Farm inspection rates are “far below” the level required to drive compliance and improve water quality, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the environmental enforcement performance of local authorities in 2023.
The EPA said local authorities need to carry out more farm inspections and follow-up enforcement to reach the National Agricultural Inspection Programme (NAIP) target of 4,500 farm inspections in 2025.
Local authorities undertook 1,137 initial Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) farm inspections last year, compared to 1,041 in 2022, the ‘Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Report 2023’ published today (Tuesday, December 3), shows.
The number of other types of farm inspections undertaken by local authorities (in response to planning applications, incidents and complaints) last year stood at 1,474, which is up from 879 in 2022, according to the EPA.
Agriculture continues to have a “significant impact” on water quality, resulting in excess levels of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) to enter Ireland’s waterways, the EPA said.
Programme manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Patrick Byrne said: “While the number of local authority farm inspections increased by 9% to 1,137 in 2023, the number is still too low.
“More farm inspections and follow-up enforcement is needed to reach the National Agricultural Inspection Programme target of 4,500 farms inspected in 2025 to improve water quality.
“We’re calling on local authorities to use their full suite of enforcement powers to drive compliance with the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Regulations and improve water
quality.”
Farm inspections
Performance in water, air and noise enforcement was “unsatisfactory” in 2023, the EPA said, with not enough risk-based inspections and follow-up enforcement of farms and businesses that impact water and air quality.
The EPA’s latest performance report also highlights that local authorities did not adequately prioritise their resources to water, air and noise enforcement last year.
The report sets out the EPA’s assessment of 20 “national enforcement priorities” across waste, water, air and noise, and governance processes. The performance of local authorities is scored as either “excellent”, “strong”, “moderate”, or “limited”.
The “national enforcement priorities” in relation to water are:
- Pressure from agriculture (farmyards) slurry/soiled water collection and storage;
- Pressure from agriculture (farmland) slurry and fertiliser spreading;
- Domestic waste water treatment systems/septic tanks;
- Discharge licences/misconnections;
- Local priorities and water quality monitoring.
The number of initial inspections under GAP Regulations undertaken by local authorities rose by 9% in 2023, while the rate of non-compliance for GAP inspections was approximately 31% in 2022 and 37% in 2023.
The main reasons for non-compliance were storage/management of soiled water, farmyard manure and slurry, and discharges with potential to impact water quality, according to the EPA.
Local authorities must “significantly increase” their farm inspection numbers in accordance with the allocations under the NAIP, proactively assess compliance, and take appropriate enforcement action where required, the EPA said.
However, the EPA notes that “significant improvements” are expected in the two agriculture “national enforcement priorities” in 2024/2025 due to the additional staff resources allocated to local authorities for farm inspections.
Based on its 2023 assessment, the EPA said more inspection activities of farmlands are required throughout the year, especially during the closed season for land spreading and in response to complaints.
Local authorities should focus their inspections on slurry storage capacity issues, land-spreading practices, and target areas of “higher relative risk to water quality”, according to the EPA report.
The EPA also said local authorities should increase the number of initial and follow-up inspections in farmlands, along with their compliance promotion and awareness-raising activities with the farming community to ensure a “continued focus on improving water quality and positive environmental outcomes for agriculture”.
EPA
In relation to domestic waste water treatment systems, the EPA said the National Inspection Plan for Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems 2022-2026 (NIP) was “well implemented” across local authorities last year.
The EPA notes that local authorities should encourage homeowners to take up grants that are available to have domestic waste water treatment systems repaired, upgraded or replaced.
The prioritisation of enforcement resources on waste activities delivered improvements and positive environmental outcomes in 2023, such as the detection and cessation of illegal waste activities, the EPA said.
Local authorities need to ensure that only approved solid fuels are available for sale to protect public health from harmful air pollutants, according to the EPA report.
In total, 547 staff at local authorities handled over 70,000 environmental complaints, carried out over 212,000 environmental inspections, undertook 17,000 enforcement actions, and initiated 470 prosecutions in 2023, the EPA said.