Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
461. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the agreement on the directive on priority substances in water during the Irish EU Presidency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36174/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recent Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union secured agreement within the Council and with the European Parliament on a new Directive updating the existing Directives on Priority Substances in Water.
The new Directive controls emissions, losses and discharges of so-called ‘priority substances’ to water by establishing environmental quality standards (EQSs) for them in water and requiring monitoring programmes. The substances concerned include chemicals, certain metals, biocides, plant protection products and dioxins. For substances classified as priority hazardous substances, the legislation requires their use to be phased out.
Intensive negotiations took place within the Council and with the Parliament on the Commission’s proposals to monitor and control additional substances posing risk to the aquatic environment. The new Directive also includes more stringent standards for some of the existing 33 substances covered by the legislation. The main benefits will be:
- the inclusion of 12 new substances in the list of priority substances impacting on water quality and requiring Member States to achieve specified EQSs in respect of these substances;
- the inclusion of stricter standards for 7 of the existing substances;
- establishment of a ‘watch list’ mechanism to monitor and collect information on emerging pollutants from a network of monitoring sites across Europe to assess their suitability for future inclusion in the priority substances list;
- the inclusion of 3 pharmaceuticals of concern (i.e. Diclofenac, 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol and 17 beta-estradiol) on the watch list to be established.
The Directive will come into force imminently, following publication in the Official Journal.
