the competent authority shall implement the measures necessary to reverse any significant and sustained upward trend in the concentration of any pollutant resulting from the impact of human activity in order progressively to reduce pollution of groundwater, provided that measures to achieve trend reversal shall be implemented subject to the application of sub-regulations (6) and (7) and without prejudice to sub-regulation (8);

(c) for protected areas, the competent authority shall achieve compliance with any standards and objectives by the end of November of the year 2015, unless otherwise specified in the legislation under which the individual protected areas have been established.

(2) Where more than one of the objectives under sub-regulation

(1) relates to a given body of water, the most stringent shall apply.

(3) The competent authority may designate a body of surface water as artificial or heavily modified, when:

(a) the changes to the hydromorphological characteristics of that body which would be necessary for achieving good ecological status would have significant adverse effects on:

(i) the wider environment;

(ii) navigation, including port facilities, or recreation;

(iii) activities for the purposes of which water is stored, such as drinking-water supply, power generation or irrigation;

(iv) water regulation, flood protection, land drainage;

(v) other equally important sustainable human development activities; or

(vi) the beneficial objectives served by the artificial or modified characteristics of the water body cannot, for reasons of technical feasibility or disproportionate costs, reasonably be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option.

Such designation and the reasons for it shall be specifically mentioned in the water catchment management plans required under regulation 13 and reviewed every six years.

(4) The deadlines established under sub-regulation (1) may be extended for the purposes of phased achievement of the objectives for bodies of water, provided that no further deterioration occurs in the status of the affected body of water when all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the competent authority determines that all necessary improvements in the status of bodies of water cannot reasonably be achieved within the timescales set out in that paragraph for at least one of the following reasons:

(i) the scale of improvements required can only be achieved in phases exceeding the timescale, for reasons of technical feasibility;

(ii) completing the improvements within the timescale would be disproportionately expensive;

(iii) natural conditions do not allow timely improvement in the status of the body of water;

(b) extension of the deadline, and the reasons for it, are specifically set out and explained in the water catchment management plan required under regulation 13;

(c) extensions shall be limited to a maximum of two further updates of the water catchment management plan except in cases where the natural conditions are such that the objectives cannot be achieved within this period;

(d) a summary of the measures required under regulation 12 which are envisaged as necessary to bring the bodies of water progressively to the required status by the extended deadline, the reasons for any significant delay in making these measures operational, and the expected timetable for their implementation are set out in the water catchment management plan. A review of the implementation of these measures and a summary of any additional measures shall be included in updates of the water catchment management plan.

(5) The competent authority may aim to achieve less stringent environmental objectives than those required under sub-regulation

(1) for specific bodies of water when they are so affected by human activity, as determined in accordance with regulation 6(1), or their natural condition is such that the achievement of these objectives would not be feasible or would be disproportionately expensive, and all the following conditions are met:

(a) the environmental and socio-economic needs served by such human activity cannot be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option not entailing disproportionate costs;

(b) the competent authority ensures -

(i) for surface water, the highest ecological and chemical status possible is achieved, given impacts that could not reasonably have been avoided due to the nature of the human activity or pollution,

(ii) for groundwater, the least possible changes to good groundwater status, given impacts that could not reasonably have been avoided due to the nature of the human activity or pollution;

(c) no further deterioration occurs in the status of the affected body of water; and

(d) the establishment of less stringent environmental objectives, and the reasons for it, are specifically mentioned in the water catchment management plan required under regulation 13 and these objectives are reviewed every six years.

(6) Temporary deterioration in the status of bodies of water shall not be in breach of the requirements of these regulations if this is the result of circumstances of natural cause or force majeure which are exceptional or could not reasonably have been foreseen, in particular extreme floods and prolonged droughts, or the result of circumstances due to accidents which could not reasonably have been foreseen, when all of the following conditions have been met:

(a) all practicable steps are taken to prevent further deterioration in status and in order not to compromise the achievement of the objectives of these regulations in other bodies of water not affected by those circumstances;

(b) the conditions under which circumstances that are exceptional or that could not reasonably have been foreseen may be declared, including the adoption of the appropriate indicators, are stated in the water catchment management plan;

(c) the measures to be taken under such exceptional circumstances are included in the programme of measures and will not compromise the recovery of the quality of the body of water once the circumstances are over;

(d) the effects of the circumstances that are exceptional or that could not reasonably have been foreseen are reviewed annually and, subject to the reasons set out in sub-regulation (4)(a), all practicable measures are taken with the aim of restoring the body of water to its status prior to the effects of those circumstances as soon as reasonably practicable; and

(e) a summary of the effects of the circumstances and of such measures taken or to be taken in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (d) are included in the next update of the water catchment management plan.

(7) The rules laid down in these regulations shall not be deemed to have been breached when:

(a) failure to achieve good groundwater status, good ecological status or, where relevant, good ecological potential or to prevent deterioration in the status of a body of surface water or groundwater is the result of new modifications to the physical characteristics of a surface water body or alterations to the level of bodies of groundwater; or

(b) failure to prevent deterioration from high status to good status of a body of surface water is the result of new sustainable human development activities, and all the following conditions are met:

(i) all practicable steps are taken to mitigate the adverse impact on the status of the body of water;

(ii) the reasons for those modifications or alterations are specifically set out and explained in the water catchment plan required under regulation 13 and the objectives are reviewed every six years;

(iii) the reasons for those modifications or alterations are of overriding public interest and, or the benefits to the environment and to society of achieving the objectives set out in sub-regulation (1) are outweighed by the benefits of the new modifications or alterations to human health, to the maintenance of human safety or to sustainable development; and

(iv) the beneficial objectives served by those modifications or alterations of the water body cannot for reasons of technical feasibility or disproportionate cost be achieved by other means, which are a significantly better environmental option.

(8) When applying sub-regulations (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), the competent authority shall ensure that the application does not permanently exclude or compromise the achievement of the objectives of these regulations in other bodies of water within the same water catchment district and is consistent with the implementation of other environmental regulations.

(9) Steps must be taken to ensure that the application of the new provisions, including the applications of sub-regulations (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) guarantees at least the same level of protection as other environmental regulations.

(10) The competent authority shall not be in breach of its obligations under these regulations as a result of the exceedance of an EQS in coastal waters, if it can demonstrate that:

(a) the exceedance was due to a source of pollution outside its national jurisdiction;

(b) it was unable as a result of such transboundary pollution to take effective measures to comply with the relevant EQS;

(c) it had applied the coordination mechanisms set out in relevant international agreements and, as appropriate, taken advantage of the provisions of sub-regulation (4), (5) and (6), for those water bodies affected by transboundary pollution; and

(d) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (a), the competent authority shall communicate a summary of the measures taken in relation to transboundary pollution in the relevant water catchment management plans as laid down in regulation 13(3).