Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2011)876 - Amendment of Directives 2000/60/EC and 2008/105/EC as regards priority substances in the field of water policy - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2011)876 - Amendment of Directives 2000/60/EC and 2008/105/EC as regards priority substances in the field of water policy. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2011)876  |
| date | 31-01-2012 |
· Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
This Commission proposal concerns the review of the list of priority substances (PS) in the field of water policy, i.e. the chemicals identified among those presenting a significant risk to or via the aquatic environment at EU level which are listed in Annex X to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC i. WFD Article 16 i requires the Commission to review the list of PS at least every four years; Article 8 of the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD) 2008/105/EC i, in which Directive the environmental quality standards (EQS) i for the PS are set, requires the Commission to report the outcome of its first review to the European Parliament and the Council in 2011. As part of the review, the Commission has to consider inter alia the substances in Annex III to that Directive for possible inclusion in the list. It is also required to put forward proposals, if appropriate, for new PS, to set EQS for surface water, sediment or biota i as appropriate, and to review the EQS and status of existing PS.
· General context
The WFD acknowledges the existence of considerable pressures on the aquatic environment, including that from chemical pollution, and the need for sustainable water management. Its environmental objectives include the achievement of good chemical and ecological status for surface and groundwater bodies, and the prevention of deterioration. The Directive is implemented at the level of river basin districts (RBDs). Member States were required to adopt by 2009 a River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) based inter alia on a pressures and impact analysis and the results of monitoring, and a programme of measures for each district.
To meet good chemical status, water bodies must meet the EQS set for the PS and other 8 pollutants that were already regulated at EU level. The current 33 PS include a range of industrial chemicals, plant protection products and metals/metal compounds. Some PS are identified as Priority Hazardous Substances (PHS) because of their persistence, bioaccumulation and/or toxicity or equivalent level of concern, criteria consistent with the criteria for Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) under REACH i. Member States are required to monitor the PS in surface water bodies, and to report exceedances of the EQS. The WFD requires the adoption of measures to control the discharges, emissions and losses of PS and PHS to the aquatic environment – progressive reduction in the case of PS, cessation or phasing out in the case of PHS.
The objective of good ecological status requires that for chemicals identified as substances of concern at local/river-basin/national level but not as PS at EU level, standards have to be set at national level. These chemicals are known as river basin specific pollutants.
Technical work on the review of the PS list began in 2007 with a prioritisation exercise to identify possible new PS, and this was followed by the processes of setting EQS for them and reviewing the EQS for and status of the existing PS. The proposed new substances and changes to existing substances are expected to be taken into account in the 2015 updated RBMPs and programmes of measures.
In the course of reviewing the PS list, improvements in the functioning of the EQSD were identified, as well as a mechanism for improving the identification of additional PS in future reviews.
· Existing provisions in this area
– Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy
– Directive 2008/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directives 82/176/EEC, 83/513/EEC, 84/156/EEC, 84/491/EEC, 86/280/EEC and amending Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
– Commission Directive 2009/90/EC of 31 July 2009 laying down, pursuant to Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, technical specifications for chemical analysis and monitoring of water status
· Consistency with other policies
The 6th Environmental Action Programme identifies the measures for priority substances as a key action (see Article 7(2)(e) of Decision 1600/2002/EC i). The proposal is consistent with related policies and key legislation such as:
– Chemicals policy: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency
– Plant Protection Products policy: Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC, and Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides
– Biocides policy: Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market
– Pharmaceuticals policy: Directive 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products, and Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use
– Industrial emissions policy: Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control and Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions
– Waste policy: Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on Waste; Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (recast); Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
– Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) policy: Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent organic pollutants
– Policy for the protection of the marine environment: Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive)
Contents
· Consultations and use of expertise
The technical work for the review, i.e. principally the prioritisation and EQS setting, was led by DG ENV and the JRC and carried out by a range of experts in the period 2008-2010. These included members of the Chemical Aspects Working Group E under the WFD Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) i, in particular two sub-groups of WG E, and the consultancy INERIS (with input from the International Office for Water, IOW). The membership of WG E and the two sub-groups consists of Commission DGs (ENV, ENTR and SANCO), Member States and stakeholder organisations including a range of European industry associations (AESGP, AISE, Business Europe, CEFIC, CEPI, CONCAWE, COPA-COGECA, ECPA, EFPIA, EUCETSA, EUDA, EUREAU, EURELECTRIC, EUROFER, EUROMETAUX, EUROMINES), NGOs (EEB, Greenpeace, WWF) and intergovernmental organisations (OSPAR).
WG E contributed significantly to the review by supporting the collection of data (including monitoring and hazard data), the prioritisation process for identifying new substances, the update of the Technical Guidance Document on EQS setting, and the derivation of EQS. It also supported the review of the existing priority substances and EQS. The two sub-groups of WG E that carried out much of the work were the Expert Group on the Technical Guidance Document EQS (EG-EQS), and the Sub-Group on Review of Priority Substances (SG-R), both co-chaired by experts from the JRC and the UK. The WG E industry stakeholder groups involved their most relevant member companies, generally represented by technical experts, in the sub-group discussions, particularly as the selection procedure reached its final stages and EQS were developed.
