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Real Decree 261/1996, Of 16 February On Protection Of Waters Against Pollution Caused By Nitrates From Agricultural Sources.

Original Language Title: Real Decreto 261/1996, de 16 de febrero, sobre protección de las aguas contra la contaminación producida por los nitratos procedentes de fuentes agrarias.

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TEXT

The pollution of water caused by intensive agricultural production in certain circumstances is an increasingly marked phenomenon which is particularly evident in an increase in the concentration of nitrates in the surface water and groundwater, as well as eutrophication of reservoirs, estuaries and coastal waters.

In fact, among the diffuse sources that contribute to water pollution, the most important currently is the excessive or inadequate application of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture.

order to alleviate this problem, Directive 91 /676/EEC of 12 December on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates of agricultural origin imposes on the Member States the obligation to identify waters which are affected by nitrate pollution from this source, the concentrations of which must be monitored in a series of sampling stations. On the other hand, it lays down criteria for designating vulnerable areas, those areas whose drainage results in nitrate pollution. Once certain areas have been identified, action programmes, coordinated with agricultural techniques, should be carried out and implemented in order to eliminate or minimise the effects of nitrates on water. Finally, the Directive lays down the obligation to issue regular reports on this type of pollution.

Also, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2078/92 of 30 June lays down rules on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of environmental protection and the conservation of the natural space. In order to implement the measures contained therein, the Royal Decrees 51/1995, of 20 January, establishing a system of horizontal measures to promote such methods; 632/1995 of 21 April, establishing a common system of measures for the arrangements for measures to be applied in the areas of influence of national parks and other sensitive areas of particular protection, in order to promote the use of such methods, and 928/1995 of 9 June establishing a scheme for the promotion of use, in certain wetlands, of such methods.

By this Royal Decree, Directive 91 /676/EEC is incorporated in our order, in accordance with the powers conferred on the State by Article 149.1.13., 22. and 23. of the Constitution, in the field of General planning of the economy, of legislation on water resources when water flows through more than one Autonomous Community and of basic legislation on environmental protection, respectively.

In the preparation of this Royal Decree, the Autonomous Communities and the sectors affected have been consulted.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Ministers of Public Works, Transport and Environment, and of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in agreement with the Council of State, and after deliberation of the Council of Ministers in its meeting of the day 16 February 1996,

D I S P O N G O:

Article 1. Object.

This Royal Decree aims to establish the necessary measures to prevent and correct the pollution of waters, continental and coastal, caused by nitrates of agricultural origin.

Article 2. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Royal Decree is understood by:

a) Nitrogen compound: any substance containing nitrogen, except gaseous molecular nitrogen.

(b) Livestock: all animals reared for use or profit.

(c) Fertilizer: any substance containing one or more nitrogenous compounds and applied on the ground to increase the growth of vegetation, including manure, compost, waste from fish farms and sewage sludge.

d) Chemical fertilizer: any fertilizer manufactured by an industrial process.

e) manure: excrement and waste excreted by livestock, alone or mixed, even if they have been processed.

f) Application on the ground: the incorporation of substances to the soil, extending them on the surface, injecting them, introducing them under the surface or mixing them with the surface layers of the soil.

(g) Eutrophication: the increase in the concentration of nitrogen compounds resulting in accelerated growth of algae or higher aquatic plants, causing negative disturbances in the balance of the populations biological present in the aquatic environment and in the water quality itself.

Article 3. Waters affected by nitrate pollution.

1. The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment, in the case of inland waters of river basins that exceed the territorial scope of an Autonomous Community, and the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities, in the rest of the cases shall determine the bodies of water which are affected by the contamination or at the risk of being contaminated by nitrate from agricultural origin.

2. This determination shall be carried out on those bodies of water which are in the following circumstances:

(a) Surface waters which may, or may be, present if the concentration of nitrates above the limits set out in the Annex is not acted upon in accordance with Article 6 of this provision; 1 of the Regulation of the Public Administration of Water and Hydrological Planning, approved by Royal Decree 927/1988, as amended by Royal Decree 1541/1994 of 8 July.

(b) Groundwater with a nitrate concentration of more than 50 mg/l. or be able to exceed this limit if it is not acted in accordance with Article 6.

