European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005

• Statutory Instrument No.: 788/2005
• Date: 11 December 2005

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
S.I. No. 788 of 2005
European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005
INDEX
Article Page
PART 1
PRELIMINARY
1. Citation 1 2. Commencement 1 3. Interpretation 2
PART 2
FARMYARD MANAGEMENT
4. Minimisation of soiled water 6 5. Collection and holding of certain substances 6 6. Structural integrity of storage facilities 6 7. General obligations as to capacity of storage facilities 7 8. Capacity of storage facilities for effluents and soiled water 8 9. Capacity of storage facilities for pig manure 8 10. Capacity of storage facilities for poultry manure 8 11. Capacity of storage facilities for manure from deer, goats and sheep 9 12. Capacity of storage facilities for manure from cattle 9 13. Reduced storage capacity in certain circumstances 9 14. Operative dates 11
PART 3
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
15. Interpretation etc 11 16. Duty of occupier in relation to nutrient management 12
PART 4
PREVENTION OF WATER POLLUTION FROM FERTILISERS AND CERTAIN ACTIVITIES
17. Distances from a water body and other issues 13 18. Requirements as to manner of application of fertilisers, soiled water etc 14 19. Periods when application of fertilisers is prohibited 16 20. Limits on the amount of livestock manure to be applied 17 21. Ploughing and the use of non-selective herbicides 17
PART 5
GENERAL
22. General duty of occupier 18 23. Keeping of records by occupier 18 24. False or misleading information 19 25. Authorised person 19 26. Offences 23
PART 6
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES
27. Minister for Agriculture and Food 24 28. Making and review of action programme by the Minister 25 29. Agency 26 30. Local authorities 27 31. Compliance with Data Protection Acts 28 32. Certificate in relation to nutrient content of fertiliser 28 33. Exemption for exceptional circumstances for research 29 34. Transitional provisions relating to licensed activities 29
SCHEDULES
Schedule 1 Soil test 30 Schedule 2 Criteria as to storage capacity and nutrient management 32 Schedule 3 Storage periods for livestock manure 45 Schedule 4 Periods when application of fertilisers to land is prohibited 45
S.I. No 788 of 2005
European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purposes of giving further effect to Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 19751 , Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May 19762 , Directive 80/68/EEC of 17 December 19793 Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 19914 , Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 20005 and Directive 2003/35/EC of 26 May 20036 hereby makes the following Regulations:
PART 1 PRELIMINARY
	Citation	1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005.
	Commencement	2. These Regulations shall come into effect on 1 February, 2006, save as is otherwise provided in relation to any particular provision.
	Interpretation	3. (1) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise requires-
“Act of 1992” means the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 (No. 7 of 1992);
“Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency established under section 19 of the Act of 1992;
“agriculture” includes the breeding, keeping and sale of livestock (including cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, sheep and any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur), the making and storage of silage, the cultivation of land, and the growing of crops (including forestry and horticultural crops);
“application to land”, in relation to fertiliser, means the addition of fertiliser to land whether by spreading on the surface of the land, injection into the land, placing below the surface of the land or mixing with the surface layers of the land but does not include the direct deposition of manure to land by animals;
“aquifer” means any stratum or combination of strata that stores or transmits groundwater;
“chemical fertiliser” means any fertiliser that is manufactured by an industrial process;
“farmyard manure” means a mixture of bedding material and animal excreta in solid form arising from the housing of cattle, sheep and other livestock excluding poultry;
“fertiliser” means any substance containing nitrogen or phosphorus or a nitrogen compound or phosphorus compound utilised on land to enhance growth of vegetation and may include livestock manure, the residues from fish farms and sewage sludge;
“groundwater” means all water that is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil;
“holding” means an agricultural production unit and, in relation to an occupier, means all the agricultural production units managed by that occupier;
“livestock” means all animals kept for use or profit (including cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, sheep and any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur);
“livestock manure” means waste products excreted by livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form;
“local authority” means a city council or county council within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 2001 (No. 37 of 2001);
“the Minister” means the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government;
“net area”, in relation to a holding and the grassland stocking rate, means the gross area of the holding or the grassland as appropriate excluding areas under farm roads, paths, buildings, farmyards, woods, dense scrub rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, sandpits, quarries, expanses of bare rock, areas of bogland not grazed, areas fenced off and not used for production, inaccessible areas and areas of forestry (including Christmas trees), or required to be totally destocked under a Commonage Framework Plan;
“the Nitrates Directive” means Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources;
“occupier”, in relation to a holding, includes the owner, a lessee, any person entitled to occupy the holding or any other person having for the time being control of the holding;
“organic fertiliser” means any fertiliser other than that manufactured by an industrial process and includes livestock manure, dungstead manure, farmyard manure slurry, soiled water, non-farm organic substances such as sewage sludge, industrial by-products and sludges and residues from fish farms;
“ploughing” includes ploughing and primary cultivation excluding light cultivation carried out to encourage natural regeneration;
“relevant local authority” means the local authority in whose administrative area a farm holding or part of a farm holding is situated;
“river basin district” means a river basin district established by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 722 of 2003 );
“slurry” includes -
(a) excreta produced by livestock while in a building or yard, and
(b) a mixture of such excreta with rainwater washings or other extraneous material or any combination of these,
of a consistency that allows it to be pumped or discharged by gravity at any stage in the handling process but does not include soiled water;
“soil test” means a soil sample taken in accordance with the soil sampling procedure set out in Schedule 1 and analysed in accordance with this Schedule, at a laboratory approved for this purpose by the Minister for Agriculture and Food;
“soiled water” has the meaning assigned by sub-article (2);
“steep slope” means ground which has an average incline of 20% or more in the case of grassland or 15% or more in the case of other land;
“tidal waters” includes the sea and any estuary up to high water mark medium tide and any enclosed dock adjoining tidal waters;
“waters” includes -
(a) any (or any part of any) river, steam, lake, canal reservoir, aquifer, pond, watercourse, or other inland waters, whether natural or artificial,
(b) any tidal waters, and
(c) where the context permits, any beach, river bank and salt marsh or other area which is contiguous to anything mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), and the channel or bed of anything mentioned in paragraph (a) which is for the time being dry,
but does not include a sewer,
“waterlogged ground” means ground that is saturated with water such that any further addition will lead, or is likely to lead, to surface run-off;
and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.
(2) (a) In these Regulations “soiled water” includes, subject to this sub-article, water from concreted areas, hard standing areas, holding areas for livestock and other farmyard areas where such water is contaminated by contact with any of the following substances -
(i) livestock faeces or urine or silage effluent,
(ii) chemical fertilisers,
(iii) washings such as vegetable washings, milking parlour washings or washings from mushroom houses,
(iv) water used in washing farm equipment.
(b) In these Regulations, “soiled water” does not include any liquid where such liquid has either -
(i) a biochemical oxygen demand exceeding 2,500 mg per litre, or
(ii) a dry matter content exceeding 1%.
(c) For the purposes of these Regulations...