The draft EQS were submitted to the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) i for its opinion.
In its opinion on the EQS dossier for Nickel, the SCHER noted that in-depth analysis, including independent statistical analysis, of some higher-tier data, could influence the final EQS. Although this has since been attempted, difference of opinion among the experts means that, in the draft proposal, the AA-EQS (inland waters) for Nickel has been set at 4 rather than 2 μg/l, pending the outcome of further consultation with the SCHER regarding the conclusions of the analysis.
· Impact assessment
As the technical work was in its final stages in 2010, work on the impact assessment began with the commencement of a study by the consultancy Entec i. The consultant drafted individual substance impacts reports taking into account the conclusions of the technical work i, and these were drawn upon for a large part of the accompanying Impact Assessment Report.
An Impact Assessment Steering Group supported the preparation of the impact assessment, with the participation of the following Commission services: the Secretariat‑General (SG), AGRI, ENTR, JRC, MARE, REGIO, RTD, and SANCO.
For the development of the impact assessment report, consultations were undertaken with WG E and with additional stakeholders not represented in that WG.
The Impact Assessment Board discussed the Impact Assessment report at its meeting on 22 June 2011. The comments made were addressed in the accompanying Impact Assessment report.
· Legal basis
The legal basis of the proposal is Article 192 i of the Treaty.
· Subsidiarity and proportionality principles
Water pollution has a very important transboundary character. 60% of the EU territory lies in shared river basins. Because of this, and because many substances that cause pollution are used across the EU, it is appropriate to set harmonised EQS for them at EU level where a significant risk to or via the aquatic environment is identified. Apart from the wider protection, a more level playing field is ensured than when only a few Member States set an EQS or the national EQS are very different.
This proposal is limited to the identification of priority substances and to establishing EQS at EU level. No additional EU measures are proposed, beyond those already available. Specific and additional pollution control measures are left to the Member States, which can choose the most effective way of achieving the objectives taking into account local conditions.
· Choice of instrument
Proposed instrument: Directive amending WFD and EQSD.
No budgetary implications are expected.
· Detailed explanation of the proposal
The proposal amends the EQSD and the WFD, the latter only as regards Annex X.
Article 1 replaces Annex X to the WFD with the text set out in Annex I to this Directive. The updated Annex X includes the newly proposed PS and identifies two existing PS as PHS. The Annex is simplified by including some of the information that was previously in the table in footnotes.
Article 2 is amended to introduce a definition for the term 'matrix', i.e. the environmental compartment to which the EQS apply and in which the concentrations of PS and PHS are therefore to be monitored, usually water, sediment or biota (fish unless otherwise stated).
Article 3 is amended to make it coherent with the new structure of Part A of Annex I (in particular with the inclusion of biota standards in the Annex), and to amend the obligations of the Member States as regards the selection of the matrix for monitoring. A default monitoring matrix is specified for each substance, on the basis of its intrinsic properties. The existing flexibility for Member States to choose an alternative matrix is retained, but it is now conditioned to the fulfilment of the minimum analytical performance criteria in Article 4 of Commission Directive 2009/90/EC i. In addition, to simplify reporting, the notification obligations set out in Article 3 of the EQSD are integrated into the reporting of the river basin management plans under Article 15 of the WFD. Finally, the comitology mandate to amend paragraph 3 of Part B of Annex I is aligned to the new delegated powers.
Articles 4 i and 5 i are deleted as a consequence of the alignment of the act to the new implementing powers in the Treaty. Such powers are not adequate for the adoption of technical guidelines as these are not legally binding documents.
Article 8 is updated.
A new Article 8a is inserted that addresses specific provisions for substances behaving as ubiquitous persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances.
A new Article 8b is inserted to establish a watch list for the targeted collection of monitoring data to support future reviews of the PS list.
Article 9 is amended to be aligned to the new Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 i on Commission implementing powers and introduces a new Article 10 on the exercise of delegated powers.
Part A of Annex I is replaced by Annex II to this Directive, which introduces the newly proposed PS, amends the EQS for some of the existing PS i and introduces a column for biota standards. This latter column includes the three biota standards that were already established by EQSD Article 3(2)(a) as well as biota standards for some other existing PS and some new PS. Listing the biota standards in Annex I of the EQSD simplifies presentation and improves clarity.
Paragraph 2 of Part B of Annex I to the EQSD is amended to make appropriate reference to the implementing powers under Article 9.
Annex II to the EQSD is rendered obsolete and is deleted.
Annex III to the EQSD, linked to the current Article 8, is rendered obsolete and is deleted.
Article 3 of this proposal establishes the obligations as regards transposition into national legislation and notification to the Commission of the national provisions.
Article 4 refers to the entry into force.
Article 5 establishes that the Directive is addressed to Member States.