(c) Embalses, natural lakes, charcas, estuaries and coastal waters that are in the eutrophic state or may be eutrophised in the near future if no action is taken in accordance with Article 6.

3. In assessing the situations referred to in the above paragraph, the following aspects should also be taken into account:

(a) Limnological characteristics of aquatic ecosystems and environmental factors in feed basins and, in particular, point emissions of nitrogen, such as waste water discharges and their contribution to the Nitrate content in the waters.

b) Current scientific knowledge on the behavior of nitrogenous compounds in aquatic, atmospheric, edaphic and lithological media.

(c) Current knowledge of the possible impact of the measures provided for in Article 6 of this Royal Decree.

4. Where the determination of the waters affected by the pollution has been carried out by the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment, the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment shall inform the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities of the territorially affected, for the purposes of the declaration of vulnerable areas and the subsequent preparation of the action programmes, in accordance with Articles 4 and 6.

Article 4. Vulnerable areas.

1. Within six months of the date of entry into force of this Royal Decree, the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall designate as vulnerable areas in their respective areas, those areas of land whose runoff or (a) filtration of or may affect the nitrate pollution of the waters referred to in the previous Article.

2. Areas designated as vulnerable shall be examined and, where appropriate, amended or extended by the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities, within an appropriate period of time and at least every four years, in order to take account of changes or factors that would not have been foreseen at the time of designation.

3. Within five months of the appointment, the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall bring to the attention of the Ministry of the Environment and Housing of the Ministry.

of Public Works, Transport and Environment the relationship of the designated vulnerable zones, for communication to the European Commission. In the same time and with the same effects, they shall communicate, where appropriate, the modified or extended zones.

4. Where the waters referred to in the previous Article are affected by nitrate contamination of agricultural origin from another Member State, the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and the Environment, after notification, in its the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall bring it to the attention of that State and of the European Commission, through the appropriate course, in order to facilitate concerted action between the Member States concerned and, their case, with the European Commission, in order to determine the sources of pollution and the measures to be taken to protect the waters concerned.

Article 5. Codes of good agricultural practice.

1. The competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall draw up, in accordance with the determinations specified in Annex 1 and no later than six months after the entry into force of this Royal Decree, one or more codes of good agricultural practices, which farmers will be able to implement on a voluntary basis, in order to reduce the pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural origin. In addition, if they consider it appropriate, they may develop programmes to promote the implementation of codes of good agricultural practice, which will include training and information for farmers.

2. The Autonomous Communities shall forward the codes of good agricultural practice which they have drawn up to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the purposes of their communication to the European Commission, through the appropriate channel.

Article 6. Action programmes.

1. In areas designated as vulnerable, action programmes shall be established by the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities in order to prevent and reduce pollution caused by nitrates of agricultural origin. These action programmes shall be drawn up within two years of the initial designation of vulnerable areas, or one year from each additional extension or modification, and shall be implemented during the four years. (a) to be prepared.

2. Different action programmes may be established for different vulnerable areas or parts thereof, where this solution is more appropriate.

3. The action programmes shall take into account the scientific information available, in particular as regards the contributions of nitrogen from agricultural origin or other sources, as well as the environmental conditions. existing or foreseeable in the affected areas.

4. The action programmes shall be reviewed at least every four years, and shall be amended, if necessary, to include in them those additional measures deemed appropriate in the light of the degree of compliance with respect to the the purpose set out in Article 1 of this Royal Decree has been achieved by the application of the measures set out in Annex 2. In order to take these additional measures, account shall be taken of their effectiveness and cost in comparison with other possible measures. prevention measures.

5. The competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall provide the content of the action programmes in the procedure for drawing up the river basin management plans, in accordance with Articles 95 and 100.3 of the Treaty. Decree 927/1988 of 29 July, approving the Regulation of the Public Administration of Water and Hydrological Planning.

6. The competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall send to the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Housing the action programmes drawn up or amended, for the purpose of their communication to the European Commission, by means of the corresponding.

Article 7. Measures to be incorporated in the action programmes.

1. The action programmes shall contain at least the measures set out in Annex 2 on a compulsory basis.

The action programmes will also include measures incorporated in the codes of good agricultural practice developed by the respective Autonomous Communities.

