Nitrates

Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC)

The Nitrates Directive is aimed at preventing and reducing water pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources. The Department of the Environment and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have joint statutory responsibility for implementation of the Directive.

Under this Directive mandatory measures were introduced throughout Northern Ireland to reduce nutrient losses to water from agriculture, through improved farming practices. These measures help to combat eutrophication, which is a major environmental threat to Northern Ireland’s waters. Eutrophication is an excess of nutrients (nitrates and phosphorus) in the water leading to algal blooms, scum, deoxigenation and loss of biodiversity.

As eutrophication is recognised as a major problem, legislation covering all farms in Northern Ireland was considered the best option for implementing the Nitrates Directive.  An action programme was agreed between the Department and stakeholders and accepted by the European Commission in October 2006.  This resulted in the Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, coming into operation on 1 January 2007.  The Regulations may be viewed below or may be obtained from TSO.

Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (104kb)

It was acknowledged that action on nitrates alone was insufficient to tackle eutrophication and in recognition of this the Phosphorus (Use in Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 also came into operation on 1 January 2007.  This established limits on the amount of chemical fertiliser to be applied to crop requirement taking into account phosphorus available from soil and organic manures.  The Regulations may be viewed below or may be obtained from TSO.

Phosphorus (Use in Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (44kb)

Under the terms of the Nitrates Directive, following the introduction of an action programme accepted by the European Commission, it is possible to apply for a derogation to operate above the maximum statutory amount of 170 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure.  The conditions of the derogation are set by the European Commission.  On 14 December 2007, Commission Decision 2007/863/EC was issued granting derogation to Northern Ireland.  The Decision may be viewed below.

Commission Decision 2007/863/EC (1.71MB)

The Nitrates Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 transpose the Decision into Northern Ireland legislation coming into operation on 9 June 2008. The Regulations may be viewed below or may be obtained from TSO

The Nitrates Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (44kb)

The Departments’ aim is to fulfil the Directive’s environmental obligations while supporting a sustainable agriculture industry - one that can compete, make money and at the same time, maintain a healthy environment.