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Jurisdiction: Wales
Commencement: 31st December 2022
Amends: The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021
The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 implement measures to address agricultural pollution in Wales by setting rules for certain farming practices.
They apply to all farm businesses in Wales. Anyone who is the owner or occupier (e.g. tenants, graziers) of an agricultural land holding (regardless of its size) is responsible for complying with these Regulations.
Provisions are included around the following:
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is responsible for enforcing these Regulations.
Revocations
Previously, water quality was protected by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters via Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs)* that were in place and these Regulations revoke and replace The Nitrate Pollution Prevention (Wales) Regulations 2013, which means the existing NVZ designations are no longer applicable.
These Regulations also revoke and replace The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage and Slurry)(Wales) Regulations 2010 as these Regulations now set the requirements for silage making, storage of silage effluent and for slurry storage systems. The Regulations are revoked in how they apply to farms situated in a NVZ from 1st April 2021 and fully for all other farms from 1st April 2024.
*Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are areas within Wales that contain surface water or groundwater that is susceptible to nitrate pollution from agricultural activities. A map of these areas can be found here. Note that these Regulations have now replaced NVZs.
Transition period
Requirements are being phased in for farms not previously located in a NVZ over three years, with certain requirements applying from 1st January 2023, 30th April 2023 and 1st April 2024:
All other parts of the Regulations applied from 1st April 2021. More information can be found in the duties section below. For farms that were previously located in a NVZ, they needed to be compliant with the Regulations on 1st April 2021 (the date they come into force).
Various duties apply.
An abbreviation for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Index Map 2013 (NVZ index map) is added.
The implementation date for regulation 4 (Application of livestock manure – total nitrogen limit for the whole holding) and regulation 36 (Record of nitrogen produced by animals on the holding) is amended. Regulations 4 and 36 will now come into force on 30th April 2023.
Requirements are added for occupiers of a holding or part of a holding that was not previously located within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. These requirements are set out below.
*12 month period means the period 30th April to 29th April.
Schedule 1 (Amount of manure, nitrogen and phosphate produced by grazing livestock and non-grazing livestock) and Schedule 3 (Calculating nitrogen in organic manure) are amended as follows.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: 31st December 2022
Amends:
The transitional provisions introduced by The Fertilisers and Ammonium Nitrate Material (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, as amended by The Ammonium Nitrate Materials (High Nitrogen Content) Safety (Amendment) Regulations 2022, are extended by 5 years. These Regulations apply to Great Britain (GB) and come into force on 31st December 2022.
The transitional provisions apply to relevant ammonium nitrate material imported into Great Britain within 7 years from `IP completion day`*.
IP completion day* means 31st December 2020 at 11.00 p.m.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 15th July 2022
Amends: Forestry Regulations 2017
The Forestry Regulations 2017 provide detailed rules for the control of forestry activities in the areas of felling, afforestation, forest road works and aerial fertilisation of forests as provided for in the Forestry Act 2014. They also give further effect to the European Directives relating to Environmental Impact Assessment.
Part 2: Control of felling of trees
An application for a licence in respect of tree felling must, include the information specified in section 17(2) of the Forestry Act 2014, and:
Where the Minister has granted a licence for the felling of trees, the person who receives the licence must put up a notice at the entrance to the land, advising the public that the tree felling is being carried out or timber extraction is ongoing in accordance with a licence issued by the Minister.
Part 3: Control of afforestation
An application for a licence in respect of afforestation must include the information specified in section 22(2) of the Forestry Act 2014 and:
An application must be accompanied by:
Part 4: Control of forest road works
An application for a licence in respect of forest road works must include information specified in section 22(2) of the Forestry Act 2014 and:
An application must contain:
Part 5: Control of aerial fertilization of forests
An application for a licence in respect of aerial fertilization must include the information specified in section 22(2) of the Forestry Act 2014 and:
An application must be accompanied by:
A person must not carry out aerial fertilization in the period from 1st September to 31st March of the following year, unless granted by the Minister in exception circumstances.
A person must not carry out aerial fertilization within:
A person engaged in aerial fertilization must not, exceed the parameters set out in Schedule 2.
Part 6: Consultation
A consultation may be carried out for certain applications for an afforestation licence, a forest road works licence, and a aerial fertilization licence.
Part 7: Environmental Impact Assessment
This Part requires projects likely to have a significant effects on the environment by virtue of their nature, size or location are made subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIS).
Part 8: Appropriate assessment
This Part provides information on the appropriate assessment of European sites.
Part 9: Decisions
Part 9 outlines the decision process for the Minister.
Part 10: Miscellaneous
Part 10 provides miscellaneous information including revocations
Amendment
Regulation 8(3) concerning restrictions for aerial fertilisation is updated.
Aerial fertilisation must not be carried out within 20 metres of a monument or archaeological area.
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