S.L. 549.53 ст. 6Identification of significant and sustained upward trends and the definition of starting points for trends reversals.

(1) The Unit shall identify any significant and sustained upward trend in concentrations of pollutants, groups of pollutants or indicators of pollution found in bodies or groups of bodies of groundwater identified as being at risk and define the starting point for reversing that trend, in accordance with the Fourth Schedule.

(2) The Unit shall, in accordance with Part B of the Fourth

Schedule, reverse trends which present a significant risk of harm to the quality of aquatic ecosystems or terrestrial ecosystems, to human health, or to actual or potential legitimate uses of the water environment, through the programme of measures referred to in the Water Policy Framework Regulations, in order to progressively reduce pollution and prevent deterioration of groundwater.

(3) The Unit shall define the starting point for trend reversal as a percentage of the level of the groundwater quality standards set out in the First Schedule and of the threshold value established pursuant to regulation 4, on the basis of the identified trend and the environmental risk associated therewith, in accordance with Part B, point 1 of the Fourth Schedule.

(4) The Unit shall, in the river basin management plans to be submitted in accordance with the Water Policy Framework Regulations, summarise:

(a) the way in which the trend assessment from individual monitoring points within a body or a group of bodies of groundwater has contributed to identifying, in accordance with Section 2.5 of the Fifth Schedule to the Water Policy Framework Regulations, that those bodies are subject to a significant and sustained upward trend in concentration of any pollutant or a reversal of that trend; and

(b) the reasons for the starting points defined pursuant to regulation 4.

(5) The Unit shall, where it is deemed necessary to assess the impact of existing plumes of pollution in bodies of groundwater that may threaten the achievement of the objectives in the Water Policy Framework Regulations, and in particular, those plumes resulting from point sources and contaminated land, carry out additional trend assessments for identified pollutants, in order to verify that plumes from contaminated sites do not expand, do not deteriorate the chemical status of the body or group of bodies of groundwater, and do not present a risk for human health and the environment. The results of these assessments shall be summarised in the river basin management plans to be submitted in accordance with the Water Policy Framework Regulations.