2. The measures referred to in the previous paragraph shall prevent the amount of manure applied to the land each year, including that of the animals themselves existing on each farm or livestock unit, to exceed the specific quantities per year. Hectare set out in Annex 3 of this provision.

The competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall report to the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Housing on the manner in which they are applying the provisions of this paragraph, for the purposes of their communication to the Commission. European, through the corresponding channel.

Article 8. Programmes for sampling and monitoring of water quality.

1. In order to amend, where appropriate, the list of designated vulnerable areas and to check the effectiveness of the action programmes drawn up, the catchment bodies and the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities in the field of their respective competences, shall carry out sampling and monitoring programmes for the quality of water, with the following specifications:

(a) Within two years of the entry into force of this Royal Decree the concentration of nitrates in the continental waters for one year shall be monitored:

1. º In the sampling stations of the surveillance networks of the basin agencies or the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities, depending on the cases, at least once a month, and more frequently during the months of grown.

2. º In the sampling stations which are representative of the underground aquifers, at regular intervals and taking into account the provisions of Royal Decree 1138/1990 of 14 September 1990 on the Technical-sanitary regulations for the supply and quality control of drinking water for public consumption.

(b) The controls set out in the previous paragraph shall be repeated every four years. However, checks shall be carried out at the sampling stations where the nitrate concentration of all previous samples has been less than 25 mg/l. and where no new factors could lead to an increase in nitrate content. In this case, the monitoring programme should be repeated every eight years.

c) Every four years the state of eutrophy of reservoirs, natural lakes, puddles, estuaries and coastal waters will be reviewed.

2. The measurement of nitrates shall be carried out in accordance with the reference methods set out in Annex 4

3. The General Administration of the State and the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities shall exchange the data obtained as a result of the results of the sampling and monitoring programmes of the quality of the waters they have carried out, as a method of collaboration in the exercise of the competencies that correspond to each of them, according to what is established in this Royal Decree.

Article 9. Situation report.

The Ministries of Public Works, Transport and the Environment and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will produce a progress report every four years. This report shall be communicated to the European Commission by the appropriate channel, within six months of the end of the period to which it relates and shall contain the extremes referred to in Annex 5, which shall be notified by the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities to the Secretariat of State for the Environment and Housing when it corresponds to actions carried out in the exercise of their powers.

This report shall be brought to the attention of the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities.

Final disposition first. Constitutional foundation and basic character.

This Royal Decree has the character of basic legislation in the field of general economic planning and environmental protection, in accordance with the provisions of Article 149.1.13. Constitution, and it is also dictated, in accordance with the competence attributed to the State by Article 149.1.22. in the field of legislation on water resources when the waters flow through more than one Autonomous Community.

Final disposition second. Development authorization.

The Ministers of Public Works, Transport and the Environment and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are hereby authorised to lay down, within the scope of their respective powers, the provisions necessary for implementation and development. of this Royal Decree and, in particular, to adapt this provision to the amendments which, if necessary, are introduced by the European Commission in the annexes to Directive 91 /676/EEC, in order to adapt them to scientific and technical progress.

Final disposition third. Entry into force.

This Royal Decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid to 16 February 1996.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The Minister of the Presidency,

ALFREDO PEREZ RUBALCABA

ATTACHED 1

Codes of Good Agricultural Practice

A) The code, or codes, of good agricultural practice shall contain at least provisions which provide for the following determinations, in so far as they are relevant:

1. The periods in which the application of fertilizers to the land is not convenient.

2. The application of fertilizers to land on sloping and rugged terrain.

3. The application of fertilizers to land on hydromorph, flooded, ice-cream or snow-covered land.

4. Conditions for applying fertilizers to land near water courses.

5. The capacity and design of manure storage tanks, measures to prevent water pollution from runoff and filtration in surface water or groundwater of liquids containing manure and residues from plant products stored as silage fodder.

6. Procedures for the application to land of chemical fertilizers and manure that maintain the loss of nutrients in the waters to an acceptable level, considering both the periodicity and the uniformity of the application.

B) In addition to the above, the code, or codes, of good agricultural practice may also include the following issues, with a complementary nature:

1. Land use management with reference to crop rotation systems and the proportion of land area dedicated to permanent crops in relation to annual crops.

2. The maintenance during rainy periods of a minimum mantle of vegetation that absorbs nitrogen from the soil that, otherwise, could cause water contamination by nitrates.

3. The use, as an alternative, of crops with high nitrogen demand and with powerful radical systems, capable of harnessing nitrates that have been dragged into deep layers.

4. The establishment of fertilisation plans in accordance with the particular situation of each holding and the recording of the use of fertilizers.

5. The prevention of water pollution from runoff and water filtration below the root systems of crops in irrigation systems.

ATTACHED 2

Measures to be incorporated into the Take Action programs

(a) Determination of periods in which the application to the land of certain types of fertilizers is prohibited.

(b) Determination of the required capacity of the manure storage tanks, which shall be greater than that required for storage of manure throughout the longest period during which the manure is prohibited; application of the same to the vulnerable zone. This measure shall not be necessary where it can be demonstrated to the competent authorities that any amount of manure exceeding the actual storage capacity shall be disposed of in such a way as not to cause damage to the environment.

c) Limitation of the application of fertilisers to the ground, in such a way that it is compatible with appropriate agricultural practices and takes into account the characteristics of the vulnerable area concerned and, in particular, the The following factors: soil status, soil type and slope; climatic conditions of the area and irrigation needs; land uses and agricultural practices, including crop rotation systems.

This limitation should be based on a balance between the foreseeable amount of nitrogen that crops and the amount of nitrogen that are to be made available at the time. This nitrogen availability is composed of the following fractions:

1. Amount of nitrogen present in the soil at the time the crops begin to demand high nitrogen consumption.

2. Nitrogen supply through net mineralization of soil organic nitrogen reserves.

3. Inputs of nitrogen compounds from animal excrement.

4. Inputs of nitrogen compounds from chemical fertilizers and other products, as well as from the water used for irrigation.

ATTACHED 3

Maximum amounts of manure applied to the land

1. The specific quantity per hectare shall be the amount of manure containing 170 kg/year of nitrogen. However, during the first four-year action programmes, a quantity of manure containing up to 210 kg/year of nitrogen may be permitted. These quantities may be calculated on the basis of the number of animals on the holding.

2. In addition, during and after the end of the first four-year action programme, the competent bodies of the Autonomous Communities may establish quantities other than those mentioned above. Such quantities must be established in such a way as to ensure that the objectives specified in Article 1 are not met and must be justified on the basis of objective criteria such as:

Long growth cycles.

Crops with high nitrogen uptake.

High net precipitation in the vulnerable zone.

Soils with exceptionally high nitrogen loss capacity.

ATTACHED 4

Reference Measurement Methods

1. Chemical fertilizers: the measurement of nitrogenous compounds shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Order of 18 July 1989 approving the official method for the sampling of fertilizers and the Order of 18 July 1989. of 1989, for which the methods of analysis of fertilizers are approved.

2. Inland, coastal and marine waters: the concentration of nitrates shall be measured in mg/l. NO, by molecular absorption spectrophotometry.

ATTACHED 5

Content to be included in the status report referred to in Article 9

1. Declaration of preventive measures adopted in accordance with the codes of good agricultural practice to be developed.

2. A map reflecting the waters affected by nitrate pollution, pointing out the circumstances that have been applied among those set out in Article 3 (2) of this Royal Decree.

3. Location of areas designated as vulnerable, distinguishing between already existing areas and those designated, where appropriate, after the previous situation report.

4. Summary of the result of the monitoring carried out at sampling stations in accordance with Article 8, in which the reasons for the designation of each vulnerable zone or, where appropriate, its modification or its modification should be stated. extension.

5. Summary of the action programmes drawn up in accordance with Article 6 of this provision, and in particular of:

The measures imposed in accordance with the provisions of Annex 2 and 3 of this Royal Decree and, where appropriate, in the codes of good agricultural practice, as well as the additional measures indicated in the second paragraph of the paragraph 1 of Article 7.

The information referred to in the second paragraph of Article 7 (2) of this Royal Decree.

6. Summary of the sampling and monitoring programmes for the quality of water referred to in Article 8.

7. Assumptions, degree of certainty and time limits on which it is presumed to produce beneficial results for nitrate-contaminated waters as a result of the action programmes.